Recent content by NiteBeest

Shouldn't be to bad with the head space, as you'll have the co2 from fermentation keeping it from oxidizing. In secondary, you really don't want any head space. In primary though, it's usually not as bad as long as you still have the co2 blanketing the must.

I know when I make EdWort's apfelwein I consistently hit around 7.7% ABV. I usually use Tree Top apple juice. Last time I checked the SG of just the juice was 1.046. 1.046 will take you to 6% if you ferment down to 1.000. I remember one of my first batches I did 5 gallons of apple juice to 5...

There's a cidery in Sacramento called Two Rivers. They have a bunch of flavors, most of which are pretty tasty. I think long story short, as long as you have your act together, it can succeed.

True. Granted for our bar it was easier to use the nitrogen mix we already had set up to push a couple of our stouts. Argon works great as well and they were thinking about doing that when we first opened. Either is a viable option.

We have wine on tap at the restaurant/bar I work at. Comes in 5 gallon kegs. Forget what psi its at (I can check today when I go in). We're using 70/30 nitrogen/co2 to push if I remember correctly. No carbonated wine, no oxidation, and a lot easier for us when it gets busy. I'll try to get some...

Yes and no. 1118 is a really strong yeast that tends to ferment so hard you lose some of the more subtle aromatics and flavors. It's the same reason we don't use turbo yeast either. Yeasts that ferment at a normal rate help to keep those around. They are both yeasts. Both have been fairly well...

Whole 6 inch bean is fine. Just split it down the middle and drop it in. You should be fine with it in there for around a month or until you have the vanilla flavor you want. I have 4 beans split in my 4 gal of strawberry vanilla mead that's in secondary right now. Probably going to rack it off...

Any yeast that won't blow most of the flavor and aromatics through the airlock during fermentation should be good to use. D47 and 71B jump to mind right now.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ All the recipes on his site are tailored for 1 gallon batches (unless otherwise stated). Awesome reference to have. Years worth of wine recipes and other notes. Browse through the site... loads of information in there.

Pulled from Jack Kellers website: And pulled from fermentationtrap.com: I would personally go with one of those for the strawberry wine. I've heard good things about both, they both finish up around 13-14%, and depending on your original gravity, it could leave a little residual sweetness...

The Safale 05 will go up to 12%. The Montrachet will go up to 13%. The 1118 will go up to 18%. IMO the Safale or the Montrachet will be the better bet. The point of using bread yeast in the recipe (other than you can get it in the grocery store) is that it has a relatively low tolerance (I...

Yea. Any of those will work fine. That's what Malkore did in his re-write of the recipe (search for MAOM).

No problem. Using wild yeast though, you're bound to get drastic results each time. If you want to produce a consistently good product, go to a LHBS and pick up some yeast. A pack of dry yeast usually runs around $1. You could always order some online from various websites as well.

Depends on the yeast strain you are using. Some can tolerate a wider range of temperatures. D47 likes to stay pretty cool and not get above a certain temp or it's going to start producing fusels. When you decide on a yeast, look it up and see what the temperature range is for that certain strain.

Racking it will help. I never really get around to degassing my wines, ciders, and meads, but I think most people just give it a good stir (for ~5 min) every day (I think maybe in primary... someone will have to double check on this for me). Long story short, if you just let it bulk age for a...