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I think that's sound reasoning. Grow what you can't get elsewhere. You have Newtown Pippins in the area and Gravenstein juice isn't impossible to find commercially. Go for the Sierra. Worst case scenario is that it doesn't produce anything very exciting and you can can continue to pick the...

Ah, I see. Thank you. I don't think I've had MLF unless I specifically added the cultures (which I have done to three batches). Incidentally, how do you shut down a malolactic fermentation without heat? I have been searching on the web and can't seem to find an adequate answer. I don't know...

Is Booster Blanc similar to opti white? One of the homebrew stores around here has opti white. I've looked at it but never gotten it. What does Booster Blanc do? Why tartaric acid as opposed to malic acid or acid blend? I am, quite frankly, terrified of using Brett. I've heard that once...

I followed the White Labs directions for making a starter but cut the amounts in half. I pitched half the vial into the beer and the other half into the starter wort. After a day I poured off most of the wort and stuffed this starter in the fridge. My concern is that the yeast will croak...

What do you guys do about yeast? I have shyed away from using liquid yeast because it doesn't seem to lend itself to one gallon batches. An entire tube is massively overpitching or I am left with two thirds or so of a tube of yeast that I don't have much of a use for. As such I try to use dry...

Eh, it's just some yeast. Not the end of the world. You were recommending yeasts previously. Have you used the Vintner's Harvest ones? My local brew shops carry those.

Update: The 58W3 yeast are dead too. I bought the packets from More Beer and e-mailed them about the dead yeast. The packets themselves were from Cellar Science. It's too bad, as I haven't been able to find those yeast locally. Hopefully they have live replacement yeast. Not sure how...

If you're referring to the New Cidermaker's Handbook by Claude Jolicoeur, I have it. I've read most of it. It was rather disappointing, actually. The author seems to make the assumption that the reader has ready access to cider apples. This is not the case in most places and home cider...

I think I got a bum packet of yeast from Morebeer. The BA11 is not coming to life. I've tried rehydrating twice. Nothing is happening. And yes, I used Goferm and the correct temperatures.

Yeah, I just read about the nutrients. This is a small test batch of half a gallon. I mixed in 1/4 teaspoon of Fermaid K. I may dump in some extra DAP as well. I pitched it about 12 hours ago and so far I am not seeing any activity. Hopefully I didn't screw up the pitching. I had to order...

I wasn't trying to knock Reduless. I wouldn't consider this one dose attempt on one batch of cider to be indicative of the utility of the product. What I heard in the interview with Shea Comfort is that you should start with Reduless because it won't strip as much flavor as straight copper...

The sulfur smell was not at all subtle. It was overpowering. I actually did do precisely as the directions stated with Reduless. I used the correct concentration, stirred it in, waited three days and racked. I even degassed the cider with my recently acquired "wine whip." I was going to...

Holy cow. The copper sulfate worked. It worked almost instantaneously. I've never seen anything work that fast. Because I didn't measure out the amount of copper I won't be serving it to other people and will eventually dump it. I used less than a pinch of copper sulfate but still, I don't...

I racked the smelly cider. The Reduless did nothing, as far as I can tell. I suspect I need something stronger or that the hydrogen sulfide has gone into a form that copper can't treat. I put a sprinkle of copper sulfate, dissolved in water, into the cider. I know I was supposed to do a...

So.... the first batch is in the fermenter. But things didn't quite go according to plan. I had a boil over and so I lost some wort and hops. That kind of threw off my whole timing and I ended up just tossing about seven caraway seeds in at about 10 minutes before the end of the boil. Not...

The Gravenstein juice was from Whole Foods. If there is one in your area they may have it. I'm currently getting ready to ferment the small amount of quince juice I have on hand. Once it's done, and depending on taste, I will use it to blend with ciders to add some tannin and acidity. I'm...

I have a spare coffee grinder. I think I'll try using that. I also think I will give them a light toast in a pan first. I don't know if toasting will help them or not. We shall see. It helps immensely with sesame seeds. I'll probably boil the paint strainer in water to sanitize and test...

Why crush up the caraway so fine? Why not just use them whole? Caraway seeds are not particularly large and they seem to have potency whole. And it would be easier to filter them out in a bag if whole. I couldn't find a small enough bag at the brew shop so I will just tie up a piece of paint...

Thank you. That sounds like just what I'm looking for. I'll probably use the recipe I created above. Maybe a little more rye malt and a little less base malt. I think I'll start with US-05 for that "clean" taste and if the beer isn't crap I'll try again with the German ale yeast.

I will report back once I've tried it. I'll probably toast the carway and see how it it smells/tastes. Anyone know what kind of flavor crysal rye gives? I haven't been able to find a good description online