Continuous Hard Cider Production
Klaus Doelle, Associate Professor, SUNY-ESF
ABSTRACT
According to the Alcohol Tabaco Tax and Trade Bureau “cider and “hard cider” is referred to
wine that is fermented from apple juice or concentrate. With an estimated 2014 production of
1.25 billion pounds New York State is the Nation’s second largest producer of apples. According
to the National Research Defense Council over 50% of the produced fruit and vegetables is lost
in the supply chain. Over 20 % or 500 million pounds of apples is lost during production and
postharvest, handling and storage in New York State alone because apples are bruised,
damaged or too small to sell. The Farm Cider Bill signed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on
October 2013 allows apple producers to utilize and/or convert apples that would have been lost
into a value added product such as hard cider. If all of the supply chain losses can be converted
a potential of 35 to 45 million gallons of hard cider could be produced in New York State alone.
In order to produce such a large amount of hard cider a more efficient production method is
needed. Currently hard cider production can take several months, therefore the production
output of producers is limited. The presented continuous hard cider production method reduces
the production time to several days and allows a significant production increase with less
infrastructure.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Klaus Doelle, Associate Professor in the Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering,
the Divisio nof Environmental Science and director of the TRINITY Institute at the State
University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Dr.
Doelle has over 22 years of industrial and 9 years of academic experience. His expertise in
managing and performing large basic and applied research projects from the initializing stage to
final commercial stage with a budget range from $10,000 to several million included in-house,
customers, laboratory, universities and governmental agencies on a national and international
level is uniquely applicable in that it encompasses both academic and industrial arenas and he
is conversant with technology development and commercial implementation.
th
8 Annual NYS Biotechnology Symposium
- May 19 & 20, 2016 -