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It may be difficult to make a cider that will age well for four years. Something high alcohol will probably last, but it may lose its apple flavor. I'm thinking of making a Carmel Cider by boiling 1 gallon down to a carmelized syrup then adding 1 gallon of cider to bring it back up to volume...

Anyone here have experience boiling down cider to avoid needing to add sugar? Did it work well? Also, anybody boil 1 gallon to 1/2 gallon into a carmelized syrup to add to the cider fora carmel apple flavor?

I like to freeze the milk after I'm finished to really concentrate the flavors. Are webcam on topic yet? How about this, what is the actual volume of Applejack to expect from 1-5 gallons of 12% cider assuming you don't want straight fuel?

Are we making fuel again?

Wow, you guys need a personal use license. Mead looks like it is in the definition of wine since it mentions honey as a fermentable. Ours doesn't appear to allow transfer or distribution to judges for competition. I must be missing something.

I just looked up the Minnesota statute and apparently it is not legal to make mead in MN without a license: ". 9.Unlicensed manufacture. Nothing in this chapter requires a license for the natural fermentation of fruit juices or brewing of beer in the home for family use." Jacking would be...

In free societies laws only limit freedom, they don't create freedom. I realize I sound like a huge D-bag saying that, but there isn't a better way to put it so bear with me. Statutes that prohibit "distilling" are often defined to include only the use of heat and evaporation. Freeze...

Lol, what I don't understand, after reading this thread, is everyone's ABV expectation. Pretty sure I don't want to be drinking straight ethanol. 40% looks like the upper limit most would want, so starting at a gallon you should get more than a bottle from 1 gallon. Personally I go through a...

I'm fairly certain jacking is legal in most of the US. Jacking does leave the fusels, but they are equivalent to regular cider/beer/wine just in higher concentration. You'd have to really be drinking irresponsibly for it to be particularly harmful. Drink the concentrated equivalent to beer...

Cold doesn't hurt honey. I freeze the honey until use to maintain aromatics. Some honey can go bad if it truly separates during crystalization since the higher water content allows stuff to grow. That is rare and you only need to worry if part of the honey gets runny.

Thanks guys, I knew that C02 should form a blanket, but was unsure if there would be any air mixing dynamics that would affect that in the real world. Glad to hear you all don't have trouble with it.

No, but I'd be more comfortable that very little O2 was in there since it was sealed full. I'm not confident purging pushes out all the O2 out. I realize theoretically it should, but in real world application the air may mix quite a bit during purging. 1 gallon could have a good deal of O2...

Would it be better to find something gallon sized and pressure proof that I can sanitize and put in there?

I have searched for this, but couldn't find anything. Can I keg 4 or 4.5 gallons in a 5 gallon keg? Of course I would purge, but I can't imagine that getting all the O2 out. What if I want to force carb 4 gallons for bottling from a 5 gallon keg? Would it be a huge waste?

I'd buy at a reasonable price, but shipping could be cost prohibitive.

I've found the best way to degass is to hook up a tube to a short piece of racking cane put through you bung, then just suck on the end to create a vacuum. I always put the gallon higher than my mouth so no mouth grossness makes its way into the bottle. I would never blow into the carboy, but...

You guys are much more thorough with your cocoa then I was when I made my chocolate cherry wine. I just dumped some cocoa in the secondary and mixed it a little bit. It never really dissolved, it was just clumps of cocoa that I shook up into the wine with the lees every week or so. I...

Depends. Bottle when it's clear and not dropping anymore sediment. Shine a flash light into it, it should go through clear and you shouldn't see the beam in the mead. Certainly no tiny particles should be distinguishable. How soon that happens depends on a lot of things. The kind of...

Meadowfoam is suppose to be one of the best honeys for baking because heating the honey accentuates the flavors. I haven't made mead with it yet, but have baked with it. Personally I don't taste the real marshmellowy flavors until it is cooked, raw it is all vanilla to me (but good). I...

Not crucial for a bochet at all. I only chose meadowfoam because it is very marshmallowy when heated, so I thought it would go well with some chocolate. Considering throwing in some buckwheat instead of steeped grains for a "malty" flavor. My buckwheat isn't very grainy tasting, but it is...