I'm a wordy guy. I typically (never,) join these forums. I do however have a strong interest in learning and have a dozen or so hobbies (inclusive of my wife's interests,) that are shared between my wife and myself. Including: a rather impressive vegetable garden, raising livestock (pigs, goats, chickens, horses, and TBD low land beef cattle,) charcuterie, hot and cold smoking, cheese making, and cider making. It is in fact the cider making brought me to this forum. Over the past ten plus years or so we have continued to plant apple trees at the rate of two tree per year here on our horse farm. To date we have always pressed our own cider. This year, 2021 our trees where overwhelmed with fruit. Staying close to home, because I/we can (wife still goes off to work, a bit younger than her still spry husband has a decade to go prior to retirement) I maintain the farm. Our respect for covid and the fact that our second granddaughter (11 months old) has been going through chemotherapy
keeps us sheltered from others. We have seen our granddaughter who resides a mire 1.5 hours away twice as a result of what she/we are all going through.
ENOUGH of the background, you get the flavor. We are house bound (much by choice) and we continue to live off our land. The topic is "making hard cider." In the past we have picked, crushed, and juiced or apples. We have a blend of trees on site; Empire, Braeburn, Cortland, Fugi, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Macintosh, as well as a few wild apple trees that are scattered throughout the area and able to supplement our homegrown varieties.
POINT: Want to learn. Have my first batch of four 1 gallon jugs of cider sitting in the basement all with air locks (and another 5 gal. bucket of cider just starting the fermenting process (as of this afternoon)), labeled with the different yeasts used, first batch of four 1 gallon stopped fermenting (no signs of perking for about one week), doing a cold crush and nearing the time to go to stage two; bottling.
I'm inclined to do the whole 'plastic bottle' pressure test prior to doing a pasteurization of glass bottles. In short, taste at this point is not my total priority. I suspect it will be "okay," and the next attempt will be for flavor, taste, clarity, (etc.)
TO MY NEWLY FOUND "FRIENDS": What might I expect? What would you suggest as my "beware" issues as I test my first attempt (which I'll probably test on my wife.)
Glad to be on board. As noted, I'm wordy, won't be this wordy in the future, simply making my introduction and setting a stage.
keeps us sheltered from others. We have seen our granddaughter who resides a mire 1.5 hours away twice as a result of what she/we are all going through.
ENOUGH of the background, you get the flavor. We are house bound (much by choice) and we continue to live off our land. The topic is "making hard cider." In the past we have picked, crushed, and juiced or apples. We have a blend of trees on site; Empire, Braeburn, Cortland, Fugi, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Macintosh, as well as a few wild apple trees that are scattered throughout the area and able to supplement our homegrown varieties.
POINT: Want to learn. Have my first batch of four 1 gallon jugs of cider sitting in the basement all with air locks (and another 5 gal. bucket of cider just starting the fermenting process (as of this afternoon)), labeled with the different yeasts used, first batch of four 1 gallon stopped fermenting (no signs of perking for about one week), doing a cold crush and nearing the time to go to stage two; bottling.
I'm inclined to do the whole 'plastic bottle' pressure test prior to doing a pasteurization of glass bottles. In short, taste at this point is not my total priority. I suspect it will be "okay," and the next attempt will be for flavor, taste, clarity, (etc.)
TO MY NEWLY FOUND "FRIENDS": What might I expect? What would you suggest as my "beware" issues as I test my first attempt (which I'll probably test on my wife.)
Glad to be on board. As noted, I'm wordy, won't be this wordy in the future, simply making my introduction and setting a stage.