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Is Apple Juice Pasteurized or Unpasteurized?
I’m talking to a local apple juice supplier, and I can purchase the juice pasteurized, or not pasteurized. Any reason I shouldn’t get pasteurized juice? It’ll be coming off their presses and then into cold storage for just a day or two till I pick it up.
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11 Replies
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It’ll pasteurize when you distill it, I’d imagine. Is it just pressed apple juice, or is it fortified with sugar? My understanding is fresh juice has a brix around 10-12. Might be a bit low for you. I’d love to hear from some of the other apple cider/brandy folks on here.
Todd
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Mostly pasteurization damages both texture and aroma. Texture isn’t important for fermentation, but aroma is.
You can pasteurize without harm, but it takes skill. Do you know if they have their own pasteurizer? If they do, it might be okay. If they are a mill that takes juice to a local dairy during slow hours, which is common, forget it. The dairy guys cook the juice.
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Well, I believe they have their own, but they’ve given me the option to get it unpasteurized. I’ve got to drive it home a couple hours, but can pitch yeast soon after picking it up. So if it doesn’t seem like a problem, I’d rather get it unpasteurized.
Is it common practice to use apple juice concentrate or just sugar to bring up the brix? We are just simple potstillers, no column.
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I don’t know about using AJC to chaptalize. I think the price is a deterrent. I use sugar on the bonded winery side to make an apple wine, then transfer it to the DSP. All within the refs that way. Not sure about adding sugar to an apple bill on the DSP side.
The times I’ve tried to chaptalize with a substantial amount of concentrate (apple or pear), its crawled out of the fermenter. Huge creeping cap problems.
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Meant to add that I think running the ABV up will give you more than proportionately more hearts, and will give a more floral aroma profile.
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Creeping cap, you mean foaming?
Running my numbers, it’s looking like using the AJC will actually lower my cost per proof gallon, maybe not as much as sugar though. I would assume that I’d have a finer product from an all apple (juice+concentrate) mash than an apple and sugar mash.
The times I’ve tried to chaptalize with a substantial amount of concentrate (apple or pear), its crawled out of the fermenter. Huge creeping cap problems.
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Foaming during fermentation. A cap over a foot high.
I think the concentrate version would be different than the sugar version. Finer? Not sure. Might be taster dependent.
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In the brewing industry, Fermcap is often used to keep foaming down. I am sure it would work the same here. I don’t think it will affect your distillate. It is inert and won’t come over.
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What’s the ABV that you guys are getting off the fermented juice before you distill?
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This is our first batch, but the juice is about 14 brix, so I’d expect 6-7%
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14 brix is pretty good for common apples.
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