Recent content by Blanchy

How does the first batch taste?

I've been swirling it regularly to let off a bit of CO2- no signs of stressed out yeasties, so I've decided I'm not going to worry about it too much.

I'm two days into fermentation, and my LHBS doesn't have any calcium carbonate. Is there anything else I can use to keep the pH from dropping too low?

First off, awesome names. Secondly, I would be incredibly cautious about consuming fly agaric in any form, let alone in conjunction with alcohol. Could be a Darwin Award in the making, right there...

I've found this thread a bit late, I see- I'm in Brighton. I've got a gallon of cider from Carlson Orchards going with a pound of varietal honey from Roche Bros. and EC-1118. It's my first batch with nice cider/honey, so we'll see how it turns out. I've also got five gallons of cider with...

I've heard of getting rid of the tannins by boiling them and changing out the water until it longer turns brown.

5lbs of honey is definitely not too much. You should have no problem at all completely drying that out, especially with the champagne yeast. I've done 5 gal AJ/5 lbs honey, and it usually finishes with around 10-13% abv. The apple flavor is definitely in front, but that ratio of honey adds some...

^That's what I thought too...

Do we have any updates on longevity?

That cider mill/press sounds frackin' awesome! Some people have all the luck. You might not need to re-rack to clear it; usually the yeasties and solids will drop out fairly rapidly after a few weeks. That way you wouldn't have to a)risk oxidation when you're racking again and b)worry about any...

Hey Wrangler, How long since you started it? Fruit flavors should come back with aging. You've got a few immediate options though. If you've stabilized it, you could backsweeten with some grape juice or concentrate, or adding some tannins will add some body too- my preferred method is strong...

You said this batch was about two gallons- how many pounds of apples did that require? I might be interested in trying this in a five gallon batch.

The yeast will multiply in the bottle. Three weeks is pretty much the standard amount of time for bottle conditioning, but it can take longer for meads or wines with a higher alcohol content.

How long has it been since you started it? I usually wait two months before bottling, but as long as there is not much head space in your carboy and your airlock has water in it, you can leave it basically as long as you feel like. It will only improve with aging.

I haven't tried it myself, but I can't see a problem with it. I would use less fruit than you think you need in secondary though- the base flavor will come back stronger the more you age it.