January 27, 201610 yr So quite some time ago I absconded with my parents' winemaking equipment - pretty rudimentary, they were dabblers, just a bucket, carboy and some geegaws. I was almost immediately daunted and gave up in advance, until Sunday. I've been completely dry this month, and maybe that spurred my motivation, but for whatever reason I went and bought 10L of cheap generic apple juice, a bag of sugar and some champagne yeast, along with some nutrients & cleaners. Then I reviewed my internet research and threw it all in the bucket. So, exactly 48 hours later, I have cider!!! I expected it to take 2-3 weeks just to ferment, plus maybe a month in a secondary vessel, but I'm already at 5.5% and it is DELICIOUS! Seriously, it's better than what I get at the store for less than a quarter the price. I'm letting the rest keep going because I think I can hit over 10%, but I pulled 4 litres early because it's so tasty, and my girlfriend is a lightweight who will like it like this. Anyway, I can hardly believe it, and since I've never done this before I thought I'd ask around. I know Sarge is an old hand at this, and maybe there are more of you. Can anyone explain how I got great cider in 2 days? Am I out of my mind? Am I poisoning myself by drinking it? Thoughts?
January 27, 201610 yr Homemade Cider. Loopy Juice. Technical advice? Not a clue. Sounds lovely though!
January 27, 201610 yr Well... I tried many years ago to make wine....being very careful... It always ended up with a big clump of mould on the top...yuk.... So well done you..... Call it a miracle......enjoy....
January 27, 201610 yr It's tough to get high alcohol without adding sugars. What was you initial specific gravity measurement? There are some "Turbo Yeasts" out there that can just about ferment the sugars dry overnight. It's about a 6 to 10 day cycle for most Apple batches in Sarge's Cider House. Here's some wine making porn: 5 gallons Strawberry, 5 gallons Raspberry, 16 gallons Apple Cloudy Apple Special Apple in process Does anyone in America even grow Gooseberries anymore besides Sarge the days? Gooseberry in process Strawberry, Black Berry, Gooseberry, Black Currant, Raspberry, Grape, Apple, Elderberry - in that order 'cause that when they're ripe and ready for harvest. It starts in May with Strawberries and ends in November with Elderberry and the later ripening apple varieties. Blueberry in abut 3 years - they aren't producing enough to eat yet, let alone having enough excess to ferment, but they're in the ground growing (5-ish years old for most) Moonshinin's good fun, too ... Easy Peasy
January 27, 201610 yr That Gooseberry looks pretty interesting :) It comes out looking a color just like Mt. Dew after the yeast settles out. It's a very tart flavor. You either like it, or hate it. There's really no in between. Easy Peasy
January 27, 201610 yr Author It's tough to get high alcohol without adding sugars. What was you initial specific gravity measurement? Yay! I get to talk shop. When I started I expected my end product to be pretty terrible, but thankfully I'm obsessive and kept notes anyway and now I'm glad I did. OG was approx 1080 (I didn't know what I was doing and just dropped the hydrometer in the bucket, but I think this is pretty accurate) and SG as of last night was 1040, so I figure %ABV as (1080-1040)/7.36=5.43%. I also know that my apple juice had exactly 100grams/Litre of sugar and I added roughly 1 kilogram to the total 10L giving 200g/L, and a conversion chart shows that an SG of 1080 equates to 208g/L, so I'm right in the ballpark. When I tasted it I guessed the %ABV as 5.5%, so I'm pretty proud of my palate. There are some "Turbo Yeasts" out there that can just about ferment the sugars dry overnight. It's about a 6 to 10 day cycle for most Apple batches in Sarge's Cider House. Conversion tables show that I should be able to hit 10.6% if all the sugars convert, and I'm using Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast which I'm told will tolerate up to 18%. Even 6-10 days seems short to me given the reading and Youtube videos I've processed, though I know it's possible. I just thought it would taste like pruno, and not like the best damn cider I've ever had. I must sound hyperbolic but I'm trying to be objective - it's really that tasty! Does anyone in America even grow Gooseberries anymore besides Sarge the days? We used to have a gooseberry bush in our yard when I was a kid & I really loved them fresh, I'd probably dig the wine too. But of course I'm Canadian so that doesn't count. *Edit to add this glorious picture:
January 27, 201610 yr Yay! I get to talk shop. When I started I expected my end product to be pretty terrible, but thankfully I'm obsessive and kept notes anyway and now I'm glad I did. OG was approx 1080 (I didn't know what I was doing and just dropped the hydrometer in the bucket, but I think this is pretty accurate) and SG as of last night was 1040, so I figure %ABV as (1080-1040)/7.36=5.43%. I also know that my apple juice had exactly 100grams/Litre of sugar and I added roughly 1 kilogram to the total 10L giving 200g/L, and a conversion chart shows that an SG of 1080 equates to 208g/L, so I'm right in the ballpark. When I tasted it I guessed the %ABV as 5.5%, so I'm pretty proud of my palate. Conversion tables show that I should be able to hit 10.6% if all the sugars convert, and I'm using Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast which I'm told will tolerate up to 18%. Even 6-10 days seems short to me given the reading and Youtube videos I've processed, though I know it's possible. I just thought it would taste like pruno, and not like the best damn cider I've ever had. I must sound hyperbolic but I'm trying to be objective - it's really that tasty! We used to have a gooseberry bush in our yard when I was a kid & I really loved them fresh, I'd probably dig the wine too. But of course I'm Canadian so that doesn't count. Just what I was going to say.
January 27, 201610 yr It comes out looking a color just like Mt. Dew after the yeast settles out. It's a very tart flavor. You either like it, or hate it. There's really no in between. Easy Peasy I bet after the first glass it taste pretty good :)
January 27, 201610 yr Author Just what I was going to say. Lol. It's simpler than it sounds. Sugar makes fluid more dense - the density is called the "specific gravity" (SG). A hydrometer is just a floating tube with marks on it, and the higher it floats the denser the fluid, in the same way you float more in the Dead Sea because of all the salt. Yeast eats sugar and pees alcohol, lowering the SG. If you use a hydrometer to take your original SG and final SG you know how much booze you made, and if you know your original SG and how much sugar was in the fluid you know how much alcohol you can get if the yeast eats it all. And the more alcohol you drink the more complicated all the above becomes.
January 28, 201610 yr All good stories start from homemade brew especially if someone else has the starring role ;) Sorry can't help on the processing ;) All sounds a bit technical though, but maybe rez could be chief technician and I would be chief taster :) Could be quit train challenge coming on :)
January 28, 201610 yr All good stories start from homemade brew especially if someone else has the starring role ;) Sorry can't help on the processing ;) All sounds a bit technical though, but maybe rez could be chief technician and I would be chief taster :) Could be quit train challenge coming on :) I want to be chief taster! :wink2:
January 29, 201610 yr Author I knew a dude who went blind from some bad 'shine :( Yeah I looked into that - it's VERY possible to have this happen when distilling, because different alcohols evaporate at different temperatures and methanol (the poison that makes you blind) goes first, so if you don't take care to discard the first fraction of your distillate it's lights out, for real! Of course the fact that many 'shiners were using lead-coated engine radiator components in their homemade stills was another reason. Still (zing!), it's some consolation that one treatment for methanol poisoning (if you catch it fast enough) is ETHANOL poisoning - ie get 'em smashed and keep 'em that way for a few days, as the body preferentially absorbs the drunk juice while the poison slowly metabolizes out. I imagine it caused quit the hangover. Anyway I'm not distilling (it's illegal). The worst I can do is make liquid cheese. All sounds a bit technical though, but maybe rez could be chief technician and I would be chief taster :) Could be quit train challenge coming on :) That's one challenge I'm up for! I want to be chief taster! :wink2: You really do! I just finished pulling my remaining 6 litres after 2 more days (that's 4 days in total folks) and am currently enjoying what tastes for all the world like a delicious, dry and well balanced gently carbonated Reisling, which in fact is apple wine coming in at a shade over 10.5%. If I couldn't see the rose tinge I'd totally believe it was grapes. This is dangerous knowledge.
September 26, 20187 yr Our Fluffy makes her own wines.... wonder if she gets ganky mould on the top... it might be a British thing????
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