Recent content by chrisjw

Oops. I am assuming that your lemon drink does not have much preservative, and you did not complete fermentation, and did not add sorbate already. If not, it should be ok to proceed but .... Your lemon drink only contained 3% juice and did it have sugar? If you add the frozen concentrate at...

I would not think that there would be that much difference in the sugar content among various frozen concentrates. Are you sure about how much sugar and malt you added? Did you dissolve the sugar and malt in hot water before measuring the SG? Other than that I would check that your...

The airlock on the primary is fine. Opening the lid everyday and stirring it is not a problem during primary fermentation. Oxygen is good for the yeast. Having must go into the airlock is not a good thing since fluid from the airlock could go back into the must. Some people use vodka in the...

I also have the pulp and its still foaming up but not as much as yesterday. Adding the baking soda really helps the yeast out and results in a much quicker ferment especially if the pH is below 3.0. My skeeter pee was at 2.5 before I added the baking soda. I am on day 3 and the SG is at...

The reason for adding baking soda is to help the yeast. Most yeast struggle below pH 3.1. Stressed yeast can lead to H2S which could end up smelling like rotten egg or burnt rubber.

I have just started this recipe. I added 1 tsp of baking soda just to bring the pH up a bit from 3.02 to 3.12. I figure that I can always add citric acid to increase the acidity after fermentation, if necessary. My OG was only 1.062. I am considering adding another lb of corn sugar. I...