Sidra Natural

Sidra Natural is the traditional cider of Asturias and the most-loved beverage in the region. It is dryly defined as the beverage resulting from the total fermentation of fresh apples or their must, made following traditional practices, without the addition of sugars and containing carbon dioxide (CO2) entirely of endogenous origin. The resulting cider is between 5 and 7% ABV.

Raw Material

Sidra Natural contains only two ingredients; apples and water. The water is traditionally spring water from the same land as the apples were grown. Obviously that is not possible in most cases anymore. Now that there are enormous llagares making millions of bottles of cider a year, both the water and the apples arrive in industrial quantities from elsewhere. But, in the smaller, more traditional, llagares - and in deed in the multitude of farmhouse llagares - the apples and the water still share a terroir.

The apples are mixed according to their taste characteristics. A typical mixture for making sidra natural is something along the lines of :

• 40% acidic apples
• 25-30% semi-acidic
• 10-15% sweet apples
• 15-20% bittersweet apples
• 5% bitter apples

Production

Producing sidra natural begins with washing the apples. They are then broken up, either by grinding with blade mills or crushing with hammer mills. You will find both methods used along the entire gamut of producers. Home shed producers with hammer mills, giant commercial concerns using rotary blade mills, and everything in between.

Once the initial breaking up is done, the apple mass is transferred to the press, and a period of maceration takes place. Letting the crushed apples sit is an important step in improving both yield and taste. During this period, which is usually a half day or full day in home production, the yeast and bacteria from the apple skins are given a chance to begin the pre-ferment. This is a vital step in making proper sidra natural.

During this maceration period, some apple juice will leak from the base of the press. It is traditional to have an oak bucket, or several buckets depending in the size of the press, to catch the run off during the maceration. This juice is called sidre’l duernu or sidra dulce. This first juice is bottled and sold in weekly markets throughout Asturias, to be consumed along with roasted chestnuts at amagüestu celebrations.

Once the maceration is finished, the pressing begins. The pressing, especially in home production is a very slow process, using patience as the primary method by which to control the amount of suspended solids in the resulting juice. The pressure may be increased 3-4 times a day for a couple of days before being released and the second pressing begun.

The second pressing, called cortar el llagar, in which the pressed must is cut and restacked into a cube in the center of the press, and the pressing takes place again, to wring the maximum juice from the must. This can be repated 3-4 times as well.

Fermentation

The apple juice is then transferred into barrels to be fermented all winter. Traditionally these are well-scrubbed oak or chestnut barrels that have never held anything but cider. These days most commercial llagares ferment in stainless steel or fiberglass tanks of 10,000 liters or more. There is however, a brisk business in wooden barrels in the traditional sizes (barrica, pipa, and tonel) for smaller artisan and home producers.

Traditionally, the barrels were filled fully, and the initial fermentation, referred to as el fierve, would push foam and suspended solids out through the open mouth of the barrel. Cider makers then would refill the barrel with more must until the foaming died down. These days it is more common to see skimming of vats or more mechanical filtration prior to filling the fermenters.

The second phase of fermentation after this skimming takes anywhere from three to four months. Depending on the sugar content of the apples and the amount of solids, the time will vary, as will the final alcohol content. Whereas almost all commercial sidra natural falls into a narrow band of between 5.5 and 6.5% ABV, homemade cider can reach up toward 10% ABV.

(There is also a new variant on sidra natural - non-alcoholic cider. One such option is iSidra from llagar El Piloñu)

La sidra, la que me gusta
como quiciavis a naide
i guste más que a estí cura,
si ye una sidra qu'espalmíe,
que de la cara y que tenga
la fuerza considerable
que debe tener la sidra
que cuerre nes llagarades,
de Guimarán y de Güerno,
de Llogrozana y del Valle,
lo que se diz de Carreño
que ye la que meyor sabe.

-- Marcos del Torniello

Racking

Racking is the process of transferring the mostly fermented cider from one barrel to another in order to separate the liquid from the lees (madre or borras). It is also used to marry cider from different primary fermenters together to create a more homogeneous final product.

Traditionally, in Carreño conceyu, racking was never done, and the cider was bottled straight from the primary fermenter. This results in a stronger flavored and cloudier product - one that is coming back into style these days, with the advent of limited runs of cider from llagares outside Carreño that still contain "la madre"or "las borras". This is still a popular home bottling technique, and takes place in the last week or January and the first week of February, mostly.

The racked cider is left in the secondary fermenter for up to two more months. It is traditional to have an espicha on or around the feast of San José on March 19th in order to test out the cider before bottling. This still marks the popular espicha season in the more rural parts of Asturias.

Bottling

Before the 18th century, this step in cider making simply did not exist. The earliest written record of bottled cider in Spain dates to 1805. Prior to this, most cider was dispensed directly from the barrel, and the unit of sale was the zapica, a large wooden mug.

From the early 19th century bottling of cider became the default. This coincided with the urbanization of the populace and the consequent commodification of agrarian and peasant customs. Drinking cider from the barrel was relegated to the commercial version of the espicha - what was once a community event became a paid amusement.

This bottling gave rise to the ritual of cider drinking we know now. The escanciador pouring cider from high above his head, the offering of the small taste of cider at a time.