Recent content by billyb56

I use 2oz/gallon. First I boil oak chips in water for 15 minutes then drain. Put in bag and drop in cider. Working on one know where I soaked bourbon in chips for a week then dropped in the cider added cherry juice for a cherry bourbon oak cider.

Hey if you're in Rochester check out Mullers Cider House 2nd Saturday every month at 1pm where us cider amateurs (and usually a few commercial makers) show up to sample and talk cider.

So far so good. I usually wait a month before bottling then another month before opening first bottle. I've found time makes cider taste better. Not that something 3 weeks old is bad but better in 3-4 months or longer. I'd make sure yeast appears to have stopped carbonating before bottling.

I do it all the time however I make sure the gravity is 1.000 or less before bottling. I use fizz tabs, 1-2 tablets depending on the size of the bottle and what level carbonation I want. Never had an explosion yet.

I hope you like sweet cider. Not all yeast will work if the gravity is too high to begin with. If you used a champagne yeast it most likely will ferment it dry so you'll have a pretty high alcohol beverage. I'd wait at least 3-4 months. Time will be on its side.

Think of it as like wine, no carbonation. Most still ciders I've had in winery territory (around the Finger Lakes). More common is petillant, tiny lazy bubbles light effervescence. You see this with more single varietals. I've had a good Northern Spy and Baldwin like that. Most ciders in stores...

Do you know the pH? Got to be careful how many campden tablets you use. I'd try to get the juice to 70 degrees. I used that yeast and had no luck getting it going when temp was 65. I'd add yeast nutrient, that does help. Mix well to get oxygen in there. Good idea to test gravity to make sure it...

New at cider making. I bought a refractometer and know you can get a good reading on new juice but have been told that it doesn't work on fermented juice. However, Northern Beer has a calculator adjustment on their website implying you can take fermented readings. Any thoughts on this?

What size bottles do you use?

Getting close to bottling and would like to carbonate. I know I can rack juice and add sugar but I'm a little afraid if the yeast will still be active and possibly pop the bottles. If SG is 1.0 is it safe to add sugar at this point? I'd rack off one more time before adding sugar. Any help...

What is the best way to pitch yeast? 1) just toss it in and mix well to get lots of air circulated in cider 2) take some water or cider, heat it, add yeast in, wait 10-15 minutes then pitch I've had two people give me each answer.

I got a bit crazy and added atomic fireballs in the 2nd fermentation. Time passed, bottled it. Slight pinkish color but nice looking. I was surprised it tasted very good, slight cinnamon flavor but not overpowering. I added 10 fireballs for a gallon batch.