Cider Update

Shame on me, I didn't post about the second batch of Cider I put up this fall. In addition to 5 gallons of fresh cider, I added 1 pound of crushed (squished is more like it) raisins and two pounds of Brown sugar. While the sugar impacted the OG reading, the raisins added a quantity of sugar that wasn't really measurable from the onset. However it bacame clear that the raisins added sugar because the must fermented vigorously for nearly two months. It has only just recently settled down and I will be racking it over to a secondary shortly. I will take a gravity reading on it again at that time, but expect that it will be at or below 1.000. I'll be tasting it too!

Big Moves

You've heard the old saying "big things come in little packages". I'd have hardly guessed how much stuff we could have managed to get into our little old house over the course of 7 years. It's just as well we only went a mile when we moved, as it was it took a 26 foot truck, two mini vans, two trailers (well one trailer twice), two cars and a 10x15 foot storage locker.

"Maybe you should get rid of some stuff!" I hear you say... Believe me, we had a pretty good purge before the move. In only just a couple of weeks, though, we've managed to fill 5 moving boxes full of stuff for the spring garage sale.

Gotta start thinking about how we accumulate "stuff"

Cider 2007 - Day 1

This year's batch(es) of hard cider start today.

The first five gallons were purchased today at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market from Fireside Orchards. The fresh cider has a Specific Gravity of 1.051. It's a pretty simple process... I simply pour the cider into a carboy with a vial of Whilte Labs' #775 English Cider yeast, and stop it up with an airlock.

The plan is to let this go in the primary for about 4 weeks. Then when it is racked over to the secondary, and the yeast is all wiped out, I'll make up the difference of what is lost to sediment with some fresh, pasteurized apple cider. The cider has some of its own yeast, so it is pasteurized so the fermentation process doesn't take off again. All of the sugar in apple juice (cider) is fermentable, so we want to add some back to sweeten the end product.

I'll be back with updates!

Photos from the Boundary Waters

Boundary Waters Memorial Day 2007

The photos were taken over the Memorial Day Weekend 2007 in the Boundary Waters.