Aqua Vitae

This past week I began fermenting a couple of batches of cider, and one new batch of beer.
The ciders are two 1-gallon batches, using cider from two different orchards. The first uses ciders from Eve’s Cidery in Ithaca, NY. This has been fermenting for 7 days now, and the airlock has begun bubbling rather steadily […]

Read Full Post »

1.046 O.G.
Acid ~ .04 tartaric
Flavor profile - light bodied, pleasantly sweet, slightly tart, mildly astringent - really a very nicely balanced and subtle cider.
Starter - ~2c cider boiled w/ .25t yeast nutrients. Cooled to 70º, English Cider yeast pitched. Starter is proceeding at 68-72º.

Read Full Post »

Recipes: 1. All-natural, 2. Naturally adjusted., 3. Adjusted, 4. Oaked
1. All-natural (sweet cider within target range of: 1.045-1.047 S.G. & 0.3-0.5% acidity)

5 gal sweet cider (Littletree Orchards, Newfield, NY. 1.040 S.G.; 0.4% acidity)
Fermax Yeast Nutrient

Day 0 (10/26/07) - Cider pressed
Day 1—X (10/27) - Cider cellared @~60ºF (nothing added), .5 Gal removed and refridgerated
Day 4 (10/30) […]

Read Full Post »

Starter fermentation had slowed, so I’ve built up the starter again (following same starter as the first batch). I took a gravity reading of the starter wort and it’s approx 1.020, so the yeast is definitely doing some work, there is also a noticeable layer of lighter colored yeast on top of the trub. On […]

Read Full Post »

The short answer: don’t do it.
The medium answer: try a batch, along with a closed batch.
The long answer: So I asked Gavin Sacks his opinion on open fermenting cider vs. using an airlock. While he said he hadn’t made many ciders he theorized that it was a bad idea based on his experience with wines […]

Read Full Post »

Next beer (following the golden bitter): Black lager (since the freezer is available and winter is coming.) Details to emerge…

Read Full Post »