Recent content by mdgapinski

You will be able to back sweeten. I do the as,e thing, but you will not need to cold crash. Add the k metabisulfite and let sit for 24 hours with the airlock on. What this does is kill the yeast that is currently in the cider. After 24 hours add the k sorbate, what this does is if any wild yeast...

Don't see why not.

Very true. Haven't done a fruit wine. Most of the time I am just patient and wait. Nothing like a little aging to make the taste better and to allow for clearing.

I don't keg but I want to. Once I have a basement I will. A 1 bedroom apartment isn't the best for brewing and the fiancé doesn't like the fermenters in the way so I am limited on what I can do. I co have friends that keg and I think it's the way to go. They have even bottled some beer for me...

If you're going all grain which it sounds like you are you can do it on the stove top. Hell even two pots if needed and split the batch by adding all of your wort to a fermenter and then splitting that between the smaller pots. This way you get an even blend of your wort after sparging. If you...

That's odd. I do one gallon batches because I do not have room for 5 gallon buckets at the moment and haven't had any blow off issues with cider or wine. How full is your jug?

I've heard good things about gelatin for beer, wine, cider, and mead. Seems to be a multitasker and I like multitaskers!

Kegging!!!

For sure. This worked well for a quick batch. I would let it ferment for another day to make it a little less sweet, but it was very very good as is.

Yeah that will work. I heave heard aging on oak barrels is really nice because it allows for the product to breath, but we don't all have oak barrels. I just use my carboy.

The hydrometer I have shows what expected ABV will be if you ferment it all the way so I can get an idea of where I will end up based on when I stop fermentation. The batch I just did was a gallon. I use whatever apple juice is on sale and add sugar to get about 1.070 to 1.100 hydrometer...

Sorry aloha I forgot to ask how the stabilizing went for you before adding the back sweetener?

Ok so I just racked the batch I stopped at 5%. It has been sitting for a few days since I stopped fermentation in my primary with a cinnamon stick and a cap to hold the CO2. The flavor is mild so I may add more apple flavoring next time, but it is very very drinkable with nice carbonation. The...

Same thing happened to me on my first batch. I stopped my current one with the stabilizing about half way giving me 5% ABV and it had some bibles and a nice sweet apple taste. Letting it age a bit. I'm actually going to be tasting it again in a minute so I'll let you know what I get.

If you use juice concentrate I have seen about 1 can per gallon works best. I use flavoring and it varies by brand so follow the recommended amount and adjust to taste. Remember you can always add to your. Few but you can't take away so start off with a small amount and simply try it. If you...