Recent content by Nivek

I've stopped using cinnamon in my primaries because of that. I have had horrible luck with it. Usually I have to wait months before the stench settles with the lees. And then it's terrible to finish a bottle should you accidentally sip yeast. I have been making my own cinnamon extract instead...

3 gallons of strawberry-kiwi cider and 5 of a ginger apple cider. I have another 5 in an ale pale of a pineapple apple cider, but who want to see a big white bucket.

Pineapples are cheap at Costco right now and you just gave me a great idea!

Hello everyone, I picked up some fresh pressed cider yesterday from a local orchard and was planning on making a few different batches. I pitched the appropriate amount of campden in two of the batches and left them in my kitchen overnight. This evening I went to take a look at them and work...

I loved this stuff so much last year that I’m making many more gallons this fall. I am however having issues trying to figure out how to get it in a keg and stop the fermentation. I can’t get a whole carboy in the fridge, and I just discovered stove top pasteurizing in gallon jugs is...

Crispin’s artisanal releases are typically good. There are a couple stinkers, but most are really good.

WHAT!?!? Don't toss it all! Go get a bar tender style bottle opener and start gently relieving the pressure. A normal bottle opener will work too, but it's easier to deform the cap by accident. You don't need to open them all the way. Just gently apply a small amount of force opening the...

I just discovered using the Magic Eraser a week or two ago. I'm never doing anything else to clean up the goo left behind by the sticky plastic labels. Those magic erasers incredible for cleaning up the bottles!

Just picked up some new AO release called Elder Flower. I'll take a reading on it tonight and post the results.

Holy...wow!

I would really like to know what apples are yielding such sweet musts so I can plant a couple. An early frost is supposed to help boost the sugar content. Late harvesters like the "new" frostbite is supposed to be good for this. The climate here should be perfect for that.

No recipe suggestions here, but you mentioned bottle as opposed to bottles. Was this Strawman or Iceman by chance? I haven't opened my bottle of Strawman yet, but Iceman is fantastic. Iceman is an ice cider, like ice wine. So to reproduce that you would need to get an arse load of concentrate...

I've had this problem with the two gallon buckets. My only solution was to use about 12 small clamps from my wood shop to seal the blasted thing. It took only a few seconds after the final clip was in place for the bubbles to start.

I’m not familiar with all these types, but am with some. Being from Minnesota we have a good selection of cold hearty varieties like a few you listed: Honey Crisp, McIntosh, and Winesap. The Winesaps and McIntosh are good for blending into cider without much planning. I have found ways to make...

Hah, sorry for the confusion. I meant it tastes better than it smells. My previous 5-day style batches have tasted amazing. So much so that it has convinced me to alter the method in which I will make all my sweet/semi-sweet ciders from here out. I don't see anyone else here having this issue...