Recent content by AidanSavage

They wont be entirely ok. Freezing the yeast, whether in primary or after washing a cake, can and will kill off a percentage of the yeast because of cell rupturing*. With proper precautions, you can prevent nearly all of the yeast loss, but it's illogical in primary. *Severe frostbite...

As others said, if the SG is 1.000 exactly, then the yeast did in fact ferment the cider. Whether it foams or not is usually dependent on yeast strain as well. I've had minimal and no excessive foaming with nottingham. Of course, if you dont trust the hydro, you could drink a few cups of...

Too cold I think. Nottingham will either not ferment at all or be so slow it'd take months to ferment. If you want to see if temp has any effect, then use the bottom end of the yeast's tolerance, which is about 59 *F for nottingham.

If you have a way of pressing the applesauce, you'd be able to get your hands on some fresh juice to either ferment or sweeten with.

I've had no issues with leaving the crud on the neck. You could also swirl the carboy just enough to knock it down and the stuff will settle into the lees.

Gah, sorry, was talking with someone when posting last time, meant if the measurements stay the same it's done fermenting. If it's dropped 0.050 in 2 weeks, and is now at 1.020, you could let it finish fermenting until dry, as that might only take another 2 weeks. With 1.070, you've got 9.19%...

What size fermentor are you using? From the looks of it, and from my own experience with nottingham, you may have gotten about the max the yeast will "vomit" in the early fermentation. It'll just leave some crud on the sides/neck and settle down.

If you have a hydrometer, take a measurement today, and then again in 2-3 days. If the measurements stay the same, it's still fermenting. As far as going to secondary, I think it mostly depends on what you want to do, though some people let it go dry and them move. Bottling still? Carbed? Aging...

Cant stand most beers unfortunately, and F&F dont drink too often outside of events. To top it off, it's impossible to find a bar or restaurant that recycles (or even separates) their bottles near me. God knows I've tried. Probably doesnt help that we dont have the bottle/can deposit. Getting a...

The ending taste can also be impacted by your starting liquid as well. Making cider from FAJC might be the cheap method for starting out, but making it from raw cider, whether from the grocers or orchard, can make a large difference as well. Sometimes it can be as simple as what you put in is...

I'd probably avoid champagne yeasts if they dont like their cider dryer than a skeleton in the Sahara. I definitely do like cider made with nottingham yeast as well. It's hard keeping enough of my first batch left to celebrate with on New Year's Eve since I only make single gallons. I want to...

I might have kept back the gallon of spiced cider, fermented the 4 gallons of regular, then used the gallon of spiced cider as your priming sugar and sweetening method. While you managed headspace appropriately and all. The taste might have been pretty good. As for when, bubbles are only one...

As far as sugar, carbonating, and FAJC, yes, you add the calculated amount before bottling (you can dissolve it into some water in a large stock pot, then siphon out of the fermentor into the pot, then making sure the priming sugar is evenly mixed, bottle out of the pot). FAJC can be used to...

Aside from the likely incorrect hydro readings, isnt 52 *F too cold for the safale? It's ideal is something like 60-70 *F like most other ale yeasts.

Cider may be (usually) made like wine, taxed like wine, and defined as a wine, and bottled like a wine, but that does not mean it needs to treated AS a wine from head to tail. The simplest reason for that is the mere fact that it's not made from the same thing as what people traditionally think...