Recent content by bkvanbek

I make cider, prime and sweeten it. Bottle it with one in a plastic bottle to check carbonation level. When the plastic bottle is hard, I pasteurize. But because the plastic is clear, it is usually a couple days ahead of the tinted glass bottles.

How did this turn out?

Wow, I didn't even try to follow the math. But I do carbonated mead, cyser and blends then stove top pasteurize them. Probably 20 batches, when I bottle I fill a plastic Gatorade 7/8ths full at the same time, and check it daily for how hard it is. When it feels right I but the bottles in large...

How about when it gets to the desired sweetness. If I let my current batch go to 1.00 it will be about 13%, a little more than I am going for. But can I stop it with pasturizing? How, just heat in a pot, heat my bottles? I have done my cider in the bottle, carbinated, I like it. I don't like...

I used pasteurized AJ and honey, nothing unusual happened in the primary. This just grew in both secondaries. Think it is safe to drink.

Pectin? How would that get in there? There is no unpleasant odor. Maybe less smell than normal.

So there is this strange growth in the secondary. A blob giving off bubbles. What is it? I was busy and I left the Cyser in the primary for almost three months. Never opened it but the air lock still had sanitized water in it. Moved the 1.5 gallons to two secondaries and topped off with AJ...

At bottling I added enough sugar for priming and sweetening. Then forgot to check my tester, plastic bottle.

Why is it better to put bottles in hot water, than to slowly heat water and bottles? If I put them in the frig, will they not ferment at all, anymore?

So I bottled some Graff with enough sugar to carbonate and sweeten, with a plastic bottle to check pressure. And forgot about them...until now. Started to stovetop pasteurize and just got to 110 degrees and 4 out of 10 blew. Panicked I started putting the rest in the frig and one blew in my...

These questions concern me...we are in the same state.

After reading these replies, I think I am okay.

I have 2-4 beers every day. Is that too much? How do you know how much is too much?

I remember now, the Midwest guy said something similar.

But it was by accident. I bought a kit from Midwest Supplies, that has "everything you need". So I used the "easy clean" that came in the kit. When I got low I went back to Midwest Supplies and asked for a sanitizer and they sold me more Easy Clean and some oxi type cleaner. Now one year to...