Recent content by Scrumpy!

Nice calculator! Wait, I thought you said you don't use sulfite. If you are aiming for 1 ppm molecular, that is a 50 ppm dose at pH 3.5, exactly what is generally recommended prior to a wild ferment.

Yes, I hadn't noticed that sentence and it is interesting that he says in the book he only uses it on damaged apples. He does mention that he does enough volume that losing a batch would not be catastrophic so he sees the risks and takes them. Maybe one of his batches went south from spoilage...

Mark, Sorry, 1/8 tsp in 6 gal would be about 12 ppm but if your must has a pH of 3.5, a full dose would be 100 ppm so a half dose would be 1/2 tsp of potassium metabisulfite powder. It is actually easier to mix up a stock 5% sulfite solution by mixing 10 g in 100 ml of water. Then you can add...

RPh_Guy, I am glad you have successfully made "several" batches of delicious cider without using sulfite. If you are happy with the results, keep up the good work. As to my own experience, I have been exclusively using wild fermentation for the last few years. I generally do 50 to 75 gallons a...

Let's start with a useful reference. The New Cidermaker's Handbook, 2013 Jolicoeur, Claude available on Amazon. Anyone who is fermenting apple cider should have this valuable reference book on their shelf. Next, lets dispense with the idea that 6% alcohol will kill any bacteria. When the...

Mark, You should add a half dose of sulfite to kill any bacteria in your juice. At a half dose, it will slow down the wild yeast temporarily but not kill them off. If you don't add that half dose, you risk losing it all to bad bugs. Wild yeast are not adapted to a slug of nutrients so you...

I reached out to CoolBot about the use of analog AC units and here is their reply: Unfortunately, there is no workaround for analog A/Cs. The heater cable of the Coolbot cannot work with the thermostat lead that is typical of analog systems and because of this that is the most important...

I will have a better take on this in the morning. My AC has two controls, one that controls fan speed and one that I interpret as a crude control of room temperature ("high cool" and "low cool") without the benefit of a thermostat that is giving the unit information about the temperature in...

Thanks Bobby, I moved the sensor so it does not lie in the direct path of the air blast. I also put it in a one pint milk bottle full of water which reduced the fluctuation over each cycle to less than half a degree. I also added another inkbird in series to monitor the evaporator fins, set...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try glycol. No bugs should grow in it and it will not evaporate as fast as water or alcohol.

Good discussion that is perfect timing for me. I really appreciate Bobby's explanation of the closed air cycle on the evaporator side of the AC. Augiedoggy clarified the 20 deg drop in increments to round it out. I have just built a 20 cu ft box under my work table. I have a GE 5K BTU AC...

I picked up on "1.006" that was written on the carboy. Sometimes it takes a while for a wild ferment to take off. Mine go off like fireworks because I let the pulp sit in a bucket for a day or two before I press it. It probably helps that my scratter and press have seen a lot of pulp go...

My SOP at bottling is to adjust the final SG to a value I know my bottles will hold and fill a bottle with a pressure gauge mounted on top as insurance. My cellar is free of glass shards so far.

The yeast has little to do with over carbonation, it is all about the sugar. EC-1118 will metabolize every molecule of glucose even in a YAN depleted cider. That said, careful measurement of the final SG and reasonable assumptions about the CO2 in solution should be considered when calculating...

Sorry but this is always confusing since cider season for any given year spans the New Year in the Northern Hemisphere. Looking back, I see that I am not the only one who is unclear about how we measure our output. In my process, I only count the amount of cider I make after I have accounted...