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@Gordand: I think it really depends on a lot of factors. I think if you're going to bottle, bulk aging the 5 gallons are going to give you a more consistant product then a bulk aged 1 gallon. Not 100% sure though. May have to do a side by side comparison and see if I notice any differences...

Pro: I'm glad I'm only dumping 1 gallon. Con: I wish I had more. If I were you I'd use 1 gallon batches to play around with ideas. Once you know it's ok then make a bigger batch. If you have faith that the batch is going to be good, then make a bigger batch from the start. If you're playing...

You might get some notes from the bourbon. I have 3 gallons of cider aging on 1 oz hungarian med plus oak cubes. Didn't soak them in anything before I racked onto them. It's been about 3 weeks so far. I haven't tried it yet, but will give it til about 1 1/2 - 2 months before I try it. When I...

Nottingham has a recommended temp range of 57º - 70ºF. So if you stay in that range you really shouldn't get too many hot alcohol flavors. Some people like to drink the cider straight out of primary or secondary. Some like to age it for a while. Do whatever suits you best. The fact that you're...

Wow... I'm surprised it got down that low. Not bad. Will probably take quite a while for all of it to age/mellow to a decent flavor. Might just want to put that it a dark corner until you remember it's there for quite some time. Hope the wife likes the 3 gallon batch better. Give her something...

Easiest recipe... 2 gal apple juice and a packet of nottingham or s-04. If you want to bump the ABV a little bit add some sugar. ~1 cup of sugar (white, brown, corn, whatever) per gallon will suffice. Depends on what you want your finished % at. You can add spices or fruit or oak at a later...

Batch 1: Never dry-hopped before, but if 7 days prior to packaging works for you, then go for it. Batch 2: Add the raisins at beginning of ferment. It'll add some nutrients and some extra sugar. Add about a handful and chop them up prior to putting in primary. Batch 3 and 4: Make a 2 gal batch...

I'd cut and pit them first. You're going to want them broken up to get the cherry flavor. The pits will make it bitter. You might want to campden the batch of cider with the cherries in there 24 hrs before you add your yeast, but if you just rinse/clean them off well before hand I wouldn't be...

I just did a double apple cider about a month ago. 4 gal Tree Top apple juice, 1# light DME, 2# light brown sugar, and 16 12oz cans of frozen apple juice concentrate. Not to much malt flavor, but has a nice medium body and good mouth feel. Bottled half and oaking the other half with hungarian...

That's completely up to you. Some people like to bulk age for 3-6 months before they bottle. Others will bottle it right away and let it age in the bottles. The rest will bottle and drink if it tastes ok and is ready to drink. It's all just a matter of personal preference when it comes to...

D47 is a good yeast. I've used it in a few brews and have liked the outcome. Plus it is a good yeast to age sur lee (on the lees). So you really don't have to worry about racking right away. I needed my carboy free, so I racked/bottled mine right away, but I've read that it adds a little bit of...

I just use Tree Top apple juice whenever I make a cider. It's a good brand and has a good flavor. I know some people use store brands and those will turn out fine for them. Some people use frozen concentrate and reconstitute it. It's all just a matter of what you like and/or what you want to...

I have something like this sitting in secondary right now. Turned out pretty well. I bottled half and am oaking the other half with hungarian medium+. Give em all a couple months to age, but from what I've tasted... Definately going to be good.

Most ciders I've made are pretty good out of the primary. If you want to age it in a secondary though you're not going to want all the head space from a pail. 80º shouldn't be bad. You don't have to worry about the temp as much seeing that the ferment is done. Just try to keep is as cool as you...

So I've just been able to find tables on PA from the books. Haven't found a calculation. I'm going to go with either just use a table on the ABV depending on the SG or use a calculator online.

Here you go... (OG - FG) x 131.25 = ABV. Now it's written properly. Which reminds me... I need to go find the calculation in the wine book.

As stated there are a bunch of calculators online. I have a couple wine books at home though that have the calculation in them. When I get back home in a day or two I'll find them and put them up so that way it's available for everyone to do on the fly.

Back to the original post though... I'd still just go with fermenting pear juice. Looking up a recipe for perry might help you out as that is the true name for a pear cider.

Could be. I was at a restaurant/brewery not to long ago, that had Wyder's Raspberry Cider on tap. The color... light straw... not red/pink. Flavor was pretty one dimensional too. Though I was drinking Blue Moon at the time and the bartender told me that people had been mixing the raspberry cider...

I may be speaking a little out of turn here as I'm fairly new at this too, but I'm always for make whatever tastes good to you. If you know you like a certain cider because it's dry, semi-sweet, has some body, whatever... Find a recipe that gets a cider that way and try it. Then mess around if...