First Batch

Into day 2 of primary fermentation. Started 2 one gallon jugs from Whole Foods.

Bottle 1 - I added 6 fluid oz of honey - 1/2 pack of Red Star Champagne yeast. Noticed Airlock activity within a few hours.

Bottle 2 - I added 1/2 cup lt brown sugar - same yeast. Airlock activity began about 24 hours later.

Made the rookie mistake of dropping my Hydrometer after taking the IG before adding sugars.

oops. Sorry to hear that. Don't sweat it. I'm sure we've all dropped one (or two) wether we admit it or not. I admit it.

Pickled_Pepper said:

oops. Sorry to hear that. Don't sweat it. I'm sure we've all dropped one (or two) wether we admit it or not. I admit it.

Click to expand...

*tink* (the gentle sound of glass breaking)

"What, really?! Are you kidding me?!"

You know you're a homebrewer when: you buy a spare hydrometer after learning your lesson the hard way.

Welcome to the club Brewnube!

hydrometers? we don't need no stinking hydrometers!!! i stopped using them after my ( i think 6th ) broke. now i rely on look, smell, and foaminess to tell me if it's done. learned a little trick from some shiners on that

Thanks, I'll keep you up to date.

84 hours into first batch.


Consistent airlock activity of both jugs. No foaminess. Lots of tiny bubbles rising to the top. I can even hear the activity going on in the bottle.

Ahh... the sound of Nature at work!

7 days and 12 hours into Primary:

CO2 bubbles still rising to the top. Airlock activity has slowed considerably. Nice Trub layer on the bottom. Will watch it for a couple of days and then take a reading.

I guess the next step will be to siphon it into secondary.

Also, I made a raspberry sauce for a dessert last week. Could I add it into secondary of one of the jugs to give it a raspberry note , or freeze the sauce until I'm ready to back sweeten and bottle the cider? What would give better results?

Thanks.

The geat thing about homebrew is all the ideas it gives you! Sure, the raspberry can be added, and secondary is where I would do it. Raspberry is very potent (flavorwise) so don't get too carried away with it. Add, taste, add, taste.

10 days into Primary.

Still seeing some co2 bubbles rising. Bottle 1 appears to be somewhat lighter in color and more solids appea

I do. But some rack over with fermentation still occuring. There are benefits both ways.

Racking before ferment is finished will reestablish the co2 blanket in secondary.

Leaving it in primary till its done allows the yeast to condition the brew after they finish chewing up the sugars.

Day 15: Racking to secondary.


Bottle 1 was racked into another gallon jug. Hydrometer reading was 1.00. Taste test: bone dry- no alcohol burn.
Added 3/8 cup of my homemade raspberry sauce and returned jug back to fermenting area.

Repeated same steps for bottle 2. Hydrometer same, taste same.
Added 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup and returned jug to fermenting area.