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Would like to buy a cider press and an apple crusher. Not too picky about whether it's vintage or newer as long as it has some life left in it. I'm in Bedford NY (Westchester), willing to drive an hour to pickup or maybe more if the price is right. Or if you're local and don't mind lending...

In!

Do you know why it's against the rules? I'd be curious to know.

I didn't ask. Just dug up the email chain and apparently they don't order from Country Malt. For reference, I paid a total of $53 for a 55 lb sack of Maris Otter.

If no one feels like organizing it, I have bought sacks of grain through Bitter and Esters before. They charged $10 on top of the Country Malt price to cover shipping and their time, but I'd say it was well worth it just for convenience of being able to pick up from them at my leisure instead of...

Seeing these more and more places (maybe just because I'm aware of them now)... new super-fancy beer bar Torst in Brooklyn is using them. http://galleries.gothamistllc.com/asset/51409470cd657855c8a50044/mobile/torst_samhorine-1313.jpg

Basically all the sugars in cider are completely fermentable. It should finish between 1.000 and 0.998. Take a reading and then take another in a week to make sure it's really done.

That sounds normal... what part are you thinking you screwed up? If you're using a refractometer after the start of fermentation, you will need to correct the reading due to the presence of alcohol or it will be wildly inaccurate.

Did the cider have preservatives? I made that mistake once and it lead to a very slow, strange tasting fermentation.

Without more information, I'd say 2 weeks as a ballpark.

Give it time and it should clear -- you probably just have a lot of yeast left in suspension because you sorbated while they were still fermenting. You can always try cold crashing or adding a fining agent. I can think of a few possible reasons for it fermenting differently. One that I can...

Thanks, I have the chemicals on order and I'll let you know how it turns out. I wish I had actual lab equipment but I don't so I'll probably just ballpark some numbers and go by trial and error.

Thanks. I'm more concerned with salvaging the beer than the barrel, as I believe the last aging in the barrel plus a few overnight soakings should have drawn out the remaining citric acid. Researching a little more, I believe I may be able to form calcium citrate (which is virtually insoluble)...

In between uses, I attempted to keep my barrel sterile by filling it with "holding solution" of citric acid and metabisulfate that I read about on this More Winemaking article and cross-checked with a couple other sources (I've since switched to burning sulfur discs). Before aging my next...

I'd add everything but the tannin during primary. You should adjust tannin to taste in the finished cider. It sounds like you want some residual sweetness and are also kegging. Generally you would let the cider reach 1.000 (or lower) and then backsweeten with apple concentrate/honey/other...

Do you want to condition/mature it or just store it? Putting it in the fridge is going to slow or stop any chemical/biological processes involved in maturation. I don't think there will be any harm in storing at 72 F for a couple months, as mine is stored around 68 F and has improved in flavor...

I'm curious how it came out. Please fill us in!

In it to win it

It definitely helps ensure a fast, clean fermentation. I get an occasional stuck fermentation (at around 1.020 from an OG of 1.050) when I don't add nutrient, depending on the yeast strain (and of course the cider composition, but most of us don't have control over that). I then add 1/4 tsp per...

Probably too late since sheet is locked, but if possible I'd like to get 1 sack BD-MOPA