Recent content by realityinabox

Is there a way to tell if it is an infection, aside from drinking it and seeing if I get sick? I just tasted a sample. Didn't taste great, but also didn't taste particularly off...

So, I used some raisins in secondary to try to get some better mouth feel, etc. I noticed that the airlock wasn't really bubbling at all, but I figured it was secondary, maybe it wouldn't be that active. When I cracked open the bucket to bottle, I noticed a layer of white splotches on the...

You won't get to 20% with yeast. You could try champagne yeast, but I think that stalls at about 15%.

I just started out recently as well, but now have a few batches under my belt. First off, I'd suggest starting with a few small batches, just to get your feet wet. Second, I found http://www.howtomakehardcider.com/ to be very helpful starting out. Lots of good details on the process without...

I'm not necessarily looking for thick, just not as thin as it was. I'm going to give raisins a shot, probably experiment a bit.

I am wondering if there is anything I can do to get a better mouth feel out of my cider. I have 12 gallons (three different yeasts, 4 gal each) that are just about ready to be racked off primary, and want to do some experiments during secondary. I did a tasting and testing this evening, and...

I picked up a couple of 4.25 gallon buckets from a bakery down the street earlier today. I have a couple lids from ACE hardware that are marked food safe, but they are for 5 gallon buckets. The lids fit pretty well on the new buckets, but aren't quite at tight as the 5 gallon buckets...

$7 seems pretty steep. There were a few places at the Fulton St market selling it for $6, and even one for $5.50.

I was at O'Connors yesterday, they had a pre-order sheet for Vandermill bulk orders to be picked up the 28th. Said Vm was going to have a truck and you'd just fill your bucket in the lot out back. $4.50/gallon. Prepaid only. I live right by there, so seems too good to be true. Not as cheap as...

I've noticed there a number of users are from MI, so I was hoping to get the low down on good orchards to pick up some bulk cider from. I contacted 'Hill Brothers' yesterday on a tip from a friend, but I don't know them from Sally, and they don't start offering bulk orders till after Halloween...

Thanks for the advice. I ended up getting three 64oz jugs of Indian Summer juice at the super market today for like $2.25 each (so much cheaper than in fermented form!!). They had a larger jug for even cheaper per oz, but I figured I'd start off with small batches. Thanks for the link...

I have wanted to start brewing cider for years now. I am a DYIer at heart, so I want to stop buying from the store and start brewing myself. I have a gluten allergy, so cider is a great alternative to beer, especially since I haven't found any decent GF beer. Perhaps once I get a handle on...