Recent content by yarghble

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If it really can easily produce repeatable batches, then this thing would be awesome. Almost $3000 with shipping seems like a bit much for what is currently just a prototype though... But this is definitely going on my wish-list(along with a couple of much larger scale automated brewing setups)...

I'm assuming you refrigerate your kegs? That should take care of the problem for you.

I don't know about nottingham specifically, as I have never used it, but I know that generally higher or more variable temps lead to yeasty flavors. You also have to be careful not to suck up any of the trub when you're siphoning to bottle...inattention from myself or my partner has ruined a...

I've done a handful of batches with random juice blends that happened to be on sale(or just looked interesting), or with random juice concentrates. As the others said, just make sure they're not loaded with preservatives(the refrigerated stuff is often a safe bet), and you should be good to go...

I did my first couple of pasteurized batches in those a few weeks ago. It certainly seems possible, but I had a few explode in the pot, which is very costly compared to 12oz bottles. That could be because I had the temp too high, and because I seem to have a hot spot on the burner I was...

What I ended up doing was letting them warm up in the sink(my tap only gets up to about 130f), and then putting four of them into a pot of around 190f water for 15 minutes. Fortunately my dad does a lot of canning, so I borrowed a big pot and rack from him. The rack has allowed me to keep the...

Quick question- sorry if it's already been asked some time in the last 60 pages or so... I'm using liter flip top bottles which probably have about 2x the diameter of a regular 12oz bottle. How much should I adjust the time they're in the water? I was thinking 15 or 20 minutes at 190f should...

The pina colada would probably have worked a lot better if it had gone into the primary(or maybe secondary), rather than just being tossed in right before bottling. Lots of pineapple pulp to clog up the bottling wand and sit at the top of the bottles looking unappetizing... Haven't really...

For a still cider, you can just add some juice or juice concentrate right to the batch and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to drink. For a back-sweetened sparkling cider, pasteurization seems to be the general consensus around here. The sticky thread at the top of the board has a good...

I had written you this long, detailed critique, but then my phone reloaded the page and erased it all, so now you get the quick and dirty version. 5 gal apple cider/juice 1-2 cinnamon sticks in the primary, not five boiled in separate water Pick one of the honey/molasses/brown sugar group and...

I did end up just getting concentrates to toss in there...I only ever think of apple and orange juice concentrates, and always totally forget they have other, more varied flavors! Probably because costco doesn't carry them, and that's where I get most of my cider ingredients. Anyway, my...

I don't believe my local brew shop has anything like that, but I'll look into it. They have a kinda-limited selection, and deal mainly in bulk malt extracts/grains and brewing equipment. As for the quality of ciders brewed with champagne yeast...they can be pretty hit or miss, but aging is...

Since the cider has absolutely no flavor of its own(my roommate described it as juice-colored-water), my plan is to back sweeten with apple juice concentrate, divide it up into a few smaller batches(probably five one gallon batches), flavor those with various extracts, and then try the stove-top...

I'm not worried about the juice/agave/champagne cider, as I've done lots of stuff with the champagne yeast before, so I know what to expect there. The one I'm asking about is the apple juice/sugar/cherry juice/american ale yeast batch. I want to know how to get some flavor and sweetness back...