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Getting 7 bushels next weekend so I got to building a quick press out of some old wood. I still have to make a grinder, otherwise its a bucket and sledge hammer. Cheaper than renting one, or buying one for that matter. Here it is:

I've heard of others getting bunk smack packs and it seems I got a bad batch too. No activity after 12 hours, and as I was pouring it in, there was a faint smell that seemed "off", rancid might describe it. If nothing happens by 6pm, I'll probably pitch some QA23. I wonder if I can get a refund...

So, at this point we all k now what that is. At any rate, while I was at the store awhile back, everyone was pulling TP and other stuff off the shelves. Guess what I stocked up on...Apple Juice! I certainly have enough juice to produce cider to last through this pandemic and then some lol. Now I...

I added aspartic acid, and glutamine along with the regular amounts of fermaid k and o. I'm experimenting with amino acid additions to store bought juice as a nitrogen source in place of DAP. The bubbles coming out of the airlock were fun to watch, but I ended up putting a blow off tube on the...

Shoot, I have been meaning to post this for well over a month, but I have mentioned it here and there on HBT. I decided to try "lagering" a cider to see how it turns out following a method I found online, with a twist or two. My goal is to make a cider from store bought juice, going very low...

I bought some juice from the store, I made my nutrient additions, and pectic enzyme, wrapped it with my ferm-wrap, set the temp for 93F since I am pitching a kveik, also PE works best at higher temps. Its only day two, and I was about to pitch and noticed the air lock bubbling away ncely, and...

There was some discussion about additives to speed up fermentation, and amino acids were brought up. I have been researching amino acids in apple juice and their role in fermentation and ester production. Its pretty interesting stuff. Here is a link to an article that I read/skimmed yesterday...

My wife bought me an apple tree for my birthday, a bare root, and I get to choose one: Newtown Pippin, Sierra Beauty, or Gravenstein. There are others, but these three are in the ones from which I'll make a choice. I'm leaning heavy on the Newtown though there are many of these already around...

I nailed a single varietal cider using gravenstein juice using hornindal kveik (which is my favorite at this point). I added some tannin bit by bit till it was just right. It tasted great! So, time to bottle some, and keg the rest. I set up my pressure transfer system set at 3psi, opened the...

Hey y'all, I currently have a magnetic stir plate with a heating element, but no temp control. I might have ruined a starter last night because I got busy doing stuff and spaced that the heater was on. It reached about 110f. So, I am looking for recommendations for a stir plate with fairly...

Given the wonderful outcome of my first mead, I have decided to make a second. I'm going to follow the same nutrient protocol as with the last batch using TOSNA. This time I have some potassium carbonate if I need it. The question now is, do I use 71b-1122, or should I run with a kveik? I have...

There's a first time for everything apparently! I have two ciders that are refusing to clear. It's not merely cloudy, it's almost milky, especially the Nottingham. Same steps used for every cider: cold crash, add gelatin, add bentonite if needed, and in a day or two it's clear. One was made...

Well, for me at least, apple season has come to a close. All of the trees I know of are picked clean, or there are but a few left well out of reach and not worth busting out the ladder to pick. So this morning, I started my first batch of mead. It was the idea of making mead as my grandmother...

Well, I have pretty much picked the neighborhood clean of apples, or at least the ones that I could see from the road (there might be one more that has some cox pips that weren't too bad a couple months ago). But, I did find one tree full of ripe pippins, so I knocked on the door to see if I...

Again, i was listening to a podcast on ciderchat.com, and they were discussing wild ferments. The guest said that he tastes his ciders every 12 hours during primary, and when he tastes one he likes at the specific point in the process, he either adds oxygen, shakes the barrel, or splashes the...

Good Morning, and Happy Thanksgiving to all you Cider Makers (and Brewers too)! I have to be quick as I am on turkey duty today (and I have to rack a cider as well since it hit the flavor profile that I hope to preserve), so its a busy day! Anyhow,I was listening to a podcast the other day...

Man, Saturday was busy! I think I hit damn near every aspect of cider making outside of planting or grafting an apple tree. I picked the apples from around the neighborhood again and ended up with over 7 gallons this time :)The whole day started with chopping apples and cutting out the worm...

I have been listening to podcasts and watching videos talking about Kveik strains, however, at best there is a but a slight mention of cider while the rest of the talk is about beer. How do I approach using Kveik strains with cider? Do I go with the beer approach and bottle or keg when the cider...

I know that its written all over the place that the apples make the cider what it is, that is, getting the right blend of apples to get the right balance of sweet, tart, acid and tannin. I recently did a batch of straight store bought juice, tree top was the brand. I put nothing in it accept...

I am making a cider with Opshaug Kveik, and needed to use a blow off tube (again). This time, I ran the tube into a jar using fresh juice rather than water, and I am thinking of pouring that straight onto another cider that I am starting this afternoon. Although I may just do a gallon to see...