when i ferment motts apple juice it usually gives sulfur about day ten for 1-2 weeks. however after the sulfur burns off it off-gasses the most delicious apple aroma for several days at least. my ferm chamber smells like an apple orchard on a crisp fall day. i would love to retain more of that in the cider. would maybe capping the fermenter and adding a little co2 to finish it under pressure retain some of that aroma. has anyone tried this with success . Is it worth a try ..read more

I have used Swerve brand Erythritol to back sweeten some cider that I want to bottle carbonate. Last week I opened a bottle from 2021, and the sweetness has mostly disappeared. I have had a similar experience with Erythritol in the past. It seems that the sweetness slowly dissipates over time. I was wondering if anyone else has experience this or can explain what is happening. This question is specifically on using a non-fermentable sweetener in bottle carbonation. I am not looking for... Read more ..read more

Hello, this is my second time homebrewing cider. My yeasts seem to have given up, and I've tried all the advice I could find on this forum and elsewhere, so I come to tell you my cider's tale in the hope of getting a better understanding of what might be going on! My friend has a number of old apple trees in his yard. Around December I ran the apples through a home tabletop juicer, then hand squeezed the pulp through a fine gauze. I did two batches from the same orchard, pressed a few weeks... Read more ..read more

I was wondering if I could put my hard cider in mason jars? I haven't heard of this before so I don't know if it's ok ..read more

It's been awhile since I was on the forum, but I am back and looking for any insight to come up with a solution for bulk pasteurization. Pappers has a good thread about pasteurization and how to do it on the stove top with bottles. I am including a quote from his post describing the reasonings behind someone wanting to pasteurize. This does not address bulk pasteurization. In this thread, I want to keep it about bulk pasteurization, not about using campden tablets, potassium metabisulfite... Read more ..read more

I’ve got 5 gallons of store bought Indian summer cider. I’ve used Campden in the past. Is it really necessary to use 24 hours before pitching yeast ..read more

This is my 4th brew of hard cider. I usually brew in the house but had some issues with off flavors due to high temps. For this brew I decided to try out the garage. The fermentation temperature was between 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit. Fermentation was very active for the first 7-10 days and has slowed to nothing now 3 weeks into fermentation. Temps have dropped to around 48 degrees now fermentation is complete. I noticed some strange streaks at the bottom of the carboy that I am guessing is... Read more ..read more

Hi everyone This is my first post after much lurking and learning. Just an interested hobbyist from the frozen north dipping his toes into fermenting meads and cider so far. Thanks for all the great resources here. I have a mystery for the great minds of the forum, that has me disappointed twice now after wasting two back to back 3 gallon cider batches. The recipe (per gallon) is one gallon pasteurized juice with no preservatives, a pound of brown sugar one cinnamon sick, 10 raisins... Read more ..read more

The Blichmann Beer Gun came with a 10-foot 3/16" ID PVC tubing liquid line. One end attaches to the keg via a QD; the other end pushes onto the open end of the steel beer gun tubing without the use of a clamp, as seen in the photo. I decided to upgrade the line to 3/16" ID Ultrabarrier tubing. Much to my surprise, even tho the tubing has the same ID as the PVC line, it slowly slips off the metal tube on the back of the gun. I tried using a hose clamp on it. Even that wouldn't... Read more ..read more

Hi. This is my second batch of kit cider. I made it 3 days ago but see no bubbles in the airlock yet. I just did a gravity reading. It is the same as my SG. Evidently the yeast did not work. When I sprinkled another yeast package just now, it got really foamy and rose. I stirred it and put the lid back on. Temp is 66F. Any advice please. Thank you ..read more