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What's wrong with a little higher ABV? Just use it all with your original volume.

For several years I brewed 6 gallon batches to get 5.5 gallons of clean wort into the fermenter and 5 into a keg. Now, I do 5.5 gallons and don't fuss about trub into the fermenter. It settles out and compacts with the yeast in the end, and has no negative effect on the end product.

Reverse the drive roller end to end. fun your drill in reverse. There's some wear on the rollers. Another alternative is to double mill.

Oops! Didn't read right. Thought you were batch sparging. In this case, raising the temperature will reduce the viscosity of the wort which helps if you use a large percentage of wheat, rye or sticky adjuncts..

If you wanted to do a mash out you'd add boiling water as needed to bring the temperature up to about 170F. In most cases, especially when batch sparging, there's really no advantage to a mash out. The reasoning behind a mash out is to raise the temperature enough to denature the enzymes. Just...

Glad to see someone using distilled water for extract brewing. It's the proper water to use. As for yeast nutrient, always a cheap way to give your yeasts a boost. Never a problem.

For brewing you don't want iodized salt. Canning salt is probably your best choice. Not sure about the actual chemical makeup of the others.

Buying Beersmith is a step in the right direction. If you haven't properly set up your equipment profile you still need to do that. Also, if you're doing BIAB, you should read this too: http://beersmith.com/blog/?s=BIAB. Beersmith cannot guess what you're doing. You need to tell it by entering data.

You need to set up an equipment profile that closely matches what gear you're using. Here's a link to a video that does a great job of telling you how this is done: http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/04/beersmith-tutorial-equipment-profile-setup/ Once you have done this, keep good notes about the...

You're looking for a blue flame.

Some seasoned brewers are able to predict what a beer will be at maturity by tasting at various stages. Many more cannot. As a new brewer I strongly recommend that you wait until the beer has fully conditioned before making any judgements. This means allowing it to fully carbonate and mature...

To find your dead space put a couple gallons of water in your mash tun and drain it out by the method you would use while brewing. Measure what remains in the mash tun. This is your dead space.

Could you expand on the process you are using when doing a no boil, all grain brew?

Try 2qts/lb., the thinner end of the ratios I posted. That'll get you much closer and would the practical way in this case. Maybe I should have clarified that the, "it doesn't make a bunch of difference" referred to getting half the boil volume from first runnings. That's the reason I...

Theoretically, you want half of your boil volume from the first runnings and the other half from the sparge. Practically, if you use a reasonable water to grain ratio(1.25 to 2), it doesn't make a bunch of difference. Give it a good stir after adding sparge water and run it off.

I generally do a 14 day primary and after transferring to secondary get clear cider in another 2 to3 weeks. I use gelatin for some of my beers, but never found the need with cider.

The pressure of CO2 is dependent on temperature, as most gasses are. I would crank the regulator(s) down to the lowest setting(s) and start from there. If your PRVs blow off there you have a regulator problem. Every PRV I've ever seen is on the low side.

Unless you boiled the cider it will clear. Just give it some time. Dropping clear depends on time and temperature. The lower the temperature, the less time it takes. Gelatin is an alternative, but patience generally yields the best results.

If you want to keep it simple, Dave's advice is sound.

Given what your starting point was, I would expect good results. Although Brew'n Water gives you different numbers, the ratios are pretty much the same. You may want to make some adjustments on the Sulfate/Chloride ratio over time, but this gives you a good starting point. As long as you...