Heya! Thanks for being here....
I'm gonna try basic hard cider.... yeast and sugar in a jug of retail juice with a ballon. Reading here I've learned that at best it won't have much apple taste and could easily be undrinkable. I also (now) know it won't be very good at all for some months.
Reading here I found the thread on Graff and have quickly decided to give this stuff a good try. I'm gonna research a couple of local suppliers to learn what's available to me and what it will cost.
But my first questions for you experienced folks...
I'm ok with the process... Primary to Secondary.... to bottle or keg. For myself, one of the Heineken baby kegs -
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=&t=21461
would be simplest and most ideal for my limited resources.
For my secondary stage, can I siphon from (5-6 gallon) carboy to the original gallon jugs the cider came in? (cleaned and sanitized!!) And from those 1 gallon jugs, one at a time siphon them off into the small keg?
Can I sugar for carbonization the single batches in the keg? What are the factors which limit the oppurtunity to carbonize with sugar and the brews residual yeast? Are these kegs actually sturdy enough to hold that natural pressure?
Cold Crash to halt fermentation- This is probably a more advanced question than I need to worry about now, but ...
Anticipating I want a sweeter beverage, can I by monitoring my numbers anticipate that I have a comfortable alchohol level and cold crash the fermenting brew, halting the process and preserving natural sugars for a sweeter beverage?
Thanks in advance for your input. I promise to keep ya'll posted on how this all goes down. I did start a blog here... it will be usefull to me in chronicling my efforts. Hopefully someone else will later find it usefull or entertaining.
I'm gonna try basic hard cider.... yeast and sugar in a jug of retail juice with a ballon. Reading here I've learned that at best it won't have much apple taste and could easily be undrinkable. I also (now) know it won't be very good at all for some months.
Reading here I found the thread on Graff and have quickly decided to give this stuff a good try. I'm gonna research a couple of local suppliers to learn what's available to me and what it will cost.
But my first questions for you experienced folks...
I'm ok with the process... Primary to Secondary.... to bottle or keg. For myself, one of the Heineken baby kegs -
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=&t=21461
would be simplest and most ideal for my limited resources.
For my secondary stage, can I siphon from (5-6 gallon) carboy to the original gallon jugs the cider came in? (cleaned and sanitized!!) And from those 1 gallon jugs, one at a time siphon them off into the small keg?
Can I sugar for carbonization the single batches in the keg? What are the factors which limit the oppurtunity to carbonize with sugar and the brews residual yeast? Are these kegs actually sturdy enough to hold that natural pressure?
Cold Crash to halt fermentation- This is probably a more advanced question than I need to worry about now, but ...
Anticipating I want a sweeter beverage, can I by monitoring my numbers anticipate that I have a comfortable alchohol level and cold crash the fermenting brew, halting the process and preserving natural sugars for a sweeter beverage?
Thanks in advance for your input. I promise to keep ya'll posted on how this all goes down. I did start a blog here... it will be usefull to me in chronicling my efforts. Hopefully someone else will later find it usefull or entertaining.