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CiderCider (known in parts of North America as hard cider, and also spelled cyder) is an alcoholic beverage made from apples. In Europe and Oceania, "cider" refers to fermented apple juice. In the United States and parts of Canada the same drink is known as "hard cider", with "cider" referring to an unfermented (non-alcoholic) drink that is a subtype of apple juice. Cider is often stronger than beer, and is frequently over 6% alcohol by volume (ABV). The common eating apples are unsuitable for cidermaking, being low in tannins; specific apple cultivars bred especially for cidermaking are preferred. Cider comes in a variety of tastes, from sweet to dry. Modern, mass-produced ciders are generally heavily processed and resemble sparkling wine in appearance. More traditional brands, often known as scrumpy, tend to be darker and more cloudy, as less of the apple is filtered out. They are often stronger than processed varieties. "White cider" is made by processing cider after the traditional brewing process is complete, resulting in a nearly white product. This processing allows the manufacturer to produce strong (typically 7-8% ABV) cider cheaply, quickly, and on an industrial scale, often from poor raw materials. After the apples are gathered from the trees, they are "scratted" (ground) into what is called pomace or pommage, either by means of a common pressing stone with a circular trough, or by a cider mill, traditionally driven by the hand, water-mill, or horse-power, but these days likely to be electric. When the pulp is thus reduced to a great degree of fineness, it is conveyed to the cider press, where it is formed by pressure into a kind of cake, which is called the cheese. This is effected by placing clear, sweet straw or hair cloths between the layers of pomace, usually alternating with slatted ash-wood racks, until there is a pile of 10 or 12 layers. It is important to minimise the time that the pomace is exposed to air, to reduce oxidation — and, at the same time, the cheese must be constructed evenly, or the whole pile slithers onto the floor. This pile is then subjected to different degrees of pressure in succession, until all the must or juice is squeezed from the pomace. This juice, after being strained in a coarse hair-sieve, is then put into either open vats or closed casks, and the pressed pulp is either given to farm animals as winter feed (or thrown away) or used to make liqueurs. Fermentation is best effected at a temperature of 4-16 °C (40-60°F). This is low for most kinds of fermentation, but works for cider as it leads to slower fermentation with less loss of delicate aromas. Shortly before the fermentation consumes all the sugar, the liquor is "racked" into new vats. This leaves dead yeast cells and other undesirable material at the bottom of the old vat. At this point it becomes important to exclude airborne acetic bacteria, so care is taken to fill the vat completely, and the fermenting of the remaining available sugar generates a small amount of carbon dioxide that helps to prevent air seeping in. This also creates a certain amount of sparkle, and sometimes extra sugar is added at this stage for this purpose and also to raise the alcohol level. Racking is sometimes repeated if the liquor remains cloudy. Check out the following recipes that are tagged "Cider":
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