So I went grocery shopping today and what did I see? Half gallons of pasteurized, no preservative, not-from-concentrate apple juice for $1.09 each. Well jeez... how could I say no to that? I checked my watch and the LHBS was still open... I'd have time to run over there for yeast... Hmmm....
So that's all there was to it. On a whim... three hours after walking past the apple juice in the grocery store, I have it sitting in the fermenter.
10 half gallons of apple juice
2 lbs dextrose
1 can of concentrated apple juice
1/4tsp of Saigon Cassia Cinammon (renowned for its sweetness)
1/2 tsp Tahitian Vanilla Extract (renowned for its fruity aroma, it's often sold to sorbet manufacturers for fruit sorbets)
1 packet of Red Star Montrachet
Original Gravity is 1.062 which, from what I've read, is right on target!
The only hitch is, when dumping my juices into the carboy, I let a seed get in. At first I thought it was a curled up spider floating on the top (which would've been weird, given how carefully I sanitized everything)... so I grabbed the siphon and sucked up the debris and spit it out. Was relieved to see twas only a seed.
One question though... what's the optimal temperature for Red Star Montrachet? I can keep it in my cold cellar which is a steady 50-57 in the winter (depending on whether the door is kept open or closed), the warm cellar which is 65-69 (that's where it is now), or my bedroom which I can keep anywhere from 65 to 80 (though I'd rather not have it in the bedroom when the elephant farts come around). Any advice is appreciated.