Recent content by Dex Pistol

Howdy. I use a hydrometer to calculate abv in my cider, but I really don't care about abv. All I care about is that all of the fermentable sugars have been fermented, i.e. all I care about is the number .990 Can a refractometer tell me if I have reached the equivalent .990? Thank you kindly

Howdy. A friend gave me a couple of litres of Happy Planet Extreme C juice/smoothie. It's all juice except it also has camu camu fruit powder, baobob fruit powder, sweet potato powder, rosehip fruit powder, and citrus bioflavonoids. Since there are no preservatives, could I add this juice into...

Classic answer to the classic question. Cheers. Do you think I should remove the space heater from the room or keep it going until fermentation starts? It's just heating the room to around room temp, it's a very cold basement in Southern Ontario, Canada.

Howdy. I'm currently on hour 39 of my first cider brew. I'm trying to avoid the dreaded "why hasn't my fermentation started yet?!?!*&@?!?!" post by asking a specific question. After adding 6 gallons of apple juice (100%+asorbic acid) I added 6 tsp of DAP and 1 packet of EC 1118 (not expired). I...

Hello. It's been recommended that I purchase yeast nutrient for cider making. Are there benefits to purchasing a nutrient combination with DAP and other things, or is DAP enough? It's recommended that DAP is added a few days into fermentation. Huge newbie question but wouldn't opening the lid...

Cheers! Since this will be my first ever brew I think I'll use the 3/4 to test OG then chuck it. Next brew I'll get a little more risky

Howdy. I have a bunch of screw top Stoli bottles, as well as a screw top wine bottle. Assuming I screw the top tightly after bottling, would there be any issues with carbing in these bottles?

Hello. I'm making 6 gallons apple cider with EC-1118 and nutrient. The way the juice is packaged I have 22.89 litres of juice. 6 gallons is 22.7 litres. Since each packet of EC-1118 is rated up to 6 gallons, would it be better to remove the 0.8 cup of juice extra, or does that small an amount...

Good to know, thank you. Do you have any specific ale yeasts you enjoy?

Hello. I've heard good things about Lavlin 71B for a good unaged cider because of MLF. Any other good yeast strains for a quick turnaround young dry cider? I'm cautious of beer/ale yeasts because I'm looking for a bone dry cider.

Howdy. I've heard from a lot of people that they prime and bottle with plastic bottles. I have several (several several) great value brand club soda plastic bottles with caps. If I prime/bottle my cider in them, how do I keep it carbonated? After you open a bottle of soda, even after you close...

Cheers. I will hold off on brewing until I have yeast nutrient, which will be easy because I forgot to buy a bung as well. Ordering both now. I think I'm going to go with option 2, 1lb corn sugar, 6 gallons of apple juice, 1118 yeast, and yeast nutrient. Bucket until a few days after it's...

Much appreciated. I think I will do option 2, 1 pound corn sugar, 6 gallons juice, and 118 yeast. It's difficult to parse through the thousands of threads with similar tags to my question. I think I speak for all newbies when I say that answers like this that provide definitive cons to the pros...

On the same note, Solid data point, I appreciate it. Why yeast nutrient? I understand why for wines but is it really important for a 6-7% cider?

Thank you for the reply. What ABV were you around and was there any residual sugar?