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Mine is going on week # 2 in my basement at 55 deg. F.

Which yeast blend is it? WLP###?

I find fruit in the primary or fruit concentrate in the secondary works best. Purée would make a mess.

Love the glass!

The funny thing is Maylar & I are about 5 miles apart and often use juice from the same pressing. The major difference is the nutrients we use and I do 5-6 gallons while he does 1-3 gallons. I never correct for temp. My bad!

I have no idea. But adding the concentrate of 1/2 gal. juice to 5 gal. raises the s.g. 3 points.

I’ve done numerous 5 gal. batches with fresh pressed juice & S-04 with yeast nutrients. 55-65 deg. F. It ALWAYS stops at 1.004 in 7-10 days for me.

I rack & stabilize then add my own freeze concentrated juice before kegging.

I just started that White Labs Funky Cider Yeast blend using juice from Beardsley’s last pressing of 2018. It was in the deep freeze til Feb.

Sure looks yummy. When did you start it?

Also if you find a 3 gal. carboy BUY IT! Sometimes people sell em cheap as they scale up. Perfect for starting 2-1/2 gal. then rack into two 1 gal. glass jugs. That will get you 18 12 oz. bottles. Great small scale operation.

I would do that. But start with more than 1 gal. of juice so when you combine it fills it up without sucking up the lees. I use a plastic bucket that holds a little less than 2 gal. You don’t even need a lid & airlock. You can use s piece of cloth and an elastic.

I would suggest you put more than a gal. in a larger container then when it slows rack into a one gal. with very little headspace.

My plan next year is to do it in my oak barrel and let it sit for a year. Think it’s OK to leave it for a year on the lees?

I’ve told this story before. My wife had a gallon of sweet cider from the same orchard I fill my carboys. She drank most of it then it sat in the back of the fridge at 38 deg. F. I tried it and it had fermented. So I swirled it around to get as much “stuff” and poured it into my 2 gal. bucket...

Did you check if those two will cross pollinate? Otherwise you might not get any fruit.

I still haven’t made more than one gal. Of mead or cyzer at a time. And I still have some in the basement from 2017!

I try to ferment in the winter with my basement in the 50’s. Not at a snail’s pace but often slower. The one I have going now is pretty slow even with a starter and nutrients. I think the key is to slow it down without stalling or stressing the yeast. But I am far from an expert.

I have accidentally used twist offs. I've been told that capping can break them. Never happened to me. But I have broken them trying to get the cap off!

I ALWAYS use yeast nutrient and a yeast starter. I've NEVER had bad odors either during or after fermentation.