Snuffy has started his first batch.

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Snuffalupagus

Snuffalupagus

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It has begun.
I arrived home from work today and found a package from internet homebrew shop -therein were the basics I needed to get started. all except a 5 gallon water jug - which i had fortunately stolen er... I mean, borrowed from work today.

I went out and discovered that the local hippie supply store had gotten a new shipment of organic apple juice so i bought four more gallons to join the one i bought a few days ago ( it was the last one at the hippie supply store at the time) while i was there I bought some localy milled turbinato sugar (maui grown! baby)

I cleaned the jug with a water and bleach solution and rinsed it no less than 6 times with warm water. I alowed it to dry.
while that was going on I heated up a pot of water and disolved (mostly anyway) 2 pounds of sugar I alowed this to cool a bit and started pouring the apple juice into my 5 gallon jug, I then added the sugar solution, capped the bottle and shook the hell out of it. went upstatirs and warmed 2 ounces of water and a teaspoon of the suar solution to 105 degrees and re hydrated the EC-1118 yeast. per the package instructions I let it stand for 15 minutes then gave it a stir. it looked (a little?) bubbly and had a sweet yeast scent to it. I pitched this into my jug along with 3 teaspoons of yeast nutrient and added my airlock. Three hours later there is still no obvious bubbling at the airlock.... maybe my yeasty beasties are tired from thier long flight?;) do yeast get jetlagged? maybe they like to run on "island time"

anyway I'm going by the seat of my pants style so I haven't bought a Hydrometer so I don't know the gravity of my project, but I figgure 4-5 weeks primary then straight to bottling with a primer for 3/4 of the brew, the rest will be bottled still.

recipe is as follows:
3.5 gallons Solana Gold unfiltered organic Apple juice ( I drank a half gallon of this after work today - brewing is thirsty work :drunk: )
1 gallon Santa Cruz unfiltered organic apple juice
2 pounds "Sugar in the Raw" maui grown Turbinado cane sugar
1 packet Lavlin EC-118
3 teaspoons yeast nutrient.

will keep you posted on progress and ask questions if things don't seem right.
wish me luck :tank:
 
You'll be fine, EC-1118 is a vigorous 'killer' strain, perfect for noobs. These strains secrete a protein that kill non-killer yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. They also tend to ferment fast and finish sharply, consuming all resources before other organisms can proliferate. As a bonus, they precipitate immediately after completion. The bulk of the suspension will fall in a matter of hours. Can't miss it. However, being a noob myself, I would feel lost without my hydrometer. Buy one, when money permit? :)
 
Looks good, the only one thing concerns me though; did you check the recycling number on the bottom of the 5 gallon water jug? if it's anything other than #1 or #2, I'd move it to either glass, or a #1/#2 jug as soon as you can, or else your cider will most probably oxidize and get some taste cardboard box flavors.
 
Freezeblade said:
Looks good, the only one thing concerns me though; did you check the recycling number on the bottom of the 5 gallon water jug? if it's anything other than #1 or #2, I'd move it to either glass, or a #1/#2 jug as soon as you can, or else your cider will most probably oxidize and get some taste cardboard box flavors.
Click to expand...


it's a #2


update:
this moring I went down to my guest bathroom (the designted Brewhouse, as I have no guests and I figured that the shower which is a flat tile type with a drain would be good if things got vigorous) and my new guests are bubbling away madly, I think island life suits them nicely. :ban:
 
Snuffy,
You'll hear soon enough, so here it is...
Now that you've started your first batch be prepared to start your second very soon. You're going to want to start your pipline.

You'll be tempted to drink all five gallons while you're waiting for your second batch to finish, but put a few bottles aside for a few months and you'll be glad you did.


And don't forget to add your gallons to the list!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/how-many-gallons-edworts-apfelwein-have-been-made-20383/

Cheers,
Michael
 
michael88n said:
Snuffy,
You'll hear soon enough, so here it is...
Now that you've started your first batch be prepared to start your second very soon. You're going to want to start your pipline.

You'll be tempted to drink all five gallons while you're waiting for your second batch to finish, but put a few bottles aside for a few months and you'll be glad you did.


And don't forget to add your gallons to the list!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/how-many-gallons-edworts-apfelwein-have-been-made-20383/

Cheers,
Michael
Click to expand...


already have some ideas, and i've got one spare airlock and stopper
2 more packets of EC-118 and i just liberated another 5 gallon jug :D

so like as not I'll have another primary going soon enough.
just gotta figure out how much money 4.5 gallons of pear juice is going to run me. (stuff ain't cheap here)

also on the radar will be a gallon of berry cider (likely rasberry or blackberry)

then it will be on to local tropical fruits...like maybe a gallon of lillikoi/mango cider.
 
After pitching the EC-1118 into my brew at 4:30 pm on thursday there was no real change until the next morning (bubbling a little) when I returned from work at 4:30 it was bubbling FIRCELY. It remained like this until Friday night, when it came back down to a more sedate fizz, and has progressively petered out until this morning. now it's just bubbling a tiny bit. temp in the brew room is about 75 deress. this is Normal behavior for EC-1118 right?

following ed's recipie (but he used mantrachet) I intend to just let it sit and wait for a full month, but I want to make sure everything is cool. seems to me that was awful quick. and since i'm new at this i wouldn't know what a stuck fementation acts like, nor do I know what is supposed to happen when a proper yeast is used for cider making.
the stuff SMELLS great and I've resisted the temptation to siphon off a bit and taste it.
 
The only thing that I would say is that you might want to get some real carboys. The 5 gal water bottles are only designed to have water in them. Oxygen can get in them and they can retain flavors. Other than that it sounds like are on a roll. I can’t wait to get my cider going. A couple more weeks and the local cider place will be starting up.
 
g_rath said:
The only thing that I would say is that you might want to get some real carboys. The 5 gal water bottles are only designed to have water in them. Oxygen can get in them and they can retain flavors. Other than that it sounds like are on a roll. I can’t wait to get my cider going. A couple more weeks and the local cider place will be starting up.
Click to expand...

Water bottles that are #1 and #2 are fine to use in brewing. #1 is essentally a better bottle. #3 and #7 should never be used however, as they permit oxygen flow through the plastic; however, it has said that his waterbottles are #2, so should be fine to use.
 
Snuffalupagus said:
After pitching the EC-1118 into my brew at 4:30 pm on thursday there was no real change until the next morning (bubbling a little) when I returned from work at 4:30 it was bubbling FIRCELY. It remained like this until Friday night, when it came back down to a more sedate fizz, and has progressively petered out until this morning. now it's just bubbling a tiny bit. temp in the brew room is about 75 deress. this is Normal behavior for EC-1118 right?
I did almost the same with the same results except I used a K1V-1116 yeast. Both are good fermenters.

Starting SG 1.056

Pitched at 9/15 9:30 PM. By 11:00 pm it was starting to ferment well.
9/16 10:00 am it was going nuts. temp was up to 74 deg in a 68 degF room and the S-shaped airlock was going 120+ a minute. 4:00 pm 160+ per minute at 78 degF. I set the jug in 1" water with a towel around the jug and the end of the towel in the water. 11:30 PM temp was down to 72 and 128 per minute so I was happy.
9/17 7:00 pm was visibly slowing down and temp was at 70 degF. Took a reading and it was at 1.004 SG. 11:30 it was down to 8 bubbles per minute.

Id say you are perfectly fine.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Freezeblade said:
Water bottles that are #1 and #2 are fine to use in brewing. #1 is essentally a better bottle. #3 and #7 should never be used however, as they permit oxygen flow through the plastic; however, it has said that his waterbottles are #2, so should be fine to use.
Click to expand...

This could be the start of a long debate, let’s not do that. There is lots of info/debate about this (oxygen, chemicals seepage) if one does a search. It’s really a personal choice. I like glass because I know nothing will get past it. Could one taste the difference if a water bottle was used, I don’t know. Would it hurt to get some more carboys? We all know the answer to that.:)
 
thanks for the insight on your experience with KV-116.

didn't expect such a rapid reaction.

as for the great bottle debate - 5 gallon water bottles is what I have, so I'll use them. the likelyhood of obtaing glass carboys is slim to none. - the price to ship them to maui will be higher than the price they are worth (and they ain't cheap to begin with.
 
Snuffalupagus said:
thanks for the insight on your experience with KV-116.

didn't expect such a rapid reaction.

as for the great bottle debate - 5 gallon water bottles is what I have, so I'll use them. the likelyhood of obtaing glass carboys is slim to none. - the price to ship them to maui will be higher than the price they are worth (and they ain't cheap to begin with.
Click to expand...

You let me stay in in your guest room in Maui, I'll bring you carboys! :D
 
Snuffalupagus said:
as for the great bottle debate - 5 gallon water bottles is what I have, so I'll use them. the likelyhood of obtaing glass carboys is slim to none. - the price to ship them to maui will be higher than the price they are worth (and they ain't cheap to begin with.
Click to expand...

Snuffy,

A quick web search brought up Maui Home Brew Supply at:

336 Wainohia St in Kihei, HI

I'd have to think any self respecting home brew shop is going to have glass carboys on hand. They are between 20-30 bucks stateside for a 5-6 gallon, so I have to think it's going to be no more than 40 bucks for you to invest.


-kap
 
kaplanfx said:
Snuffy,

A quick web search brought up Maui Home Brew Supply at:

336 Wainohia St in Kihei, HI

I'd have to think any self respecting home brew shop is going to have glass carboys on hand. They are between 20-30 bucks stateside for a 5-6 gallon, so I have to think it's going to be no more than 40 bucks for you to invest.


-kap
Click to expand...



No longer exists - it was a small buisness run out of a home... discovered after doing a roll by on the address after the phone number was found to be disconected. (I live in Kihei) the coustomer base for home brew supplies on the island is way too small for a buisness focused only on that to survive very long.
 
Snuffy,

Can you call up Kona Brewery and see if they have anything they can sell you or if they know where to get a carboy? Just a thought and I do realize they're on a completely different island.

Thanks,

Alex
 
ackatack said:
Snuffy,

Can you call up Kona Brewery and see if they have anything they can sell you or if they know where to get a carboy? Just a thought and I do realize they're on a completely different island.

Thanks,

Alex
Click to expand...
thought about that, but KB is a pretty big opperation, don't think they'll have small time brewing gear. I'll make due with my #2 5 gallon plastic bottles and my 1 gallon glass ones.

Update: fermentation has all but stopped on my cider - I've seen that racking to a secondary isn't really needed for a cider (as per Edwort's tutorial) now he was using a different yeast (montrachet) I'm using Ec-1118 - ok to let em stay on da lees fo tree more weeks fore I like bottle em'? <---bumbai, I kike type local style, yeah? :drunk:
 

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