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Thanks. Just to be sure I'm clear, I'm fairly certain that the fermentation is done. I haven't checked the gravity in a few weeks, but it was right around 1.00 the last time I checked. I plan to check it one last time before I bottle. I was more concerned with stability for longer term...

I'm getting ready to bottle my first batch of this stuff. I'm going to put about 2/3 of it in plastic minikegs with priming sugar and drink it as soon as it's carbed up. The rest I thought I'd bottle in wine bottles and try to keep it a while to let it mature. Should I add sulfite to the...

Oh and for ginger, I've seen a lot of ginger ale recipes with varying amounts of ginger. The first I tried was Alton Brown's. He uses 1.5 oz grated fresh ginger in a 2L batch plus juice of one lemon or lime plus 6 oz sugar. (I used 5 oz ginger, 18 oz sugar and the juice of two limes in a 6L...

I've been making 1.5 gallon batches of a similar recipe and naturally carbonating in tap-a-draft jugs. I've been using about a 1/2 tsp of EC-1118 champagne yeast.

Are you able to revert to using cartridges after using those fittings or does threading in the 3/4" fitting ruin the cartridge housing?

Nice. I like your labels, too. :) Is that the TAD system that you have? You wouldn't happen to have a CO2 cartridge and some calipers would you? I'd like to know if the neck diameter and length of the TAD cartridges matches that of the Miller home draft system. I noticed there's a pressure...

I have a small batch of cider going in a 3L wine jug. I used my own home-pressed juice, sulfited and added EC-1118 yeast. After about a month of fermentation, I had a SG drop from 1.056 to 1.002. I also had about an inch of trub in the bottom of the jug and thought I would try racking. I only...

Thanks for the nice description of all the parts. I got 3 of the miller home draft mini kegs recently and I've been experimenting with them. Can you tell me if the Miller system and the Tap a Draft system use identical CO2 cartridges? I took a spent cartridge out of one of the miller...

I'm hoping I can manage to choke them down. :) They're 16g cartridges. What brand did you try? I imagine the best way is to use the ones they sell at midwest supply. Leland brand 16g CO2 cartridges, pack of six for $9. I think they carry them at my LHBS. I'm thinking I may try to hook them...

Right, but the tap alone costs close to $40 when you factor in shipping. I got three taps and three bottles ($120 or so of TAD hardware, before tax and shipping) for $60. It's not the end of the world, but it could be the end of a very good deal.

I was looking for a low cost way to keg homemade cider and came across the discussions of the Tap-a-Draft systems and the miller/coors Home Draft thingies (MCHDT). I decided to try to locate a MCHDT, called several distributors in the pittsburgh area and got several replies that they normally...

This thread peaked my curiosity because I have wondered recently about commercial sweet white and pink wines that have a tiny bit of effervescence when opened. It generally seems like a good thing to me. I wondered how that could be accomplished at home.

Got it! Thanks guys. I was indeed thinking about headspace in my carboy if I only carb small batches. I'm still toying with the idea of a couple corny kegs and a CO2 system, but it's good to know the TAD option can work.

I'm just getting in to this cider/wine making hobby I've been trying to read up, but I want to be sure I understand a few things as I plan for some future equipment purchases. I started out simply because I had a surfeit of apples this year and decided to try pressing my own juice. I kept most...

Grapes have a lot of sugar, enough that you really don't need to add any sugar to make a wine. Most other fruit doesn't contain nearly as much natural sugar so if you want a final product with 7 or 8 % or more ABV you need to add sugar. You can start out with juice and measure the specific...

Hi I just mixed up my first batch of Apfelwein. I followed EdWort's recipe to the letter. The only issue is that my space allotment for playing with fermentables is in an unheated coal cellar. I just measured the temperature of a bottle of water sitting in the same room as my fermenter and it...

You would add the tannin when the primary fermentation is done and after racking to a secondary?

It looks really nice. That's definitely something to consider. Do you ever have any issues with the outflow getting stopped up? Do you hook up an airhose to help cool it? Thanks!

I currently have my first batch of cider fermenting in a 3L wine jug. The juice is from sweet dessert (red and golden delicious) apples I have growing in my backyard. I suspected that they would not be high enough in acid content so I had some malic acid on hand to correct with. After pressing...

I've been looking into food grade coatings that would be suitable to protect the bare metal parts of my shredder before using it for apples, and came across a food grade silicone lubricant (usually used for butchering equipment). Thought this might be a good alternative to paint that wouldn't...