Hello Home Brew Forum!
This is my first post. Ive been lurking for a while picking up some good info and ideas and hopefully Ill get a few more from this post.
So heres the deal. Im working on my second batch of hard cider. Took a trip up to Twin Hill Ranch in Sebastopol, CA and picked up 5 gallons of frozen apple juice (its a little late for all the super fresh stuff but it is still delicious.) I let the juice thaw, added 3 pounds of honey, and put it in my primary with Campden tablets just in case and let it rest for 36 hours. In the mean time I made a yeast starter with some extra apple juice and WLP775 English Cider Yeast and let it sit over night. This morning I added some Servomyces to the cider, and pitched the yeast. After a good 5 minutes of vigorous mixing/aerating, it now sits in my spare bathroom ready to go! So heres where you guys can help.
1) As a novice brewer, my main issue has been incomplete fermentation in my beer and last batch of cider. This is why I made a starter and threw in the servomyces. Im going to keep the ferm temp in the 68-70* range (previous attempts I kept the temps in the low 60s). OG is 1.075 and Im hoping to get down to 1.005ish. Is there anything else I can/should do to ensure I can get complete fermentation?
2) Im hoping to experiment some with this batch as well. Im going to split the batch into 5 one-gallon batches in secondary and add some fun stuff. I found an organic pomegranate concentrate, and some organic black cherry concentrate, and want to dry hop one gallon with some Cascade or Willamette Hops. Any other suggestions or ideas?
Thanks for your input!
Cheers!
This is my first post. Ive been lurking for a while picking up some good info and ideas and hopefully Ill get a few more from this post.
So heres the deal. Im working on my second batch of hard cider. Took a trip up to Twin Hill Ranch in Sebastopol, CA and picked up 5 gallons of frozen apple juice (its a little late for all the super fresh stuff but it is still delicious.) I let the juice thaw, added 3 pounds of honey, and put it in my primary with Campden tablets just in case and let it rest for 36 hours. In the mean time I made a yeast starter with some extra apple juice and WLP775 English Cider Yeast and let it sit over night. This morning I added some Servomyces to the cider, and pitched the yeast. After a good 5 minutes of vigorous mixing/aerating, it now sits in my spare bathroom ready to go! So heres where you guys can help.
1) As a novice brewer, my main issue has been incomplete fermentation in my beer and last batch of cider. This is why I made a starter and threw in the servomyces. Im going to keep the ferm temp in the 68-70* range (previous attempts I kept the temps in the low 60s). OG is 1.075 and Im hoping to get down to 1.005ish. Is there anything else I can/should do to ensure I can get complete fermentation?
2) Im hoping to experiment some with this batch as well. Im going to split the batch into 5 one-gallon batches in secondary and add some fun stuff. I found an organic pomegranate concentrate, and some organic black cherry concentrate, and want to dry hop one gallon with some Cascade or Willamette Hops. Any other suggestions or ideas?
Thanks for your input!
Cheers!