Recent content by Evan55

thats exactly what people do with the whole food organic juice that comes in the 1 gallon glass jugs. pour a bit off the top, pitch your yeast and pop on the sanitized stopper with airlock and let it fly. makes pretty good cider too, but eventually you will want to make bigger batches than 1...

Did you go straight to the company? The warranty page says to go through the vendor so that was my first try.

My first experience was not good. Fermentation chugging along over a few days everything seemed good, hit 1.010 and then the tilt died and stopped reporting any data. That was about where I wanted it so I crashed , racked to 2ndary and pasteurized @ 140f. Tasted too sweet so I took a...

Definitely go with the crabs. Ive tried tannin powder and tea and its just not the same. 2lbs per 20 is a good start, but I would double that if you can, depending on how many pippins you have.

Ive made graff several times and it just tastes like cheap light beer. Not worth the effort IMO

Ive used this yeast a lot. Usually done in 3 or 4 days, even in a 64 degree chamber. In fact, even at 36 degrees it still ferments at about 1 point per 30 hours. Ill post my tilt plot when I get home.

Check out Vintage Virginia Apples / Albermarle Ciderworks in Charlottesville. Lots of heirloom varieties from the colonial era that they have resurrected

If you don't remove it, whatever fills your airlock will be sucked in. Personally, I give the stopper and surrounding area a spray of starsan, then pull the stopper and open the valve.

No reason to use sulfite in your airlock. I use cheap vodka, many people use starsan. Neither is a concern if sucked back in. (the vodka could even be a benefit :-P )

I do 1/2 tsp for single gallon batches with success. Ive gone as low as 1/4 tsp but I think that's cutting it too close. Ive read that 1g per gallon is good, which IIRC translates to 1/3 tsp. Add a bit to that to make sure you hit critical mass. I like to make my yeast go as far as possible

Yes, Ive done 2 gallons apple juice, and boiled 1.5c of amber dried malt extract in apple juice (you could also do water) and added it in. result was a lot like a light beer, with just a bit of fruity tartness in my experience all graffs always turns out a lot more like beer than cider...

I thought it was illegal to sell drops / juice from drops?

I picked up 7 gallons of cider blend juice from a local cidery last week, I added 1 tablet of campden per gallon about 24 hours after I got them home and let them sit for a day. Things came up and I wasn't able to pitch yeast at that time so I put it all in the refrigerator. Now that I'm...

I would go with a saison yeast for over 70 a swamp cooler is a relatively cheap option for keeping temps down

no need for nutrient. in fact, low nitrogen is one way to keep the cider from finishing totally dry