Recent content by paddyb2

Thanks. I decided to bottle in the end. Sediment be damned!

No, I didn't do either of those.

No sure, maybe two or three weeks? Could do with clearing a bit more.

I had one demijohn of cider + 1.5 litters in another container. I thought this would rack nicely into a 1 gallon demijohn for secondary, but because of sediment and some spillage, it turns out there a fair bit of headspace. Is this going to cause oxygenation? Should I consider bottling now...

Ok great, will leave it as it is. There's a fair amount of scum around the neck, so I guess if any nasties got in I'd soon start to see evidence of mold etc?

I’ve just set a batch of cider fermenting but noticed that the juice was getting into the airlock. I took the lock off to clean it and replaced it but after being away from the house for a while, it wasn’t until about 24 hours later that I noticed that there were no bubbles in the airlock. On...

The ones pictured both came from the same bush btw. Not sure why some are black and some are blue/grey, they tend to grow in clumps of the same colour. Maybe one is riper than the other, but they both taste the same (yuk!)

Thanks for your replies. I've picked a couple of punnets today and attached a pic along with some coins for scale. Not a single thorn to be seen on any other bushes. They are big enough to be Bullace, or maybe a hybrid? When do Bullace ripen? They taste sour like unripe plums or gooseberries...

Thanks, there were no waste Blackberrys around my way, I put them in my cider! Will go and gather some Sloes tomorrow.

Thanks for your replies. Those of you that have gathered them before, can you remember if they had thorns on them?

I thought I'd have a go at making some Sloe Gin as I've discovered a massive crop of Sloes growing in a hedgerow near where I live. At least I think they are Sloes. Most descriptions mention thorns (the bush they grow on is called Blackthorn), but I'm not seeing any thorns, just stumpy little...

No I didn't use anything. I've always racked to secondary and it became perfectly clear after about two weeks. There doesn't appear to have been much change to the clarity in the last week.

Thanks. It really hasn't changed much in the last week, I wonder how much longer it will take, if ever? Maybe something has gone wrong with this batch?

I have three carboys full of cider that I put into secondary about 2 1/2 weeks aqgo. Each has a slightly didfferent recipie - one with ginger, one with blackberries, one just apple. The apple one hasn't cleared as well as the other two. Is it worth leaving it a bit longer, or should I bottle now?

Yes, I add campden tablets in primary for 24 hours before adding yeast. So, next question, why do I need to spend so much time steralising all the aparatus if I can just steralise the juice with campden tablets?