I also had my first go last year, and did some with yeast and some just left naturally to ferment. Also helped out at local orchard picking and pressing in exchange for apples and advice. Longer you leave to ferment the drier the cider seems to get.
I just pulped and pressed whatever apples...
Been brewing for a while now and set up a brew fridge recently to control temperature via an inkbird. Usually leave beer to ferment for around a fortnight and then rack off and leave another fortnight before bottling or putting in a pressure barrel. Should barrel / bottles be kept and a specific...
Had my first attempts this year at making cider from 100% apples this year. Put some into demijohns and left to ferment naturally and look, taste and smell fine and have bottled today.
However, had around 12 litres in a fermenting bucket, fully sterilised and rinsed which again left to...
Got one of the 3 piece weld less tap kits from Bridgewater Brewing, fits perfectly, but can't get the tap to budge. Seems to be locked in open position. Have only used basic ball valves before. Am I missing something simple to fix?
Couple of things I can suggest which worked for me. Firstly, look to see what books you can get on cider making through your local library. I got through about 8 different books, all offering little bits which helped, as well as from these online forums.
Secondly, not sure where you are, but I...
Managed to get hold of a Burco boiler, taken the tap off and made 15mm hole using max cutter.
The outer skin already has much larger hole, and now need to fit ball valve, which I already have. What other bits do I need eg couplers to fit it all together and make leak-proof. Not very technical...
On looking at various recipes, crystal malt is described in different varieties from crystal 15 to crystal 120.
What is the difference (I presume one end of this is light crystal and the other dark crystal), but which is which and where just states crystal, which one to use.
I am currently...
Have been using an old fermenting bin with kettle element for HLT and Coleman cool box for mash tun. Have now replaced with stainless steel. Have previously used a cheap pump but have to fill via the top of the equipment or rely on gravity. Sure I have seen examples of bottom filling equipment...
Done first brew with a brew fridge and currently fermenting at 20 degrees. Read somewhere about heating / cooling / crash cooling. What's this about and what do I need to do once fermentation finished. Been in fridge a week since brewing.