Recent content by levity03

We added some sanitized marbles to the carboys to fill the headspace. Still just one carboy showing activity in the airlock, though as we added the marbles, there was seemingly more yeast floating up & around in that one. We had discussed trying to mix / combine and redistribute the liquid...

OK after taking your advice on temp / swirl...I do have activity every ~1.5-2 min in one carboy, and not seeing anything in the other.

What option do I have at this point if I don't see activity in the airlock? We wanted to keep this as natural as possible, but if we need to need to intervene to make this work, then I'm open to it.

~1.05

Hmm, well not sure what we can do at this point. I've read that adding (sanitized) marbles to fill the space is one option. The other issue I guess I'm seeing is that I don't see any airlock activity, meaning it's probably done fermenting. I'm at about 1.015 -- which means I guess if I bottle...

OK, we've racked to secondary! A couple questions: too much headspace here? Rack to bottles once at ~1.000?

New lid, but still not much activity in the airlock whatsoever. However, taking hydrometer readings, it's showing a decrease so there's definitely some fermentation going on, albeit slowly. Going to continue this route for now, I suppose...!

Will do. Yes, not sure about the bucket. We tried for a few minutes last Friday to seal it and it was a no-go. I'm going to call the brewshop tomorrow, but a quick search online shows this is not an uncommon issue. I could try to seal with duct tape as temp solution...

Just checked on my cider. There is definitely fermentation, as there are small bubbles throughout - not a ton, but definitely some action. It also smells a bit...musty. I suppose the only way for me to know when to rack to secondary is to take specific gravity and see where it's at for a few days?

No, same store for both bucket & lid. Interesting, because what I've read online, mostly regarding brewing beer, has mentioned it's still most likely fine. It's not super loose, but does not seal. One person mentioned the CO2 escaping would prevent any oxygen from getting in...but perhaps you...

Thanks guys. Another thing that I'm not sure is important to mention or not, but the lid the brewshop gave me does not seal on top of the bucket. I don't know (or think) this would have any affect on the fermentation, or lack there of.

All the apples we used were picked off the tree, not from the ground, and from an organic orchard. In our case, they were washed but not overwashed - a simple use of the sink sprayer. I understand that most yeast will still be present anyway. At the moment, we have had our juice in a 3.5...

Thanks Sequoiacider - will toss 'em in whole! RE: amygdalin -- yup, exactly what I read too so not concerned. Thx!

Thanks again for the responses. Last question before we get started here. Should we be coring the apples or throwing the whole apple, seeds and all, into the juicer? Not concerned about the cyanide, more about the adverse taste the seeds could bring out in the finished product.

Sequoiacider (or really anyone who can help).- first off, thank you SO much for the detailed rundown of the process. I do have a question about racking from primary to secondary. We have (2) one-gallon carboys -- I know, small; leftover from previous project -- and if the idea is to move the...