The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-07
CORRECTIVEs FOR CIDER.
To Prevent Discoloration and Sourng- Recent French Researches-Neutra ficatton

izing the Tannin and Checking Aoeti.
 fication
 Apple juice is the great beverage ol
 Thanksgiving Day. It is a truly rura
 drink. But while its popularity in this
 country dates from the earliest Coloni-
 al times, 1t Is doubtful whether its vir
 tues are even yet fully appreciated 4
 good deal of the cider that is drunk IT.
 America Is ilnbibed when it is compara
 lively new and crude. Another large
 percentage is disguised under the name
 of champagne. And that which is hon
 estly sold and drunk as cider Is apt to
 be regarded as a plebtan concoctfon
 Nevertheless, cider made from carefully
 selected fruit and properly treated is g
 delicious beverage, of which no mar
 need be ashamed, and 1t possesses, be- sides, recognized therapeutic qualities It is recommended for gout, rheumatism and kindred maladies, and also certain intestinal disorders.
 For more than half a century both professional and amateur bottlers have been in the habit of adding various sub stances to cider to preserve it and to add to it's flavor. The general idea of
 
 the disposition of apple juice to spoil is not new. However, Improvements are being made in this art as in most others, from time to time. And it is possible that to Americans there will be something novel and valuable in the conclusions reached by Messrs. Dufoul and Daniel, who have given good deal of attention recently to this subject. The former savant is adjunct director of the Laborat tory of Vegetable Biology, at Fontanebleau. His colleague is a professor at the Lycee of Rennes. The object they had in view was the pre- vention of the discoloration of cider
 The gradual darkening of the hue of cider from amber to a dirty yellow or brown is attributed by Messrs Dufour and Daniel to the presence of tannin. ] The amount varies within rather wide | limits. The larger the proportion of tannin the more readily does the cider turn dark This change occurs, how ever, only when the air has access to the fluid. When a barrel of new cider is allowed to stand with an open bung, and small quantities are drawn from it for daily consumption, the remainder is | much tannin in it. When the percetage is as small as .475 of agramme to litre Slightly more than a quart) 1t is per- fectly safe. But with between 800 and 1925 grammes more or less change may be confidently expected. Deterioration takes place rapidly when the amount runs up, as it sometimes do, to two or two and half grammes tot he litre. Another factor in the problem is the presence of salts of iron in the cider. In fact the tannfn acts not directly, but indirectly It combines with the iron salts to make minute quantity of ink.
 The best was discovered to obviate this trouble is to add small quantity of some acid A number of acids were tried by Messrs. Dufour and Daniel, and they deemd 1t wise to give the pre- ference to citric acid, because the latter possesses antiseptic properties in addi- ton to it's other merits A careful chemical analysis of the cider should be made before treatment begins. It is desirable to know just how much tannin the fluid contains, and also to obtain definite information about the latter's
 
 twenty four grammes of citric acid to one hundred litres of cider are required But ordinarily from ten to twelve gram mes is sufficient.
 In the course of their Investigations the Frenchmen just referred to found that is common practice of their rural countrymen to add wood ashes to the tub or tun in which cider is stored for the purpose of clarifying it. The value of that experiment is called in question by Messrs. Dufour and Daniel They say that the alkali of the ashes neutra- lizes the natural acids of the cider, and thus promotes the darkening action of the contained tannin. Lime or calca- reous earth should also be withheld for like reason.
 What is called ''hard" cider has under gone a double change. It is distinctly more acid to the taste and contains a little alcohol, the product of fermenta- tion In the natural order of procedure the alcohol is first developed and then, through the absorption of oxygen from the air. a part of the alcohol is turned into acetic acid, or vinegar. Now, the connoiseeur likes certain amount of alcohol, but abominates the vinegar. Hence it is desirable to control the pro- cess of fermentation, if possible, in such a way as to retain the alcohol unchang- ed. This effect can be produced by the addition of subordinate of bismuth, a drug which favors the preliminary fer mentation but checks what may be called modification. The latter is not entirely prevented, but abated greatly Thus the sickish sweetness of new cider is lost the development of shudder exciting sharpness is averted and the evolution of from to per cent of alco- hol is promoted.
 The amount of sub-nitrate of bisnluth which should be added, say the two French experts here quoted, s 10 gram mes per 100 litres. The salt is a com paratively harmless one, even when taken in larger quantities.; but when diluted to extent represented in this formula it would be unable to produce the slightest unpleasant effect upon the consumer, no matter how delicate his health.-New York Tribune.