New to brewing

[DigbyPotter]

Afternoon all,

I have never brewed anything before but I love cider so my brother bought me a Catalyst system for Christmas this year.

I have a few questions that hopefully don't sound too ignorant.

It came with a bottle of Star-San and a spray bottle. My plan was to mix it in a 5 gallon bucket so I would have something to soak parts in and I can put a lid on it for use throughout the process.

1) Do I need to use a food-safe bucket or will a Home Depot bucket work just as well?
2) How long does it last once diluted? Can I keep it for the duration of the brew?
3) Should I have a pair of nitrile gloves on while dealing with this stuff? Will it bleach fabric?

I have 3 gallons of pasteurized, unfiltered apple juice that says "no preservatives" on the label. It has never been opened and has been kept in a dark pantry since we purchased it...in 2014. It has a use by date of 2015. If it does not smell bad when I open it, do y'all think it is still good to use?

Is there a minimum amount of juice that I need to have in the fermenter? Could I add water to reach that minimum amount?

Lastly, it also came with a hydrometer. What readings do I need to take before, during, and after?

I have a feeling I am making this more complicated than it needs to be. Thanks for the help.

Cheers,
D

 

[BrewInspector]

I'll answer a few...
Starsan sanitize s by acid ph
It will not bleach clothing
It remains effective a long time
Keep the 5 gallons worth as long as it lasts. You can use the spray bottle of starsan to sanitize quickly. It is no rinse and don't fear the foam. Never worn gloves when using. No need for soaking. A few seconds of contact is all that is needed.

Most essential use for the hydrometer is to get the SG before fermentation and determining when fermentation is over. Take a reading before adding yeast then check it some time later when You think fermentation should be concluding. You should get 2 readings on different days that are the same letting you know its done. You can use your sg and fg to determine the abv.

 

[Velnerj]

Brewing things like beer or cider usually takes around a month or more for the whole process (especially if you bottle). If you're going to invest that much time and effort, I'd recommend using fresh ingredients. Can the old apple juice produce good cider? It might, but do you want to take that gamble? I'd recommend getting some fresh stuff, but that's just me.

 

[mredge73]

1) Any bucket is fine
2) Mix with RO water (purchased at store or water mill or etc) and it will last years, I keep mine about 6 months or longer in SS kegs. Lasts as long as PH is below 3.
3) No, it is just a mild acid. Not as strong as vinegar so it won't harm you or your equipment. This is a no rinse solution; so do not rinse it. Just drip dry.
4) Don't use that old cider.
5) No, head space only becomes an issue if you plan to leave it alone for months at a time.
6) For cider you are looking for an original gravity (non-fermented) of about 1.05-1.06. Water will lower this number, sugar will raise it. Final gravity should be close to 1.0
7) No, these are good questions.

* Note that starsan is a sanitizing agent designed to kill bacteria; it is not a cleaner. You can not sanitize something that is not clean. Use something like unscented oxyclean to clean first, this can be used to soak dirty equipment. Oxyclean only lasts a few hours and mixes better with warm/hot water; rinse this well as it will leave soda ash behind after the oxidizing agents evaporate.

 

[deks77]

1) lowes sells buckets marked food grade if your concerned.. I'm Leary of recycled material going into those.. I worked in a plant that recycled paper thats was marked safe for dry contact with food and some of that crap ewww.. lol there was zero quality control what ever the bucket could grab went into the pulper...

 

[DigbyPotter]

Thanks for all of the advice! Today I picked up four gallons of fresh juice and a packet of Wyeast 1318 London Ale III. Brew day is tomorrow. Fingers crossed, I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Cheers,
D

 

[DigbyPotter]

*UPDATE*

My first brew day went well considering I have never done it before.

My recipe:
4 Gallons Members Mark Apple Juice
1 Gallon RO Water
1/2 lb Breiss Caramel 120L Malt
1 lb Dark Brown Sugar
1 Wyeast 1318 London Ale III Slap Pack
2.2 grams Wyeast Nutrient

1/27/2018 @ 2:00pm

- I steeped the 120L in the 1 gallon of RO water for 30 min @ 150*
- Added the brown sugar, stirred to dissolve, brought it to a boil then let cool to 100*.
- Added that to the Catalyst then added the apple juice. (took a sample to test OG)
- Locked the lid and the air lock on and let cool to room temp.
- Yeast and nutrient went into the mason jar, mason jar screwed onto the Catalyst.
- I opened the valve quickly to stir up the yeast and walked away.

OG: 1.049

2/3/2018 @ 1:00pm

- All is quite in the Catalyst.
- Closed valve, dumped trub.
- Sanitized jar, screwed back on and opened valve.

2/4/2018 @ 7:00pm

- About 1" of trub in jar.
- Closed valve, poured off sample for FG, dumped trub.
- Sanitized, jar back on. Bottling plans are made for 2/5/2018.

FG: 1.000

Temps were between 68*-70* the entire time.

Tastes pretty good but it is very dry so i am going to want to back sweeten. My debate is weather or not to carbonate it. If I do want to bottle carbonate, do I add the sugar to the individual bottles or to the whole batch before I start? I tried to use the brewers friend priming calculator but i don't know how many volumes of CO2 I should be aiming for.

Please give me any suggestions you may have. I am eager to learn as much as I can.

Thanks,
D

 

[stieg000]

I usually force carb to around 3.0 vols on my ciders. If your gonna bottle to stay safe I'd go around 2.8. If your going to bottle I would do the whole thing at one time.

 

[RM-MN]

*UPDATE*

My first brew day went well considering I have never done it before.

My recipe:
4 Gallons Members Mark Apple Juice
1 Gallon RO Water
1/2 lb Breiss Caramel 120L Malt
1 lb Dark Brown Sugar
1 Wyeast 1318 London Ale III Slap Pack
2.2 grams Wyeast Nutrient

1/27/2018 @ 2:00pm

- I steeped the 120L in the 1 gallon of RO water for 30 min @ 150*
- Added the brown sugar, stirred to dissolve, brought it to a boil then let cool to 100*.
- Added that to the Catalyst then added the apple juice. (took a sample to test OG)
- Locked the lid and the air lock on and let cool to room temp.
- Yeast and nutrient went into the mason jar, mason jar screwed onto the Catalyst.
- I opened the valve quickly to stir up the yeast and walked away.

OG: 1.049

2/3/2018 @ 1:00pm

- All is quite in the Catalyst.
- Closed valve, dumped trub.
- Sanitized jar, screwed back on and opened valve.

2/4/2018 @ 7:00pm

- About 1" of trub in jar.
- Closed valve, poured off sample for FG, dumped trub.
- Sanitized, jar back on. Bottling plans are made for 2/5/2018.

FG: 1.000

Temps were between 68*-70* the entire time.

Tastes pretty good but it is very dry so i am going to want to back sweeten. My debate is weather or not to carbonate it. If I do want to bottle carbonate, do I add the sugar to the individual bottles or to the whole batch before I start? I tried to use the brewers friend priming calculator but i don't know how many volumes of CO2 I should be aiming for.

Please give me any suggestions you may have. I am eager to learn as much as I can.

Thanks,
D

With what will you backsweeten the graff? If you use sugar, the yeast will eat it up and provide carbonation. If you further add sugar to carbonate you will get bottle grenades. The typical would be to use potassium metbisulphite to stop the yeast from eating the sugar but doing that prevents bottle carbonation so it would have to be kegged. You could backsweeten with something like Splenda or Stevia but I don't know how that would taste.

 

[deadwolfbones]

2.5 to 2.8 vols is good advice for batch carbonating. In a small pan, mix the correct amount of sugar into a small amount of water (a little more than just enough to cover the sugar) and slowly heat on the stove until the sugar dissolves into the water. Add to your bottling bucket, then siphon the cider onto it. If the sugar water is too thick, maybe give it a gentle swirl with a long metal spoon to make sure it's evenly distributed. Bottle! Wait a week or two! Drink!!

 

[mredge73]

Pick one:
You can bottle carbonate just like beer.
Or you can stabilize and backsweeten.
But you cannot do both unless you have a kegging system or want to play with artificial sweeteners.