So it is out of season for apple cider and the one place I knew of around me that kept it went out of business due to pandemic. I found the Cider House select cider kit and purchased it.
here is my recipe.
4/16/2021 started apple cyser mead #9.
Added honey to water in a pickle jar to reach 1.060 added a activated wyeast 1388 smak pack. Pack had been sitting for 4 hours. Put into stir plate. 65 degrees @noon.
4/18/2021 1.020. using cider house select apple cider package. Emptied into carboy. Added 5 gallons of water. (4 plus what was left from gallon used to make starter. 1.035. added hunter honey farm wildflower honey to 1.060. added 2 tsp fermaid k, 4 tsp fermaid o and 1.5 tsp k2co3. 68 degrees.
4/19/2021 gravity 1.045 stirred and aerated. 67 degrees
4/20/2021 gravity 1.030 stirred and aerated 66 degrees
4/21/2021 added 2 tsp fermaid o. gravity at 1.025 67 degrees stirred and aerated.
4/22/2021 checked gravity 1.006 68 degrees. stirred and aerated
4/23/2021 .999 67 degrees
4/30/2021 gravity .999 68 degrees
5/1/2021 put into fridge
going to wait a month or so before removing from fridge adding sweetener/carbonation after filtering?
My questions are thus
1st - the kit came with a apple cider flavor pack? should i actually use this or?
2nd - usually i just step feed until the yeast dies off than i add honey until desired sweetness. I dont usually make session meads or lower abv like this one. how should i go about carbonation it other than using beer bottles? there were some tablets at the brew store that your supposed to add to it than cap. could the same thing be done using honey? if so is it recommended or is there another option? seen this thread https://www.gotmead.com/community/threads/recommendations-for-bottle-carbonating.34763/#post-288962 so am guessing just adding a oz per gallon before bottling than?
3rd should i use the sweetener that came with the kit?
4th should i bother filtering or just racking
any advice would be appreciated.
thanks
here is my recipe.
4/16/2021 started apple cyser mead #9.
Added honey to water in a pickle jar to reach 1.060 added a activated wyeast 1388 smak pack. Pack had been sitting for 4 hours. Put into stir plate. 65 degrees @noon.
4/18/2021 1.020. using cider house select apple cider package. Emptied into carboy. Added 5 gallons of water. (4 plus what was left from gallon used to make starter. 1.035. added hunter honey farm wildflower honey to 1.060. added 2 tsp fermaid k, 4 tsp fermaid o and 1.5 tsp k2co3. 68 degrees.
4/19/2021 gravity 1.045 stirred and aerated. 67 degrees
4/20/2021 gravity 1.030 stirred and aerated 66 degrees
4/21/2021 added 2 tsp fermaid o. gravity at 1.025 67 degrees stirred and aerated.
4/22/2021 checked gravity 1.006 68 degrees. stirred and aerated
4/23/2021 .999 67 degrees
4/30/2021 gravity .999 68 degrees
5/1/2021 put into fridge
going to wait a month or so before removing from fridge adding sweetener/carbonation after filtering?
My questions are thus
1st - the kit came with a apple cider flavor pack? should i actually use this or?
2nd - usually i just step feed until the yeast dies off than i add honey until desired sweetness. I dont usually make session meads or lower abv like this one. how should i go about carbonation it other than using beer bottles? there were some tablets at the brew store that your supposed to add to it than cap. could the same thing be done using honey? if so is it recommended or is there another option? seen this thread https://www.gotmead.com/community/threads/recommendations-for-bottle-carbonating.34763/#post-288962 so am guessing just adding a oz per gallon before bottling than?
3rd should i use the sweetener that came with the kit?
4th should i bother filtering or just racking
any advice would be appreciated.
thanks
