Recent content by Thomas007

I just bottled my first batch of cyser (about 6 months old). I did not use any spices or flavorings, just apple juice and enough honey to get the ABV to something slightly under 13% (my yeast's tolerance). I'm not entirely satisfied with it, though. It did end up very clear (without the use...

I'm not sure if a pound of sugar is typical, but I use 4 oz of concentrate per gallon of cider for priming.

I didn't have a hydrometer when I started, so I can't be absolutely sure. I used Musselman's cider (or rather, cloudy apple juice), though, and the next jug was 1.052. I can't imagine there was too much variation between two jugs bought at the same time, so since my FG was 1.002, I guess about 6.7%.

Dry, but I bulk-aged it for several weeks before that. I just bottled a batch that I started in November, I'm hoping this one will be noticeably improved.

It's up to you. Mine was pretty good after 3 weeks or so, but I didn't add any additional sugar. Not much apple flavor though - apparently that comes back with time, but I don't know how much time. You don't have to worry about overcarbonation as long as you waited to bottle it until it...

That will get you 2.7 volumes of CO₂, which is similar to or slightly higher than a "typical" beer (although some Belgian ales can go up to 4 volumes).

I think it's wise to be skeptical in regards to articles that mention finding "detectable levels" of a scary-sounding substance. There are lots and lots of things that are detectable at much lower levels than toxic ones. There are "detectable" levels of radioactive potassium-40 levels in...

It's going to be high, 3.165 volumes according to my calculator. But people regularly carbonate Belgians to 3.5-4 volumes, from what I've read (I haven't done one myself, although I want to try a Duvel clone someday...), and I don't think those usually explode. It might be good to put them...

I'm not sure 6 oz would qualify it as a cyser (I used about a pound in mine). I have read on here that a pound of honey is 40 gravity points, so that would only be 15 or so. I guess that would make it a strong cider rather than a wine, meaning less aging is needed. People will usually tell...

It might be over-carbonated for the style (I don't know much about Irish reds), but I don't think it's anywhere near enough to have to worry about exploding bottles.

It's mostly bacteria, but there's plenty of yeast in there too. (This is why people generally have a detectable level of alcohol in their blood all the time.) No one has exactly the same mixture of microbes in there, either. I'm guessing the proportion of yeast is higher for brewers. :)

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Founders Breakfast Stout Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Not at all. What makes you think having living yeast in your gut would kill you? In fact, most (healthy) people have more bacteria in their gut than cells in their entire body. Most of what you ingest is killed by the stomach acid, but enough can easily survive to make it into your small...

I don't have much experience, but I use Musselman's cider from Walmart. In general, I think the more flavor the juice has, the better. You don't need to boil it. I have only ever used Montrachet yeast, but I've seen Nottingham and US-04 recommended as well, or EC-1118 if you're adding extra...

Okay, I didn't get a chance to bottle the mead yet (did some cider instead). But I did try a bit, extracted from the jug with a turkey baster. It was not all that great. Not awful, but not very good. Now, I don't know what mead is supposed to taste like, so it might just be that I don't like...