Recent content by GAHokie

I just made this one yesterday and I realized that I was out of pectin. I know the recipe doesn't call for pectin, but I put it in all my ciders for clarity. Is it possible to put pectin in a day or so later? Should I just give up on adding pectin enzyme to the cider? By the way, Mike. I can't...

Quick question: Maybe I'm mis-reading the directions. I bought all the ingredients, but are you supposed to just dump the dry yeast in the fermenter or do you pitch the yeast (usually with EC 116 or EC 118, I have to pitch it in warm water).

I wish I had a LBHS, the closest is 1.5 hours away so I usually order a bunch of supplies online once in a while. That's why I was trying to make due with what I have lying around.

Here is the original recipe, which I got from Mead Safari: Here is the recipe: 7-007 4.5 gal Mott's Apple Juice 64 oz water 3 lbs Golden Light DME 1 can (30 oz) Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix 2 lbs C&H Dark Brown Sugar 2 tbs pectin enzyme 1 pkt Lavlin K1V-1116 OG: 1.082 Should make 5 gal in...

Thanks for the suggestions. I have pieces of JD oak barrels that I bought for a bourbon barrel stout. Would this work?

So I've had my cider in the secondary for three weeks. While I can tell its mellowed a little, I'm faced with a problem. Should I bottle it now--so I can use the carboy--and let it age in the bottle (I can let them sit for months, even a year if need be) or should I leave it in the secondary for...

Wow, great idea. I have a free 1 gallon carboy and can spare it. It sounds like it will need to sit for a while longer than the other version, but I'm excited about it. Thanks for the tip.

I'm brewing the Holiday Ale with the kit from Midwest Brewing. I tweaked the recipe just a little bit, but after touring the JD Distillery in TN, I heard about storing beer in the oak casks. I've thought about putting oak chips in the secondary, but I'm not sure how it would taste with a holiday...

Do you mind telling me how you got a 5 gallon barrel that stored JD? I was just in Lynchburg and I could only find 53 gallon barrels.

Upstate Mike, thanks for replying. I appreciate your posts. In fact, earlier this week I bought some Nottingham ale yeast (I usually use EC 118 or 116) because I'm going to try to brew your Caramel Apple cider.

So, when my gravity measured over 1.1, I thought I'd made a mistake, but yesterday when I moved it to the secondary (after sitting I the primary for 2 weeks), it measured out at 1.05 and it smelled like alcohol. I tasted a little and it tasted very strong. I dropped a cinnamon stick in the...

Dear Cider gurus, I have used this forum several times in the past to brew some pretty simple ciders, the most complicated being a pumpkin apple cider using champagne yeast. However, I decided to undertake a challenge using a friend's "Pumpkin Pie Cider" recipe, except he can't find the...

After 2 weeks in the bottle, I opened up two test bottles and it was a success. It was carbed with a nice head on it. It was also pretty tasty-not bad for the 1st one.

Crazy. I would have never thought about putting bottles in the oven.