Recent content by wreckinball9

the entry way to my basement from the outdoors

Yeah that's one of the few benefits of living up here where it's freezing!

This is for a semi-sweet cider, around 7-8.5% ABV. This is different (and better in my opinion) than the dry white-wine style “cider” that folks often make. Ingredients -5 gallons apple cider. Raw(fresh and untreated) from a local orchard is best. Pasteurized/UV treated is...

I wouldn't toss it yet. Give it 6 months to a year. However, I will tell you that I have had very bad results with my 2 pear ciders and it is hard to find anything on HBT about a successful one. Regular pear juice doesnt leave much good residual flavor after fermented it seems.

I've made plenty each, with and without it. I prefer with (but at half dose.) If you are going low and slow, which is preferable with cider, wild yeasts really have an opportunity to cause funky flavors and smells. Furthermore, the sulfited product will have a longer shelf life after...

Once you have the sauce- Line a bucket with a 5 gallon paint strainer bag. Boil some water, disolve. 4 lbs of white sugar, leave to cool. Put mushed up fruit and sugar-water into the bucket, and top up with fresh water. Add desired yeast (Ale, wine or champagne), cover with a clean kitchen...

Recently had a hankering to make some custom handles, and this thread gave me the extra inspiration... The first one is a piece of cocobolo that was being sold as a duck call blank. I don’t have a lathe so i used a large round over bit on my router and finished with 3 or 4 coats of...

agreed. I use 2lbs per 5 gallon.

I would highly recommend fermenting as close to 60 degrees as possible. Keep an eye on the gravity, but it will most likely take a month or more at that temp. Most people prefer it semi- sweet as opposed to completely dry, so I would be looking to stop the ferment about 1.010 by racking it to...

1/4 cup is a little less than i would use, but it should eliminate your worries about bottle bombs. Another poster mentioned adding more yeast, I would disagree with that. You will have plenty of yeast still in suspension, dont add more. The harsh flavors do mellow with time, and it will seem to...

I have used cocoa powder in the boil. It takes forever to fall out of suspension so be prepared for more sediment than normal in your bottles. i used 8 or 10 oz of Ghiradelli brand, and was happy with the flavor. At first it was a little strong, but aged nicely.

LOL thats a fear of mine because my dogs are always roaming around when I'm brewing and are quite nosy. It's good to hear that it still came out OK!

Mt. Washington Homebrew Supply, all your beer and wine equipment and ingredient needs Is out of NH. Great prices and quick shipping.

that's an interesting strategy. I like the idea, but i really think the PS content will be too diluted when its added to the fermented cider. Plus, ideally you use both sorbate and sulfite (campden) to prevent fermentation from starting back up. If you used an ale yeast, and cold crash it and...

one of the first ciders I ever made I cold crashed without racking first. I put the primary carboy right in the fridge with a blowoff tube going into a powerade bottle full of tap water. When the temp of the cider dropped, the volume decreases, and it sucked back a bunch of nasty old tap water...