Cider Chat

The Orchard Mystery Series is written by author Sheila Connolly who passed away in April of 2020. This episode 229 is dedicated to her for taking readers on a journey into the orchards of western Massachusetts, where this series takes place. The first book in the Orchard Series is titled One Bad Apple (2008). There are a total of 12 books with the last one Nipped in the Bud being published in 2018. The main character is Meg Corey, who moves from Boston to western Mass to a town that she makes up, but I think it might be Granby or Belchertown. As she takes on a project of renovating an old house, she keeps finding bodies on her land which also has an old orchard! Locals to this region and even visitors to Franklin County CiderDays will find lots of references to beloved spots in the Pioneer Vally. A few years back, she bought a cottage in County Cork, Ireland. There are 8 books in the County Cork Mystery Series. Which leads up to one of the two Audio Snap Shots on this episode. The first snap shot is from Lee Reeve of InCiderJapan who shares updates on the cider in Japan. Plus the new on the Summer edition of this bilingual (English and Japanese) magazine. This issue features James Forbes of Little Pomona's visit to Japan. Back to Ireland, we hear from Barry Walsh with an update on Killahora Orchards Cider. This award winning cidery was featured on episode 157 Barry not only makes cider with his cousin and family in Cork, but also is a fine singer. He first shared a tune with us on that episode 157 and so I asked if he would do so again for this episode 229. Barry obliged by playing a tune called the Rocky Road To Dublin. What continues to amaze me is the small world happenstances that keep taking place around orchards and cider. Sheila Connolly's book is based in West Cork and I just happened to find out about her when I found a copy of One Bad Apple. Wanting to share the good news about this read was a given for this episode, but I didn't know at the time that I would also be posting an Audio Snap Shot from a Cork maker. Cider Synchronicity strikes again! Audio Snap Shots from Ciderville - are you in the cider trade? Please send along an audio snap shot (2mins or less) with news from your special spot in Ciderville. Cider soon to be released, orchard news, Tasting Room hours - let us hear your good news! Send your snap shot to ria@ciderchat.com Have a story to tell for the "Stories in Ciderville" segment? Must be 3000 words or less or under 4 audio minutes Apples and pommes must be integrated into the story line Send your essay and a recording of yourself reading your essay to ria@ciderchat.com Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube

The Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP) was founded in 2007 and serves Philadelphia and it surrounding area. This nonprofit organization both plants and supports community orchards in the city of Philadelphia. 2019 Harvest Festival at Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden This chat features a chat with Kim Jordan who has been with POP since its founding. In 2019, she became a full time employee of POP. And is most currently the Co-Executive Director. About POP Community orchards are set up in vacant lots to help build green spaces. POP works with any groups regardless of need All the fund raising requires POP to plan, Plant and help organize the maintenance of the orchard. In the fall when the harvest is in there are harvest festivals, Like “Juneberry Joy” that take place in October. POP Harvest Festivals take place in October POP also offers curriculum for teachers and farm educators. Go to the POP resource page to see the full list of offerings. POPHarvest event on the University of Pennsylvania campus from October 2018 Mentions in this Chat Audio Snap Shots from Ciderville - are you in the cider trade? Please send along an audio snap shot (2mins or less) with news from your special spot in Ciderville. Cider soon to be released, orchard news, Tasting Room hours - let us hear your good news! Send your snap shot to ria@ciderchat.com Have a story to tell for the "Stories in Ciderville" segment? Must be 3000 words or less or under 4 audio minutes Apples and pommes must be integrated into the story line Send your essay and a recording of yourself reading your essay to ria@ciderchat.com Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube

The Color of Cider provides a snap shot of an early practices used to deter black farmers gaining true equality and the difficulties facing African Americans today who may view farming as a step back to the plantation. We begin this episode with a quote from Booker T. Washington who born into slavery on April 5, 1856. He was able to learn to read and write despite the tendency of slave owners to not allow blacks to gain education. He help co-found the Tuskegee Institute. On September 18, 1895 Washington gave a speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Georgia. He asserted that vocational education, which gave blacks an opportunity for economic security, was more valuable to them than social advantages, higher education, or political office. Washington asked blacks to "Cast down your buckets where you are" and focus instead on becoming agricultural and industrial laborers. In essence he was asking for blacks to not push against racial segregation.  In turn for this act of accepting one's station in the black community, he asked for a guarantee that blacks would receive a basic education and due process in the law. The largely white audience in attendance loved the speech. The fall back from the black community, who were  called at the time "Black Intellectuals" was immediate outrage. W.E.B. DuBois, also a famous black activist called Washington's speech, the"Atlanta Compromise." Du Bois denounced Washington platform to accept ones position. What was curious about Washington was that he asked Black Americans to accept their unequal position, while at the same time secretly funded litigation for civil rights cases. Five years later, in 1900 Washington founded the National Negro Business League, with the mission of promoting the economic development of African Americans. He wrote a ground breaking auto biographical book called Up From Slavery. One particular quote/story from B. T. Washington makes the case of why it was and so hard for Black to gain upward mobility. This comes from an article in the Country Gentleman magazine described as a journal for The Farm, The Garden and The Fireside. "In one case I happen to remember a family that had three or four strong persons at work every day that was allowed to rent only about ten acres of land. When I asked the owner of the plantation why he did not let this family have more land he replied that the soil was so productive that if he allowed them to rent more they would soon be making such a profit that they would be able to buy land of their own and he would lose them as renters. This is one way to make the Negro inefficient as a laborer—attempting to discourage him instead of encouraging him." One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to see that Cider today is white because blacks did not have the same opportunity to own land and farm. Washington died on November 14, 1915. Today in 2020, we are witnessing an uprising of Black Lives Matter taking place not only in the US, but world wide. Today's Black Live Matters shows I believe that Washington's call for acceptance of one's status didn't work. Blacks have never been treated with a fair due process in the law.  For our modern times, I recommend the following book. Farming While Black : Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by, Leah Penniman Published by Chelsea Green Printing Contact for Soul Fire Farm Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube

Northern Spy is a short story that weaves the tale of the early grafting of the apple known as the Northern Spy, Quaker values, and the Underground Railroad. Read and written by Ryan Monkman, for the new Cider Chat segment titled "Stories in Ciderville". For additional reading and inspiration look to the children's book An Apple for Harriet Tubman.   Northern Spy by Ryan Monkman About 200 years ago, somewhere in Upstate New York, a boy ran through the woods. He hid in a bush under a tree. Then, when no one found him, he stood up and grabbed an apple above him. He bit the apple then spat it out. It was horribly acidic. The boy ran back to town and convinced a friend to take a bite of the “wonderful” apple. Soon it was a game: try the apple, spit it out. But the boy’s father liked the acid. The two of them walked back to the forest and picked the tree clean. They put the apples in bins then put those bins in their root cellar. Everyday the father would have an apple with breakfast. Everyday the son would try to sucker a new friend. After a few weeks in storage, the apples grew sweet. The father didn’t like them anymore and the son’s game grew boring. So the crates sat, untouched and unloved, next to the potatoes. The boy’s mother found the apples in mid Spring. Somehow they still looked and tasted like apples after months underground. She took them to a church picnic. There’s a tradition in Quaker communities; speak boldly when the Spirit calls you to. A neighbor spoke and the town listened. That summer they propagated the wild apple. If you plant an apple seed, you’ll get an apple tree but the fruit will be different. With each generation the seeds morph and mutate. The apple changes. If you want to preserve the beauty of a varietal, you have to take a cutting of the original tree and plant the cutting. That’s what the town did. They sent a team into the woods to collect small clippings of the wild tree. Each cut was only two inches long. Those cuttings were then slipped into a piece of root from another tree then the two were planted together. The bottom half rooted in the ground, the top half bearing identical fruit to the wild tree. The grafted trees were divided throughout the town. Each family grew a handful of trees and the church planted an orchard. Eight years past. Then one day in May the town awoke to a bursting of pink flowers. That Summer they saw their first fruit. That Fall they picked their first apples. The boy, now a man, loaded up a wagon and headed South. Then another wagon followed. And another. That Winter the town was empty. The wagons would pull into a new town. The driver asked for the Station Master, dropped off a whack of apples, then left without another word. In each town the pattern repeated. When the wagon was empty the driver returned home, refilled, then hit the road again. By February the town was out of apples. Traffic on the Underground Railroad surged that Spring. One of the first tastes of freedom was a piece of fruit that never seemed to rot. Cloaked in secrecy, the apple earned a nickname; the Northern Spy. by Ryan Monkman Ryan lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario making and selling cider with his family and cider team at FieldBird Cider. ___________ Have a story to tell for the "Stories in Ciderville" segment? Must be 3000 words or less or under 4 audio minutes Apples and pommes must be integrated into the story line Send your essay and a recording of yourself reading your essay to ria@ciderchat.com    

New England was the Plymouth Rock of cider in the US for the colonist and western Massachusetts is the launch pad of the modern day US cider market. It was here in 1984 that West County Cider and The Maloney family rekindled America’s love affair with cider. Thirty Six years forward to 2020, provides a perfect time to explore the terroir of cider in western Massachusetts with Field Maloney,  Soham Bhatt of Artifact Cider, and Steve Gougeon of Bear Swamp Orchard, Cider and Distillery and Steve Garwood of Ragged Hill Cider. This Tasting and Talk was moderated by Ria Windcaller, of Cider Chat podcast and presented at CiderCon 2020 in Oakland, California.  We begin this talk with Soham Bahatt of Artifact Cider with a newly built Tasting Room and production center in Florence, Massachusetts. We taste the 2017 Roxbury Russett! Next up is Steve Garwood of Ragged Hill Cider based in West Brookfield, Massachusetts. We taste the Traditional Dry! Steve G0ugeon of Bear Swamp Orchard, Cider and Distillery shares with us the 12% New England Style Cider Then Field Maloney of West County Cider shares two ciders, Riene de Pomme and Pura Vida Watch this presentation sync'ed with the power point in the exhibit at the Cider Chat YouTube channel Mentions in this chat September 1-6, 20202 England Cider Tour  Stories in Ciderville: Submit a cider/pomme focused essay (up to 3000 words) to: ria@ciderchat.com All accepted essays will be read by the author on an episode of Cider Chat. Send in a 90 second audio snapshot telling listeners what is happening in your perfect spot of Ciderville Send to ria@ciderchat.com Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube  

What is Flor aka Film Yeast and can the cider be saved? It's all in Part 4 of the Quarantine Quad Series called "Ask Ryan" with Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider, Ontario Canada answering questions from Cider Chat listeners. Plus, Why are FieldBird Ciders so wine like and "How did Ryan get into cider?" Ryan Monkman Listen Part 1,  Part 2 , Part 3 of the Quarantine Quad Series. Ryan's chat begins at 7:35 minutes Flor Tips First indicator of film yeast is seeing what looks like an oil slick on top of the cider. Film yeast will chew up oxygen. If it goes on for more than a couple of weeks you will lose aromatics. Acetobacter will form film yeast that is more bubbly and it will eventually form vinegar. How FieldBird manages "Flor" 1. Over top the barrel, because film yeast will float. Plunge into the barrel and allow the film yeast to overflow out of the barrel That barrel will get capped and topped off every week. 2. Bottom rack. Go right to the bottom of the barrel and take everything and leave the top couple of inches behind. There is a substantial difference in the flavor depending upon where you are pulling the cider out of the barrel. Respond quickly - because of acetobacter growth and loss of aromatics. Luckily, 9 out of 10 times the cider isn’t impacted. Contact for Ryan Monkman at FieldBird Cider website: https://www.fieldbird.ca/ Instagram  FieldBird https://www.instagram.com/fieldbird.cider/ Ryan Monkman https://www.instagram.com/rgmonkman/ Mentions in this chat September 1-6, 20202 England Cider Tour  214: Cider 'Art + Science' w/ Kim & Dan, OR Stories in Ciderville: Submit a cider/pomme focused essay (up to 3000 words) to: ria@ciderchat.com All accepted essays will be read by the author on an episode of Cider Chat. Process NMR for cider analysis: https://www.process-nmr.com/ Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube

Discover two cidermaking techniques that are also used in winemaking, called Maderisation and Bâtonnage. We delve into both of these topics in Part 3 of the Quarantine Quad Series called "Ask Ryan" with Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider, Ontario Canada answering questions from Cider Chat listeners. Maderisation: What is this technique and can it be used with cider? Bâtonnage: are there any short term benefits from bâtonnage or does one need to "stir up the barrel" for a long period (1 year at the least) to benefit from this technique? Listen Part 1 and Part 2 of the Quarantine Quad Series. Maderisation - The barrels are cooked - sometimes for years. Developing flavors called "maderised". If done well it can be delicious. High alcohol cider is best for maderisation - slower  bacterial growth. Cider that is has a low alcohol by volume  - likely to get organism spikes. FieldBird is planning to do a maderized cider from the 2020 harvest Northern Spy, fermented half way and fortified with apple brandy and let the barrel sit in a hot place. 17 Brix on the Spys (9%) ferment down half way and then add brandy. Getting 8% sugar. Sugar helps - creates the caramel flavor and provides an appearance of freshness. No MLF in the presence of sugar. Leave in cellar over the winter. Then leave the barrel outside all summer. 30 Celsius - 86 Farenheit. This will cause the maderisation The risk of maderisation is cooking a barrel to much The final product will be around 17-18%  Battonage: Is it worth it if you don’t have a full year to do Bâtonnage on a barrel? Nano proteins are the biggest benefit of Bâtonnage They release into the cider providing a perception of sweetness and body with out the sugar Need at least 9 months to a year to get the nano proteins There are short term benefits. Yeast produces less carbon dioxide and bubbles. They slow down after the first primary ferment. Fermentation may have stopped but there is still sugar left. Lees absorb off aromas, except for H2S rotting egg smell. Bâtonnage helps to maintain a reductive state. Full reduction - rotting smell is a type of reduction. Which helps protect the cider from oxidization and protect the flavor components. In wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, has rich tropical flavors which come from a rich reductive state, At FieldBird, they save lees in the freezer. Cracking - the freeze helps the lees cells break down. Using frozen lees that have cracked - means it will takes only 4-5 months versus 8-9 months in the barrel to get the benefits from Bâtonnage Contact for Ryan Monkman at FieldBird Cider website: https://www.fieldbird.ca/ Instagram  FieldBird https://www.instagram.com/fieldbird.cider/ Ryan Monkman https://www.instagram.com/rgmonkman/ Mentions in this chat Stories in Ciderville - send in fiction and nonfiction essays to read out loud on Cider Chat to ria@ciderchat.com September 1-6, 20202 England Cider Tour  Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube

Part 2 of the Quarantine Quad Series called "Ask Ryan" continues with Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider, Ontario Canada answering questions from Cider Chat listeners on working with oak barrels. Listen Part 1 of the Quarantine Quad Series Ryan addresses: Stacking Oak Barrels At FieldBird they call climbing up stacked barrels: Monkey climbing, where they uses e barrels as a ladder. Managing Head space in a barrel Using a solid bung for a full seal and not a bung with airlock How to sanitize a barrel that’s been sitting for 6 months untreated. First smell barrel - if not funky you likely are ok Find out if it will hold water. Can take 2-3 days for water to absorb into the staves. Avoid chlorinated water or find a way to dechlorinate the water (Do reverses osmosis to remover the chlorine) TCA  - is formed when oak is mixed with Chlorine Also known as cork taint The Gold Standard for cleaning an empty barrel is steam. A winery may have a gamajet that is used to clean the barrels via steam. Turn on for 15 minutes Burning sulfur sticks or barrel disks in empty barrels to protect barrel from oxygen which deters spoilage from occurring. Light on the sulfur on fire and seal the barrel Hang the sulfur and avoid drop the disk of sulfur into the barrel Lighting sulfur disks to put into barrels More caustic ways to clean oak barrels In the US - Scotts Labs has oak restorer that can be used to clean barrels. A caustic cleaner to mix with water Citric acid and 300 ppm sulfur (Potassium metabisulfite - KMS) KMS is water soluble. - should taste like lemon water hold unpleasant aroma out of wood and knock back the population of spoilage Ryan has had to do this up to 3x to clean out the barrel If using KMS - use 600 ppm - because 1/2 of KMS is sulfur Avoid used Sodium Metabisulfite because is can cause instability in the cider and the sodium sticks around. A Cooper can re-cooper a barrel, but this might cost more than a new barrel and should be a last resort Contact for Ryan Monkman at FieldBird Cider website: https://www.fieldbird.ca/ Instagram  FieldBird https://www.instagram.com/fieldbird.cider/ Ryan Monkman https://www.instagram.com/rgmonkman/ Mentions in this chat Stories in Ciderville - send in fiction and nonfiction essays to read out loud on Cider Chat to ria@ciderchat.com Full Juice Magazine Spring Edition September 1-6, 20202 England Cider Tour  Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube  

"Ask Ryan" features Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider, Ontario Canada answering questions from Cider Chat listeners. Ryan expertise with oak barrel ferments and oak barrels in general inspired this 4 part series. The fact that he also makes mighty fine cider and perry is also a factor. [caption id="attachment_5059" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ryan in the barrel room[/caption] Ryan has been featured in the following Cider Chat episodes: 132: Barrels & Bâtonnage 168: Barrel Aging Cider Inspiration 218: FieldBird Cider | Canada Covid Time Update In this segment Ryan answers the following questions from Cider Chat listener: Michael Is there a general aging graph for size and barrel Barrel Char to achieving a standard level of Tannins and oak flavor? I’m assuming that your answer will probably be no due to so many variables wood, level of char if any, temperatures, rankings etc. Ryan discusses the difference between French Oak vs American Oak French Oak barrels which provide more tannin and less aromatic vs American oak with more aromatic and flavor but less tannin The way a barrel is charred The more toasted - the less tannin vs less toasted more tannin The FieldBird Cider Barrel program manages the wide range of flavor profiles in oak by having a Large Barrel program that provides a mix of barrel types. What to look for in a barrel Size - look at surface area ratios How much of the cider is touching the barrel at any point. The more touching the more flavor you will get from the barrel 2 standard sizes of barrels Burgundian barrels - 228 liter / 60 gallons Bordeaux - skinny and longer hold 225 liters - just under 60 gallons. These barrels provide more cider in contact with wood. The higher the % of cider touching the barrel - the quicker you are going to extract. Oak Tannin is called - sacrificial tannin and it happens to bind with proteins, whereas the tannin in Apples are much slower to react. Recommend temperature for barrel aging? Ryan breaks it down into 3 stages to consider. 1 Primary Fermentation 2. Secondary or Malolactic Fermentation 3. Tertiary What to consider for each stage: Depends on what stage you are at during the cidermaking process and what you are trying to say with your cider Where will the barrel be stored A cooler ferment: 14-16 celsius - rich flora, pretty aromatic, but won’t have a lot of body At 20-23 celsius - 70-75 F - more body less aromatic Note: Yeast produces alcohol and it also produces heat. It is hard to cool down a barrel. Ferment at a cooler temperature until fermentation is over. MLF-   convert the acid in the apples into Lactic acid which provides a creamy bitterness - you need about 70 F. If cooler it will take a really long time. This long time leaves your cider at risk for bacteria. 3. Tertiary or aging from 3days to 3 years Store at 65 Farhenheit is ideal, but takes a long time to extract FieldBird uses a Submersible Aquarium heater Make sure it is a fully immersible heater. Have a couple different sizes. In the next episode 222: Ask Ryan - he will answer: 2. Do you see a large difference in profiles when stacking barrels on racks of the same batch of cider due to temperature changes from say a rack of barrels 3-4 high. And Barrel cleaning Mentions in this chat England Cider Tour September 1-6, 2020 Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube

This is a continuation of our conversation with Arnould Narzain of Paris. Listen to Part 1 in episode 218: Sorbs not Sulfites Arnould Narzain with a drop backdrop of Sorbs In this episode Arnould shares even more attributes of the Pomme Sorbus Domestica. George Washington brought a Sorb tree back from his visit to France and planted it at Mount Vernon Women long ago used it for wrinkles. Green Sorbs are said to help cure diarrhea What else can Sorbs do? That will be for the future to show. Ria's Ramblings: Accept Your Species After Arnould's chat, I pontificate a bit about my view on the current state of affairs with Covid, quarantine and helping each other through it all. To mark this episode I even created a new t-shirt design Titled "Accept Your Species". Mentions in this Cider Chat Spencer in Sonoma Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/species.plantarum/ Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube