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You left out a lot of details that would be helpful in answering your questions: - How do the apples currently taste when you bite into them? Sweet, Spicy, Bitter, Earthy, Bland? Are they starchy (like the feel of biting into a raw potato)? There are many kinds of crabs with all sorts of flavor...

Looking good! I assume you are using it in conjunction with a bottle-jack. I have seen excellent results with such a setup. If the pressure from the jack is primarily pushing between the cross-support and the top support, and there is no gap between the tray and cross-support, then the tray...

It sounds like you haven't tried carbonating the cider yet. I have found ciders that are not palatable when Still(uncarbonated) often times, though not always, improve significantly once they are bottle-conditioned for carbonation. This is most likely a combination of mellowing through time (I...

I just finished making my first batch of AppleJack (freeze concentrated Hard Apple Cider). It turned out really nice. Highly concentrated apple flavors and aromas, and quite the alcohol kick as well. I am trying to calculate my final alcohol and residual sugar percentages. First step is to...

I agree about that press being built like a tank. Gotta love stainless steel construction. I used to use a Garbage disposal grinder, also one that I made myself using a 1hp Waste King. I built a wooden stand, installed a cheap stainless steel sink basin and attached the disposal. It worked...

AzOr: I'm late to this party, but I'm glad to see you got the Bladder press from PHG. I have the 40L(10G) one from PHG and I couldn't be happier. I don't think a larger one would fit my needs, as I like to keep my pressing batches single-varietal and you must fill the press at least 2/3rds full...

There only difference with 22oz bottles is filling up the pot with water to a higher level. Temp and timing are the same. 22oz are actually smaller in total diameter and use thinner glass than 500ml flip tops. That, plus the additional water from filling the pot higher offsets the bottle volume...

I've had really good results by blending fresh peaches (or peaches that were fresh frozen) with apple juice in my blender, then filling my fermenter with that. I use between 1 and 1.5 lbs of Peaches per gallon of intended end product. I don't see any reason to add additional sugar or canning...

That doesn't look good to me. It may be a sign of infection of some sort, but it could be okay as well. Did you properly sanitize your carboys and all equipment? I have found that Perry is much more likely to become contaminated, especially if the desired yeast did not take hold early enough to...

In my area (northern California), Gravensteins were pickable a couple weeks ago and are pretty much done by now. Gala are ready as well. Mid-season varieties look like they have at least a few weeks before they are ready, and those late-season varieties have months before they are even close.

I have done in-bottle pasteurization to arrest fermentation when making a sweet cider. I prefer dry cider though, which doesn't require pasteurization since all the sugars are fermented out. Are you trying to make a dry cider or a sweet cider? If you ferment to full dryness (1.000 Gravity or...

Hello everyone. Long time forum lurker, but finally making an account. Me and my partner have been home brewing hard cider for 5 years. Originally started with farmers market and store-bought juices and a single 3-gallon carboy. Quickly progressed to picking and pressing using borrowed pressing...