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I add 25 ppm SO2 and it seems to work well for long-term aging in kegs or bottles. Note that you're getting less than 25 ppm free SO2 because a substantial portion of the SO2 will be bound to organic compounds in the beer. Free SO2 is what reacts with dissolved oxygen. Here's a good read...

That's not very much headspace, but you can add sanitized clear marbles if you want to reduce it further for long-term aging. I add ~50 ppm sulfites (from sodium metabisulfite) at each racking to stabilize cider. You can age cider as long as you want, I have a few still in the carboy from last...

I'd give them a quick rinse for peace of mind, but otherwise that's it. I don't wash my apples unless they are excessively dirty (e.g., muddy).

Could be oxidation, is your airlock full and well-sealed? Cider/beer/wine will oxidize from the top-down in a carboy over time.

I've had excellent luck with oak from this seller on Ebay. He cuts and toasts American oak. You can ask for any toast level and the pricing is outstanding. I cut the sticks into cubes, boil the oak for about 3 minutes to sanitize and reduce tannins, then soak the oak in a spirit for 3+ months. I...

If it's store-bought juice, then it is quite possible that it is lacking in acid, as well as tannins. You can add a bit of winemaker's acid blend to increase the "sharpness" of the juice. Both acid blend and grape tannins available at any homebrew store can be made into "teas" then dosed to the...

I've had success removing sulfide aromas by adding a 2" piece of 1/2 copper pipe to my keg for 1-2 days until the sulfide aromas dissipated. I boiled the copper prior to adding it in order to sanitize it. One could hang the piece of copper by a thread for easy retrieval. While adding solid...

I think you're misunderstanding. My reaper peppers were HOT HOT HOT! I put 3 peppers into ~150 mL of fruit brandy, let them soak for a month, then added ~3-4 drops of the tincture to each bottle. I put a drop on my tongue and AIE! Lengua en fuego! the advantage of a tincture is that the heat...

What about some montmorency tart cherry concentrate. That stuff is VERY concentrated and flavorful.

I'd suggest making a concentrated tea, then dosing small amounts in a glass of your finished cider till you figure out the ratios. That way you can "sanitize" the yerba mate. Or just "dry tea" with a low-ish dose (1 oz per 5 gal) and hope it doesn't cause an infection; I think the odds are...

1 campdep per 1/2 gallon is a fairly high sulfite dosing, so I'm guessing that you only have wild yeast left and that most of the bacteria were killed, if not severely inhibited. You should be on track for a wild, but fairly "clean" fermentation.

I realize that I missed the post date, oops. I didn't say you had to use nutrient, but the TOSNA calculators are a good resource for those worried about stalled fermentations. I have also used D47 for high-gravity cysers without nutrient and it works nicely without off-flavors. 71B is my go-to...

You run the risk of hydrogen sulfide aromas using beer yeasts for high gravity cider, unless you add nutrients. See my post above. Personally, I would use a wine yeast because many of them are able to release aromatics from thiol precursor compounds in the apple juice, which most beer yeasts...

You can use a TOSNA nutrient addition calculator, but take into account that apples do have some (low amounts) of nitrogen and other nutrients, whereas honey has essentially no nutrients. Based on that, I would reduce the recommended nutrient dose by 25-50%. EC1118 is a low-nitrogen requirement...

I've read about Kveik yeasts resulting in a lower finished beer pH than a standard ale yeast. I wonder if this is the case with the difference in taste you are noticing using Horindal.

Definitely give it a shot! Sur lie aging is completely optional, but is worthwhile if you aren't in a hurry. In addition to sur lie aging, you can also use "battonage" which translates to "using a stick" in French. This is just stirring of the sediment in the carboy (using a sterile implement...

You're referencing "sur lie" cider aging, this is common throughout much of Europe. Aging can promote development of flavor complexity in the right conditions. Here's a good read on the subject with takes from multiple cideries: https://www.ciderculture.com/aged-cider-development-maturation/...

Crab apples are often very high in acid and tannins, so even 10% use may overpower the base apple juice. I have access to crabs that yield about 1.076 juice and 100% crab cider is completely undrinkable, but 5-10% added to "bland," sweet eating apples helps make a more complex cider.

I agree that cold and slow ferments preserve apple aromas. Heat and nutrients will cause yeast to ferment too vigorously and blow off aromas. Get a cheap (or free) dorm mini-fridge and a $30 temp controller and presto, you have temp control for one carboy. I like to ferment as cold as possible...

There's no reason to rush cider, traditional methods in France include aging of cider in barrels for more than a year. Cider is very stable once fermented out completely and can improve with time if properly fermented and stored. I use silicone breathable bungs for extended aging to avoid drying...