Recent content by phillybrew

Thanks. There is a large amount of lees, so I will rack within the next couple days. And I did smell a slight sulphury smell, so I'll reduce that. Thanks!

Ok. So I took a reading tonight and it is at 1.0, so I'm assuming it is basically done fermenting. It's been in the secondary since January 1st. Should I still leave it in there a couple more weeks or move to the third carboy and let it sit for a month or two before bottling? Oh, and it tastes...

Ok, so as I understand it, my new plan should be: 1. Take a measurement tonight 2. Leave it as is for 2 to 3 weeks 3. Rack it to another carboy and add more metabisulphite (what is 30ppm? I was initially told 1/4 teaspoon per 5 gallons) 4. Let it sit in there for a couple more months (when...

I was planning on adding more sulphite when I moved it again. Should I just leave it in the secondary, then, and forget moving it? There's some sludge on the bottom. I assumed that's why I'm moving it again. Yeah, the marbles sounded complicated, so I opted not to. Hey, it's all a learning process!

I followed the directions of my LHBS exactly, which was waiting until the cider hit room temp before pitching the yeast (about 8 hours). They told me to wait 3 days until any wild yeast died off before adding the nutrient, but I wasn't able to get it in til day 6. They suggested putting it in...

Ok. I was planning on having it sit in the secondary for a month or so and then putting it in another carboy for a couple months before bottling. Does that sound right? So, I'll take a reading tonight. How do I get the cider out of the carboy? What reading would let me know it's dry?

Well, I figured that. But I guess I was looking for a general thumbs up or down, based on people's past experiences... I will try to take a reading (never done it before) tonight, but I didn't really want to mess with it too much.

So my first batch of cider is in progress, and I'm wondering if I'm going down the wrong path. Here's what I'vd done so far: 1. Placed 5 gallons of cider (purchased from my local brew shop) into my 6.5 gallon primary fermenter (plastic), added one rounded cup of table sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of...