Recent content by Flordan

Three tablets sounds about right to me. I have bulk aged a couple of ciders for over 2 years in carboys (too lazy to bottle) without using them and have had no problems. The biggest key is to keep the airlock full always and to keep it in a dark and cool place. After a year or two though, there...

Based on my experience with wine stored for up to 10 years, I would only use "natural" corks versus the aggregate ones. The corks also need to fit the neck of the bottle very tightly to hold the carbonation in. The few bottles I did with aggregate corks tend to start leaking, especially if they...

I always bulk age myself. I would not sweeten before aging though unless I added sorbate or something to stop fermentation or you will just keep running up the alcohol content. I never add sorbate to my ciders and have found that with repeated racking over time most of the yeast will settle out...

Thanks. Without a doubt, these are low pH pears, not sure on the specific gravity yet. I doubt I have enough of them to get a decent amount of juice, but will most likely break them and add them to a batch of apple juice, I am just unsure of the quantity to add due to the astringency. If I add...

I work at a botanic garden and recently got a hold of some ornamental pears. The name of the pear is Pyrus ussuriensis 'Mordak'. The pears are about the size of a golf ball, sour like a lemon, and have tannin levels that will dry your mouth out. If you have ever tasted an acorn, this is about...

I have done this on a few different batches. I started a 3 gallon batch of apple cider and added a dozen chopped up pears to the mix in the primary. I will usually leave it sit on the fruit for about 2 weeks before I rack it off to a secondary and will add more pears at this time. I will do this...

Long time reader, first time posting a comment. I have made the Mr. Beer Cider kits on a number of occasions. They are not bad as far as a kit goes, but using a decent store bought apple juice or fresh pressed will get you a much better cider in the end. The Mr. Beer kit makes a cider with...