huh?
Member
first ferment. been drinking hard cider since about 1996, starting with Hardcore at the MD Renaissance Festival. I was a beer drinker with a sour taste in my mouth and a gurgling gut. A friend's fiance forced me to try the hard cider and it cured my woes and then some!
Wyeast 4766 + Kirkland Signature approx = thin Crispin Browns Lane Classic English Dry.
6 gals juice into 30l Speidel primary; transfer to 20l Speidel for cold crash in mini-fridge at 34 deg.
Wyeast 4766 - beat the heck outta the package but still didn't completely mix the components somehow (learned later). Gave it 90 mins at 72 room temp before pitching and it worked awesome. Started slow and steady, built up speed, ran like a locomotive for days, weeks even. I could have grown a beanstalk to the moon from my basement with all that CO2.
Kirkland Signature juice - not from concentrate, quality product. $4.25 gal. My ultimate goal is juice from MD/PA orchards this Fall. Now the local orchards have frozen/thawed juiced for $5-6 gal. In the Fall, orchards do wholesale for much less. One said 55 gals would be $3.50/gal in my single container.
Fermented in basement at 68. Didn't even use hydrometer, lacked measuring cylinder, but sensed it was 90%+ done based on air lock activity, less smells, etc. (Didn't have a original gravity reading either, oops).
Cider smelled like the real deal! Wow. Sort of like morning after, warm, uncarbonated, but QUALITY cider. Surface was clean, very slight oily, smelled good. No mold, mildew, spots, nor anything worrisome.
Warm, uncarbonated tasting reminded me of a thin Crispin Browns Lane Classic English Dry. same with a cold crashed uncarbonated.
I earned my stripes and right to post by opening the sixtel and with the $5000 clampy tool thing and a small screw driver which is still stuck in my forehead. A solid first ferment makes me more legit.
Y/T videos and HomebrewTalk pages helped immensely, thanks!
Next ferment planned is Champagne Yeast and juice back sweetening aiming for a homemade Gumption, my favorite.
Wyeast 4766 + Kirkland Signature approx = thin Crispin Browns Lane Classic English Dry.
6 gals juice into 30l Speidel primary; transfer to 20l Speidel for cold crash in mini-fridge at 34 deg.
Wyeast 4766 - beat the heck outta the package but still didn't completely mix the components somehow (learned later). Gave it 90 mins at 72 room temp before pitching and it worked awesome. Started slow and steady, built up speed, ran like a locomotive for days, weeks even. I could have grown a beanstalk to the moon from my basement with all that CO2.
Kirkland Signature juice - not from concentrate, quality product. $4.25 gal. My ultimate goal is juice from MD/PA orchards this Fall. Now the local orchards have frozen/thawed juiced for $5-6 gal. In the Fall, orchards do wholesale for much less. One said 55 gals would be $3.50/gal in my single container.
Fermented in basement at 68. Didn't even use hydrometer, lacked measuring cylinder, but sensed it was 90%+ done based on air lock activity, less smells, etc. (Didn't have a original gravity reading either, oops).
Cider smelled like the real deal! Wow. Sort of like morning after, warm, uncarbonated, but QUALITY cider. Surface was clean, very slight oily, smelled good. No mold, mildew, spots, nor anything worrisome.
Warm, uncarbonated tasting reminded me of a thin Crispin Browns Lane Classic English Dry. same with a cold crashed uncarbonated.
I earned my stripes and right to post by opening the sixtel and with the $5000 clampy tool thing and a small screw driver which is still stuck in my forehead. A solid first ferment makes me more legit.
Y/T videos and HomebrewTalk pages helped immensely, thanks!
Next ferment planned is Champagne Yeast and juice back sweetening aiming for a homemade Gumption, my favorite.
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