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The work is buying or making a filter and then running it from one keg to another.

Make SURE it is completely fermented before bottling. Otherwise you get exploding bottles.

Doubtful that you screwed it up. Adding more juice will increase the alcohol, maybe so high that the yeast dies (depends on what it was). I don't understand why you added nutrient. Because it was slowing down? That means it was finishing. No judgement - just asking. I once added sugar to a...

I don't know :-) I think rooibos always seems a little mild.

Sounds good, but might need more tea to get the flavor. You might also want some black tea for astringency. I would do 5 rooibos and 2 black and make 1 cup of tea. Make it strong!

Probably better to add before packaging. I have added grape tannin, and that can be before or after. I think the acid and tannins will give the most complexity, but your cider WILL NOT be sweet. Unless you ferment it strong enough to kill the yeast.

That's a good article in BYO. I might try Safcider just to see. Some people also say that S-04 leaves some sweetness. What is the yeast you use, OP?

My favorite so far is WLP775. We've used wine, champagne, Coopers, Nottingham, and I think US-05. I thought 775 left it with more body and apple flavor. It does have a stronger sulfur smell when it's fermenting, but it's not overwhelming. Our ideal situation is to ferment dry, then backsweeten...

It really depends on what you're trying to do. If you want residual sweetness or sparkling cider (or especially if you want sweet and sparkling), you probably need to bottle pasteurize (find the sticky). If you are making still cider, or even very dry sparking, you might not need to.

The dry yeast probably would overpower the other wild yeasts. SO the campden isn't strictly necessary. It does also help as an antioxidant, which is important. For long term aging, most people add campden every other racking, usually racking each month or 2 months to get the cider off the lees...

1. If you're using commercial yeast, then you should *probably* try to kill the wild yeast first. I use 1 campden tablet per gallon, wait 24 hours, then add yeast. For the wild yeast, how are you planning to get wild yeast in there? The UV should kill the yeast. The fact that fresh cider from...

Making cider is easy; making sweet, sparkling cider is hard. It can be done in bottles, but it's really only "easy" if you force carbonate in a keg. That said, there are posts on this forum for backsweetening and carbonating, then pasteurizing to stop the fermentation. It's not hard, just...

Keg Connection has some good kits with paintball tanks. Good starter setup.

It's hard to get good mango flavor from real mango. I think it's more aroma that's in the peel. So something that's mango essence or flavor (natural) would be best. Or mango juice if it has no preservatives. That syrup would work well, too.

If you leave it in too long, it gets hot - like Atomic Fireball candy or those little Red Hots. We did 1 or 2 weeks before. I didn't really care for that batch of cider. You might consider using allspice (whole berries) with the cinnamon, because it gives a hint of several spices.

All the juice will eventually ferment out to the same abv. It doesn't matter if you add it all at once or later. But if you add some juice at the end, then bottle, let it carbonate, then pasteurize, it will retain berry flavor and sweetness. PLEASE READ ALL ABOUT carbonating and adding fresh...

Yes, you'll get more berry flavor that way. But it will also ferment more - depends on your method for bottling.

For the OP - it ferments pretty fast, but you need to let it sit a while to clear some more. Time helps dissipate some of the funky smells, too. If you do it now, you can definitely drink it in the fall. You can add spices during fermentation or at the end, or when bottling. There are lots...

Ways to ruin your $40 investment: oxidation. Bottle bombs. Other than that, it's hard to make it undrinkable.

When you bottle, fill one plastic bottle (soda or something carbonated) with your cider. Fill the rest in glass. Every day (every!) squeeze the bottle. It will get harder as the carbonation increases. Your glass bottles are doing the same. When it's too hard to squeeze ("rock hard"), then...