Well, boredom, the internet and a very little bit brewing knowledge (along with a few IPAs) caught up with me this weekend and with the encouragement of some "friends," I decided to make a hard cider. Woke up the next morning and realized I was outside of my limited brewing element so I'm turning to the experts.
Here is what I "found" sitting in my "beer cellar" (closet in the spare bedroom) when I woke up Sunday:
One gallon of Martinelli's unfiltered apple juice (no concentrate, sweetener or preservatives).
One cup of brown sugar.
Danstar American West Coast BRY-97 cleaned from by last IPA.
Balloon with a pin hole as an "air lock."
Temp is 70 degrees.
My foggy memory is that I'm good on all the sanitation issues.
This concoction has been bubbling fairly well for the last three days.
My plan (yea...let's call it a plan...that sounds like I have a clue what I'm doing!!) is to leave in the primary for two weeks then rack to a secondary for another two (will add one cinnamon stick). Rack again and prime with a cup of brown sugar, bottle and condition for a week. I'll finish by doing a stove top pasteurization per the instructions on this site.
Soooo...Do I have a chance at producing something that is going to be palatable?
Am I missing any critical steps?
Will I be creating 12 or so bottle bombs that will blow holes in my roof the second I start to pasteurize?
Should I pitch the whole thing and go back to the "safety" of beer brewing??!!
Here is what I "found" sitting in my "beer cellar" (closet in the spare bedroom) when I woke up Sunday:
One gallon of Martinelli's unfiltered apple juice (no concentrate, sweetener or preservatives).
One cup of brown sugar.
Danstar American West Coast BRY-97 cleaned from by last IPA.
Balloon with a pin hole as an "air lock."
Temp is 70 degrees.
My foggy memory is that I'm good on all the sanitation issues.
This concoction has been bubbling fairly well for the last three days.
My plan (yea...let's call it a plan...that sounds like I have a clue what I'm doing!!) is to leave in the primary for two weeks then rack to a secondary for another two (will add one cinnamon stick). Rack again and prime with a cup of brown sugar, bottle and condition for a week. I'll finish by doing a stove top pasteurization per the instructions on this site.
Soooo...Do I have a chance at producing something that is going to be palatable?
Am I missing any critical steps?
Will I be creating 12 or so bottle bombs that will blow holes in my roof the second I start to pasteurize?
Should I pitch the whole thing and go back to the "safety" of beer brewing??!!