Search results

Yep, same for the honey if you use that. A nice caramelized honey really comes through with time in a cider.

Just a little, I wanted enough to push it to it's max, and at the rate I'm going, I think it will hit between 18 & 19 easily which is fine with me. It will have one more chance with the next and final 3lb addition, but this will be more for sweetening I think. At that time it will sit on the...

My November cider starts in May, 5 gallons juice, Nottingham yeast, enough honey to 1.055-60 and 3 cans concentrate in secondary. Kegged in November.

After the 3 lbs of honey went in, the new gravity was 1.064, up from 042. Fermentation is very slow, currently at 1.048. Will take it as far as it will go, next step is to put it on cherries and blackberries for a month, then rack again for the cognac addition. So far, so good.

Looks like you missed the lag phase by about 10 minutes!...LOL Looks like it's percolatin' to me!

I shy away from American oak because to me, it tastes woody, like an oak plank in most everything I've used it in. I prefer French Oak for stronger, darker recipes such as dark beers, dark wines like cabs & merlot's, wildflower honey. Hungarian Oak for lighter recipes like clover, orange...

Use French Oak and a good bourbon like Buffalo Trace's Eagle Rare or Evan Williams Single Barrel, Breckenridge or Basil Hayden. Soak them for a good 3-4 weeks, drop a half a vanilla bean in also.

The first 3 lbs of honey went in during racking at 1.042, about 16%, so not alot of room to move in my attempt to max out at around 19-20%. This might be a real struggle. I hate to use any kind of yeast energizer for fear of creating off flavors. What I'm thinking now is, I may omit the next 3...

The whisky will give a brash taste, but if you love bourbon/whisky, then you might enjoy it. The soaked cubes will give you a smooth oak flavor with a hint of whatever whisky you use. Either way you don't want to overtake the blackberry and the dark caramel you get from the honey.

Gravity - actually, mine started out more than 1.160, more like 170, my hydro bottoms out at 160, and my reading was below that! And yes, the yeast is supposed to top out at 18%, but I'm trying to coax it past that. You need it to be right on the edge because the 750ml of 40% ABV cognac is...

I made some changes to the process in case anyone was brave enough to start it.

Yep, it is! Thanks for listening!

Its 5 gallons exactly in the fermenter. It's an intense project, needs to be watched over. The cost so far is around $140, plus I spent about $65 on some cognac, so yeah, around $200 bucks. The honey runs me $160 for a 5 gallon bucket from a local beekeeper, and I used 15 pounds, you do the...

I have this in the fermenter right now https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/blackberry-cherry-mead-port.648762/

Yep, then you certainly don't want to stabilize. You can use some concentrate for your sugar, just make sure and do the math. Personally, "cloudy" doesn't change the flavor, just the looks of it. Hell, I'd drink it cloudy!

I have to start at 5 lbs and increase a couple pounds every so often, otherwise the keg equalizes in pressure and nothing happens. The first time I did it I started out at 12 lbs, in 10 minutes, I couldn't see the Co2 in the return line any longer, so I let it go for about an hour, the following...

You can't kill yeast, only inhibit it's growth. So after stabilizing, I add the concentrate and I see no activity at all, and what little there might be is covered up by the fact that I carb my cider. And it's as clear as a plate glass window!

You can get the water coolers at hydroponics stores also. They use them to water plants because cold water is less susceptible to bacteria that can harm plants. They are expensive, around $400, but half the price of a glycol system.

In the fermenter right now... (I made some adjustments to the process in red) Primary Fermentation: 2 cans Alexander’s Merlot 1 can Alexander’s Red Zinfandel 9 lbs honey (I used a very floral wildflower from my local beekeeper) 1 ½ lbs very ripe bananas cut in 1” pieces (skin on) 8 oz dried...

I built one, DIY, how long did it take to reach your carb level? Did you start right out at pressure?