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Just finished primary ferment of 6 gallons of Trader Joes with Cider House Select. First time using that yeast and it never really bubbled at all, but went from 1.052 to 1.000 in 10 days. Just bottled yesterday, half as straight cider and half with added habanero extract. I've got another 6...

.026+3. Yes, I did have that thought, but the primary purpose of putting in the new garage stall was to be able to park my 20' long extended cab pickup in there, and if I take too much room for my cider room, the space will get pretty tight! I've used stainless steel fold-down counters in my...

Yes, indeed! Plan to have lots of shelving to store empties and other supplies. Thx for the reply.

Thanks for the reply! Yes I agree that’s the messy part. We also typically do the grinding and pressing out on the driveway on a sunny fall day, and then just hose everything off. With my new space I will still have the same option, but we often store some apples to do a press into early...

Great, thanks! Very helpful post and I see that our projects and wish lists are quite similar. Nice to see the photos and other suggestions that were shared. Have you started your build yet?

Hello! After a couple of years of making cider spread across 4 rooms around the house (kitchen, laundry, spare bath, and garage), I am finally embarking on building out a dedicated space for cider making. I’m adding another garage stall which is below grade on the back wall so if i build a room...

Just tried my first back sweetening with Swerve. I dissolved 1.2 cups Swerve in about a cup of freshly boiled water, then added it to my bottling bucket with a bit of wine tannin and some robust maple as a primer, then racked 5 gallons of fermented cider at FG 1.000. It tasted GREAT without a...

Thank you! I will definitely give this a try! Stretch

Awesome, thanks so much for the tips. I will give Xylitol and Swerve both a try. Thx again!

Hi All, Anyone have any tips for backsweetening cider? The last couple batches I've made, I've used splenda to sweeten and then dark maple syrup to prime for a natural carbonation level of about 2-3 volumes. I like a pretty sparkley cider! I'm not a huge fan of the splenda taste but I don't...

Hey Kerryon, any chance you'd be willing to share your Lime-Habanero recipe?? I have a Mango Habanero that is just finishing up primary ferment right now. I'm pretty new at all this so fingers crossed that it will be decent! Thanks, Stretch

Thank you! Very helpful!!

Hey thanks, Dave C! Do you have a chart that you work from for various carbonation levels? Or how did you come to such a precise answer? Years of experience? Thanks again, s

I bought some really tasty local honey from a friend and I'd like to use it to make half of my recent batch of hard cider into a sparkling version. I know that honey will ferment aggressively and I don't want to overdo it and have a bunch of grenades going off in my basement. Does anyone have...

Well, this has been a long experiment but a really good learning experience. I whisked regularly for several days and then adding a really robust yeast starter made from some new juice. It bubbled slowly for a couple days, then ceased at a specific gravity of 1.034. I was about to give up...

Ha! Well thanks again for the advice. My cider (all 3 gal) is now in a sanitized stainless steel stockpot, which I am stirring for a couple minutes about 6-8 times per day with a whisk to see if I can get the SO2 to blow off. I'm picking up some new fresh cider from our local farmers market...

Thank you so much for the quick reply! I wondered about the K meta. I even went back and double checked my measurements and calculations, but that dose came right from the chart in Beechum's book. I will pour all three into a sanitized stock pot and stir the bejeezus out of them for a bit and...

First try here making some hard cider from apples I picked and pressed from a local orchard. I started with two gallons of my own pressing, and one additional gallon of raw juice that I purchased from the orchard just to compare some different apples. I am working with three 1-gallon carboys...