Hello all. Name is Brian, 34 yrs old, Firewall Engineer, Garland, TX... New to home brewing anything. With that said, I figured I'd start off with something "simple".
A friend has been brewing cider for a while, so I thought I'd give it a go with maybe a different style. The way he does it, it usually takes 5-6 months. From the research I've done it seems that there are a million different ways. His last batch was not bad, just a bit "vinegary" smelling. He gets everything going in a carboy and lets it go with touching it for at least 5 months (no racking, hydro readings, nothing), and from what I'm reading, it seems that that is a bit long and wrong. LOL
Here is what I plan on doing: (Please feel free to tell me where I might be wrong)
I have a 6 ga glass carboy setup that I will use to make a big batch, but for now I have (4) 1 ga jugs of cider that I ordered from Sams and stoppers/airlocks to fit them. I want to try different combinations of sugars (ie. white, brown, honey, etc.). I would like to have some recommendations on sugar quantity. As I understand it, the amount of sugar directly equates to the final abv. I see some use 1/2lb, 1lb, 2lbs, etc. I have Lavlin D47 wine yeast, campden tabs, yeast nutrient, and fruit essences. Once I find the batch I like I will make the 6 ga carboy with that setup.
From what the guy at my local home brew hq told me is that I can use campden tabs to sterilize my equipment 1 tab per ga, but to only use 1 tab for a whole 5-6 ga batch of cider to kill bacteria and wild yeast. So my 1st question is, does this sound right? I have seen several people say to use 1 tab per ga of cider, and almost nothing on using it as a "sterilizer" for equipment.
My next question is primary fermentation. Should I really be doing that in a bucket? Also, I have read to let it go for 1-2 wks until you see less than 1 bubble per min, but then I read that is the wrong way to judge when it's ready to rack. LOL!
3rd question... when to not have bottle bombs? My buddy had problems with the last batch (even after 5 months) with bottles exploding on him. I see that you can stop fermentation by using potassium sorbate, but that may impart bad flavoring. So is cold crashing the way to go to stop fermentation? And if you do that, that means it has to stay cold from that point forward correct? On top of all that...I do not want a carbonated cider.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, and never taken for granted. I realize that people's time is worth more than cash in most cases.
A friend has been brewing cider for a while, so I thought I'd give it a go with maybe a different style. The way he does it, it usually takes 5-6 months. From the research I've done it seems that there are a million different ways. His last batch was not bad, just a bit "vinegary" smelling. He gets everything going in a carboy and lets it go with touching it for at least 5 months (no racking, hydro readings, nothing), and from what I'm reading, it seems that that is a bit long and wrong. LOL
Here is what I plan on doing: (Please feel free to tell me where I might be wrong)
I have a 6 ga glass carboy setup that I will use to make a big batch, but for now I have (4) 1 ga jugs of cider that I ordered from Sams and stoppers/airlocks to fit them. I want to try different combinations of sugars (ie. white, brown, honey, etc.). I would like to have some recommendations on sugar quantity. As I understand it, the amount of sugar directly equates to the final abv. I see some use 1/2lb, 1lb, 2lbs, etc. I have Lavlin D47 wine yeast, campden tabs, yeast nutrient, and fruit essences. Once I find the batch I like I will make the 6 ga carboy with that setup.
From what the guy at my local home brew hq told me is that I can use campden tabs to sterilize my equipment 1 tab per ga, but to only use 1 tab for a whole 5-6 ga batch of cider to kill bacteria and wild yeast. So my 1st question is, does this sound right? I have seen several people say to use 1 tab per ga of cider, and almost nothing on using it as a "sterilizer" for equipment.
My next question is primary fermentation. Should I really be doing that in a bucket? Also, I have read to let it go for 1-2 wks until you see less than 1 bubble per min, but then I read that is the wrong way to judge when it's ready to rack. LOL!
3rd question... when to not have bottle bombs? My buddy had problems with the last batch (even after 5 months) with bottles exploding on him. I see that you can stop fermentation by using potassium sorbate, but that may impart bad flavoring. So is cold crashing the way to go to stop fermentation? And if you do that, that means it has to stay cold from that point forward correct? On top of all that...I do not want a carbonated cider.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, and never taken for granted. I realize that people's time is worth more than cash in most cases.