Recent content by chalino

What do you guys think if I backsweeten my cider with 2 cans of concentrate after having crash cooled it in a keg? I'd just dump in and mix up the concentrate, no sorbate or sulfite. The temp would be about 40, though I could hold it a while at a temp lower than that to really halt activity...

Well the cider I've got going is doing well. I've been wondering about pasteurizing though. How much alcohol is lost doing that? And does it affect the flavor at all? I would be using a plate chiller.

By concentrate, do you mean the stuff in the freezer section meant to be mixed with H2O or juice that's made from concentrate?

I have a gallon of some cherry-vanilla mead on which I would like to stop fermentation. I mistakenly took several people's word and added campden thinking it would stop it. I may have added two tablets, though I'm pretty sure only one. My question is whether I can add sorbate now without...

Yes. I read a great article in Early American Life about the history of cider making. It is apparently more American than apple pie, and the article was my reason for getting started. Among the wealth of information, it mentioned that when cider was popular (and being drunk by adults and...

I obviously understand the difference between a sweet and dry cider, but can you characterize what would make a sweet one definitively different from a dry one based on process? Or is the term loosely used to refer to one that one way or another had sweetness added after being stabilized?

Awesome, I'll give it a try. Thanks to all, for the advice.

Ok. I'm going to give it another go then and see what happens. How soon do I need to rack it after activity stops during primary? Can I let it sit a while on the lees?

Well I definitely didn't consider it scientific. The guy who mentioned it makes sour beers a lot and had just done a hand made cider as well that I had tasted. (And is certified by BJCP). I'm not sainting these guys, but they pretty often know more than I do. I was also comparing the...

How sour are we talking? And since acidity is sour, how much like vinegar or sulfur can it smell? I'm comparing it to two other cases that used the same yeast (see my other reply for details) and both fermented clear. Crystal clear. We were drinking the stuff withing a month. And it was...

Yes, it does. Other than raising acidity, I didn't think that would be a problem. Correct?

That's an interesting notion. Feel free to inquire further if this doesn't clarify as I have much more anecdotal evidence to provide. Here's the thing: My first cider I made, I deemed a success. It was good. I drank it young (maybe a month old) and had used wyeast's cider strain. However...

Excuse the emotion in this thread. :mad: I'm so pi$$ed off I can't even express it. I'm a fairly experienced brewer and have always been OCD about sanitation. (NEVER have infected beer, BTW) I've recently made some cider. While I have juiced my own apples and made it that way, I had no...