I'm going to attempt to make a couple of hard ciders tomorrow:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/raspberry-apple-cider-63471/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/
^ those 2
But, I've never home brewed anything before, so I'm a little confused with a few things after reading through many posts here. If anyone could help me out with the following questions, I would appreciate it:
1. First, I've only really had carbonated hard cider, other than just basic hot cider with alcohol in it during the winter. So I was planning on carbonating both, but I see a lot of posts talking about "bottle bombs". If I follow the steps in both of the above recipe posts, will I run into this problem?
2. Bottle wise - I didn't want to spend a lot on bottles, so I figured I would use wine bottles (have tons of recycled ones) and cork them. But, I read a post saying you can't do this if you want carbonated cider because the bottles will break I guess. Is this true? Is there a cheap way to bottle carbonated cider without having to buy a ton of beer bottles?
3. Is there a post that explains the use of the hydrometer in detail? I don't understand what to do to measure the beginning/ending gravities and to determine the alcohol content. Does temperature come into play in this step?
Thanks.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/raspberry-apple-cider-63471/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/
^ those 2
But, I've never home brewed anything before, so I'm a little confused with a few things after reading through many posts here. If anyone could help me out with the following questions, I would appreciate it:
1. First, I've only really had carbonated hard cider, other than just basic hot cider with alcohol in it during the winter. So I was planning on carbonating both, but I see a lot of posts talking about "bottle bombs". If I follow the steps in both of the above recipe posts, will I run into this problem?
2. Bottle wise - I didn't want to spend a lot on bottles, so I figured I would use wine bottles (have tons of recycled ones) and cork them. But, I read a post saying you can't do this if you want carbonated cider because the bottles will break I guess. Is this true? Is there a cheap way to bottle carbonated cider without having to buy a ton of beer bottles?
3. Is there a post that explains the use of the hydrometer in detail? I don't understand what to do to measure the beginning/ending gravities and to determine the alcohol content. Does temperature come into play in this step?
Thanks.