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This homebrew cider is starting to taste better with age, but I can’t help but think it’d be better with carbonation. I added some maple syrup in a failed attempt to replicate one of my favorite cheers, and it certainly hissed a bit when I opened it up after a whole, but it’s mostly gone now. Anything wrong with adding a bit more sugar to get the yeast to make it bubbly? Or should I just skip it? I’m worried about the carboy exploding.
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Nov 22, 2021 00:34
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| # ? May 29, 2024 11:04 |
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Pollyanna posted:This homebrew cider is starting to taste better with age, but I can’t help but think it’d be better with carbonation. I added some maple syrup in a failed attempt to replicate one of my favorite cheers, and it certainly hissed a bit when I opened it up after a whole, but it’s mostly gone now. You'll want to bottle it so it can start carbonating in the bottles. If the yeast is still viable you can use a level teaspoon of corn sugar/a slightly rounded teaspoon of cane sugar per 12 oz bottle to get a fairly standard, probably around Woodchuck level carbonation. If the yeast isn't viable you can make a yeast/water/sugar solution and use an eyedropper in each bottle. I don't have my copy of Enjoy Home Winemaking so I don't remember the exact measurements.
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Nov 22, 2021 21:48
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I've made a few sours and they've all turned out excellent, it wasn't any more difficult than any other beer.
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Nov 22, 2021 22:28
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The carboy is the bottle, actually. I never bothered to bottle it  there’s still yeast at the bottom, though this is after transferring from the fermenter. I might add that sugar and see where it ends up after a few days.It won’t explode though, right?
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Nov 22, 2021 23:34
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Pollyanna posted:The carboy is the bottle, actually. I never bothered to bottle it Natural carbonation happens because you add sugar to a sealed bottle, and the CO2 created from fermentation has no place to go, so it dissolves into the beer/cider/etc. If you have an airlock on the carboy, the majority of the CO2 will escape. Carboys are *not* rated for pressure, so please do not add sugar and seal the carboy.
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Nov 22, 2021 23:42
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Pollyanna posted:The carboy is the bottle, actually. I never bothered to bottle it Yeast will survive a long time. Seconding that a carboy is not pressure rated. You can transfer to bottles and carb it that way though. LHBS will probably sell carbonation drops that are 1 per 12oz bottle for normal carb levels. You would need bottles, caps, a capper, a siphon, bottling wand, and drops. Option b would be PET bottles. Plastic screw caps like coke and Pepsi come in. They're pressure rated. Also you can make bombs in normal beer bottles too. Styles like Trappists and saisons come in special bottles that are rated to much higher carb levels than regular beer. Champaign bottles too. Part of why you'll see some with corks and wire cages. Pay close attention to the sugar:volume ratio you'll see on calculators. Being off a little isn't an issue but double is.
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Nov 23, 2021 00:56
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drat, good to know. I’ll keep this in mind for the next time I make some.
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Nov 23, 2021 01:16
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Also if you can’t carb in carboys why are they called carboys huh???? 
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Nov 23, 2021 01:18
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PokeJoe posted:I've made a few sours and they've all turned out excellent, it wasn't any more difficult than any other beer. Sometimes it can even be easier. Pollyanna posted:Also if you can’t carb in carboys why are they called carboys huh???? Because it's a from a Persian word that means big jug. If you can find swing top bottles from Grolsch or packaged commercial ciders, they can hold up to about 3.2 volumes very safely (and a bit more if you're not measuring your priming sugar right). I like this calculator to figure out my needs for my volume. http://kotmf.com/tools/prime.php For ciders I prime to 2.8 vols as it's plenty of fizz but not so much it gushes.
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Nov 23, 2021 01:27
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you could also look into kegging if you don't want to bottle
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Nov 23, 2021 01:55
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oh no computer posted:you could also look into kegging if you don't want to bottle Seconding and Thirding this. Bottling sucks, embrace the keg life!
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Nov 23, 2021 06:02
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Kegging made brewing much more fun for me. It's well worth the investment if you're going to brew regularly and want to keep it up for a while. I don't think I would still be a brewer if I was still bottling.
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Nov 23, 2021 06:03
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I go a little back and forth on kegs. I like that it's quick to package, but I worry about cleaning efficacy more than before, having a big noisy kegerator around kind of sucks and it's tough to get the carbonation/pour right compared to bottle conditioning.
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Nov 23, 2021 10:14
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From time to time I think it would be cool to have a real ale setup with a cask and hand pump but I'm guessing like in actual pubs once the barrel is open everything needs drinking within a few days. Is there such a think as a mini-keg (say 5L) which can be used with a hand pump?
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Nov 23, 2021 10:26
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freelop posted:From time to time I think it would be cool to have a real ale setup with a cask and hand pump but I'm guessing like in actual pubs once the barrel is open everything needs drinking within a few days. You can get corny kegs in all sorts of sizes now, so definitely. There's also a thing called a "cask breather" which is basically a CO2 regulator that won't go above atmospheric pressure, so when beer is dispensed, CO2 fills the volume instead of air. I've heard of people using propane regulators, like for a grill, because the output is pretty close to atmospheric pressure.
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Nov 23, 2021 15:59
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thotsky posted:[With kegging] it's tough to get the carbonation/pour right compared to bottle conditioning. I'll respectfully disagree there. I had way more trouble with carbonation in bottles than I do in kegs. Now that I have my system well set up, I never worry about gushing or flat beer - it's always just a good pour.
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Nov 23, 2021 18:43
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Jo3sh posted:I'll respectfully disagree there. I had way more trouble with carbonation in bottles than I do in kegs. Now that I have my system well set up, I never worry about gushing or flat beer - it's always just a good pour. The difference between 2.3 and 2.8 of volumes at 3c on my regulator is basically breathing on the knob. Also, I just sort of get a lot of foam no matter the length of my line. Keeping all of the line above the keg did not help. It does get better on the second or third pour, once the taps have cooled down, but it's still like half a glass of head unless the stars align.
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Nov 23, 2021 20:25
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Jo3sh posted:I'll respectfully disagree there. I had way more trouble with carbonation in bottles than I do in kegs. Now that I have my system well set up, I never worry about gushing or flat beer - it's always just a good pour. Depends on if you want higher carbonation in some of what you make. If everything can be right around the same mark then it's not a problem, but I do some at 4.5-6 volumes, and those never came out right in my kegging setup. Once it was balanced though it made a lot of styles easy to keep around, and with airless transfers from a dry hopping/conditioning keg to serving, it made some of them much better. Rebuilding the whole system right now though, and I'm putting in individual line pressure regulators so that I can get it to work without having to constantly mess with changing pressures. I'm just going to put it together so that it has the capacity to do 6 different pressures so that I can hook up whichever one I need and not need to change anything.
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Nov 23, 2021 20:29
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freelop posted:From time to time I think it would be cool to have a real ale setup with a cask and hand pump but I'm guessing like in actual pubs once the barrel is open everything needs drinking within a few days. You can also get pins (smaller-sized casks) that may suit your real ale needs.
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Nov 24, 2021 15:15
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more falafel please posted:You can get corny kegs in all sorts of sizes now, so definitely. There's also a thing called a "cask breather" which is basically a CO2 regulator that won't go above atmospheric pressure, so when beer is dispensed, CO2 fills the volume instead of air. I've heard of people using propane regulators, like for a grill, because the output is pretty close to atmospheric pressure. Kaiho posted:You can also get pins (smaller-sized casks) that may suit your real ale needs. Cheers both
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Nov 25, 2021 08:57
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Welp, I just dropped my hydrometer down the stairs and it smashed into a million pieces. Fingers crossed they didn't use lead in this thing. Since I have to buy something new anyway, what are your takes on hydrometer vs. refractometer? From what I'm reading it sounds like there are a lot of things I might like about the refractometer, including the much smaller sample size and not having to sanitize 4 or 5 pieces of equipment every time.
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Nov 26, 2021 23:23
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You'll have a nightmare using a refractometer after fermentation starts but it's possible
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Nov 27, 2021 00:10
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Kaiho posted:You'll have a nightmare using a refractometer after fermentation starts but it's possible It's not quite that bad. You just plug the numbers into a calculator. https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/ I use both a refractometer and hydrometer. Depends what I'm doing, and how many solids are in the fermenting bucket.
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Nov 27, 2021 00:38
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Refractometers are nice. So is the tilt hydrometer if you wanna get fancy. I still trust the hydrometer the most.
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Nov 27, 2021 01:17
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Tilt hydrometers each have a color and you can’t have more than one of the same color, the way the made ‘em there’s no way for any bit of software to tell which is which. Wish I’d known that before ordering two black ones :|
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Nov 27, 2021 01:36
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Jhet posted:It's not quite that bad. You just plug the numbers into a calculator. Honestly, the best to you if this works for you, but I have a lot of trouble getting my refractometer to be consistent even before fermentation. It's the same Chinese thing everyone uses, but ATC is a lie, and the temp of the wort as well as how well you cover the slate seems to have a huge impact. I try moving my sample wort between multiple containers to get the temp down to room temp, but it's a big hassle. Very much a letdown; feels like most time saving brewing gadgets have downsides.
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Nov 27, 2021 03:29
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Iirc tilt has issues when lots of keausen is present and it gets all foamy. I use a refractometer for close nuff calculations / to test if my beer is done.
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Nov 27, 2021 03:39
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thotsky posted:Honestly, the best to you if this works for you, but I have a lot of trouble getting my refractometer to be consistent even before fermentation. It's the same Chinese thing everyone uses, but ATC is a lie, and the temp of the wort as well as how well you cover the slate seems to have a huge impact. I try moving my sample wort between multiple containers to get the temp down to room temp, but it's a big hassle. Very much a letdown; feels like most time saving brewing gadgets have downsides. That's really interesting. I just calibrate with the spray bottle of water and then use a metal spoon to lift a sample and leave it cool down. After less than a minute it's at ambient temp and it's ready to read at any step of the process. I did a bunch of testing when I got it and recorded readings with the hydrometer after and the worst that would happen would be a rounding error from reading it slightly different. After a while I stopped doing double readings and just go with whichever makes the most sense for when in the process I'm taking the reading, and how much of a mess I want to make taking it. Definitely doesn't have temp conversion. Other than that it's been a useful tool.
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Nov 27, 2021 06:05
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tater_salad posted:Iirc tilt has issues when lots of keausen is present and it gets all foamy. During high activity, I've seen mine jump to 10 points above OG, so it can be a bit off. But I think most people use it as a guide for when they hit say mid-fermentation for quick lagers, etc. Or at least that's how I use mine.
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Nov 27, 2021 12:37
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Ok, so maybe I'll get a refractometer for my next brew but just replace the hydrometer for this one. Sounds like I would want to be taking readings that way from the beginning so I can compare better.
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Nov 27, 2021 22:09
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I use a digital refractometer because I have never seen a clean line on anything other than (basically) pure water, and a digital one just spits out the number. Letting the sample cool is still better, but the sample is so small it doesn't really take much.
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Nov 27, 2021 22:22
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I was curious about the difference between kettle souring and using the Philly Sour strain of yeast so I brewed two 5 gallon batches back to back with the same exact grain bill, hops, and water - 75% Pilsen, 25% Wheat and .5oz Saaz for 30 min. The Pilly Sour batch came out to 1.042 OG and 1.008 FG, the sourness is very crisp, refreshing, and reminiscent of citrus kinda like a shandy. Almost no aroma whatsoever, head is thin. For the kettle soured beer I hit a slightly higher OG of 1.044 but hit the same FG at 1.008. Soured with 3g Sour Pitch for 2 days at 95F hitting ~3.4pH, then finished it up with Voss Kveiss also at 95F (first time using Kveiss and holy poo poo it's a beast). The sourness for this one is a touch more intense but also much more well rounded, the Philly Sour seems very one-note by comparison. Although both are soured by lactic acid, there's something about the Sour Pitch that tricks me into tasting some acetic acid as well, like apple cider vinegar. The aroma is super interesting, it leads with some mild funkiness and then a sort of green apple and brown sugar smell. The fermenter smeller particularly strongly of this and cleaning honestly made me hungry lol - doubly surprising considering that it smelled rather rank when boiled after souring - like boiling 5 gallons of condensed gym bag. This one has a much more robust head that really clings to the glass. In short the wife and I both prefer the Sour Pitch for the purpose of making an actual sour, but the painlessness of brewing with the Philly Sour can't be overstated either not to mention that Sour Pitch is expensive! I think I will use the Philly Sour again when making things like sour IPAs where the sourness isn't the sole focus. Sour Pitch for everything else.
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Dec 8, 2021 07:52
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Sir Lemming posted:Since I have to buy something new anyway, what are your takes on hydrometer vs. refractometer? From what I'm reading it sounds like there are a lot of things I might like about the refractometer, including the much smaller sample size and not having to sanitize 4 or 5 pieces of equipment every time. Do you return the sample to the fermenter after taking a gravity resolution reading? I just pour away the 50ml or so I use (and give it a taste to see how it's getting on), so I only have to sanitise a wine thief or a small measuring jug.
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Dec 9, 2021 01:18
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So I may have messed up. Plan is to brew a big stout Saturday so I started ramping up a starter tonight. 1.09sg so I figured I'd do a 1l starter tonight and pitch that into 2l tomorrow. Somehow I pitched into 95deg F+ wort. Thermometer read 68 but I think residual heat in the flask brought it back up or the thermometer resting on the bottom was lying to me. Once it was on the stir plate I noticed it felt warm and rechecked the temp and saw 95 deg. I've got time to start over tomorrow. Rough plan is see if it shows sign of fermentation in the morning and if it does let it go. If not pick up fresh yeast. Should I ditch it anyway vs risking under pitching? If I chill and decant will that get rid of any off flavors?
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Dec 9, 2021 02:40
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I think you can repitch viable yeast and you'll be fine with a stout. You can hide a lot of flaws in those darker beers.
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Dec 9, 2021 02:58
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So I've been participating in a home brew advent calendar. And it's made me realize I'm a decent home brewer.
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Dec 9, 2021 03:07
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Nice! What have your daily beers been so far? Last year Costco had a beer advent calendar, but it was kinda hit-or-miss
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Dec 9, 2021 03:09
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So I've learned there is such a thing as fermenting too much yeast (US05) in a keg - causing issues with clogging the "out" dip tube. Brewed my yearly Celebration clone a few weeks ago - threw a bunch of yeast at it. Smells amazing - but when I tried to closed transfer the dip tube clogged in both kegs. Okay - no problem, hit it with CO2. Nope. Okay, hit it with C02 again. Nope. Okay, clear the dip tubes. Nope on one keg - Success on the second keg. Okay, clear the dip tubes again. Nope. gently caress it. Siphon this bitch - gently caress closed transfer. The empty kegs must have had 1/2 a gallon of yeast (not trub, just yeast!) Okay, now we're all in one keg, ready to serve. Guess what - Stuck again. I think I want to cry.
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Dec 9, 2021 03:50
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Pillow Armadillo posted:Nice! What have your daily beers been so far? They have it again this year. I'm not expecting great things from it
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Dec 9, 2021 05:37
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big scary monsters posted:Do you return the sample to the fermenter after taking a gravity resolution reading? I just pour away the 50ml or so I use (and give it a taste to see how it's getting on), so I only have to sanitise a wine thief or a small measuring jug. Since you’re throwing the sample away you don’t need to sanitize the vessel anyways. I’ve never heard of people pouring it back, but to me it seems a bad solution since you’ll expose your ferm bucket to oxygen.
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Dec 9, 2021 08:04
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