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I do one gallon batches but I've built up quite a stockpile. I'd love to share some of my beer and get some feedback.

This may be a weirdly specific question but... I've seen quite a few Irish stout recipes that call for acidulated malt or lactic acid I think that is there to try and emulate the Guinness "twang". Which sounds like a good idea. But when I adjust my water for dark beers I always have to put...

If they don't get back to me can I even use those hops? It'll be hard to calculate IBUs.

I wanted to get some opinions on this. I recently ordered some hops Yakima Valley Hops. Good folks. I've gotten hops there before. One of the packets didn't come with the sticker saying what it was and the alpha acid. I figured out that it was Sterling but I didn't know the AA so I...

I wanted to let you folks know that you were right: Sulfites didn't stop the fermentation. It didn't even slow it down. I tossed in some sorbate too but I know that wasn't wise. I've read that the yeast will eat the sorbate and turn in into an off flavor. I measured the SG at 1.010 before...

I thought of that but that cider I gave them was back sweetened. After it fermented dry I stabilized it with sulfite and sorbate and used apple juice concentrate to sweeten it before bottling. They specifically complained that it tasted and smelled too alcoholic. And yes, the cider was...

I gave some cider to friends of mine recently and they immediately rejected it for being too high in alcohol. It was probably around 7%. I know it fermented dry. They said they are accustomed to want cider that is more around 4% ABV. The problem is that the weakest apple juice I have run...

All I have is the total acidity test where you throw in some sodium hydroxide in the test solution and look for a color change. I don't think that tests malic acid specifically. Other tests are, as you said, too pricey But I don't know if the total acidity test takes lactic acid from MLF...

Thanks for the info. I try to keep my equipment cleaned and sanitized. I do use plastic buckets to ferment (and then rack into glass jugs) but those buckets get rotated between beer and cider and I always give them plenty of Star San before anything goes in them. Don't the acid test kits just...

How would I know if it's doing malolactic fermentation? I introduced cultures into a couple of batches last year. But the cultures were old and I couldn't tell the difference after almost a year. I'm not even sure where I can get fresh cultures. I always use sulphites unless the juice is...

I checked through that site extensively. And several other lists. I am going by the English cider apple classification. The problem is that nothing I have, with the exception of a little Kingston Black, fits the category of sharp or bittersharp. I'm not even sure the eating apples can be...

I would do 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of juice. I just used this site: Grams to Teaspoons Converter to do a conversion of grams to teaspoons for yeast. One gram of yeast is 0.21 teaspoons. Rounding up to something more useful would be: One gram of yeast= 1/4 teaspoon The general rule of thumb...

I was planning on mostly doing pre fermentation blending. I may try some post fermentation blending. I'm doing small batches (one to one and a half gallons). For most of what I listed I have about a gallon to a gallon and a half of juice. Most of the apples came from a place called...

Unless you can force carbonate your cider (i.e. kegging) you aren't going to be able to have a sweet cider that is carbonated. Carbonating in the bottle requires the yeast to eat the sugar and produce carbon dioxide. This will eat up sugars you put in there for sweetening (including apple...

I ran pears through my juicer and I hated the results. Way too much pulp. So I feel your pain. But if the pulp is dropping to the bottom and you can rack the liquid off of it you may have found a viable method that I didn't. If so, hats off to you. I did recently get some Asian pears and...

I went a little nuts this year and got my hands on as many apples recommended for cider as I could. But I'm not sure how to blend them. I think I will end up with a gallon or two of each of the varieties I snagged. Which are: Dabinett, Ashmead's Kernel, Arkansas Black, Hudson Golden Gem...

Cider has three "main" components: sugar, acid, and tannin. Eating apples (which are the vast, vast majority of what you will have access to) will usually ferment into something watery and bland. Once you pull the sugars out of a fruit juice you realize how little else there is there. I had...

In my experience, the sulfur doesn't go away over time. It sticks around and copper is the only way to get it out. I've run into several resources that suggest that once the sulfur odor is in the cider, it is there to stay. I think I managed to get rid of it mid ferment in one situation with...

A fining agent like bentonite might help drop the solids to the bottom.

I'm reasonably sure most "cider" yeasts are actually wine yeasts (probably white wine yeasts) that someone decided were good for cider and marketed them that way. Fortunately, they appear to be right. I've gotten good results from SafCider, Mangrove Jack M02, Cider House Select, and Fresco...