7/1/23
I purchased four bags of apples from Devoe’s. The specific gravity suggests cider will have 6% alcohol. I discarded more apples than usual, some were brown and soft. The cider tastes good. I finished pressing the cider and added the campden tablets at 9pm on Friday, by adding five campden tablets while I was pressing the last bag of apples. I soaked the tablets in a bit of cider first, then crushed and mixed, then poured it into the carboy. I added pectic enzyme the next day (Saturday). Then on Sunday I added the yeast and yeast nutrient. I dropped in a half dose (2.5 tsp) yeast nutrient to the 5 gallons, and a packet of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast around noon.
7/4/23
It is fermenting nicely with a lot of foam.
7/9/23
The cider is looking good. It has been fermenting steadily at 70-72 degrees fahrenheit.
7/11/23
I siphoned the cider from the carboy into a 5-gallon keg.
8/2/23
I bottled the cider into lots of big bottles, all with the euro/champagne caps. I added dextrose to bottle condition (1 tsp to the 12 ounce bottles, and 2 tsp to the bigger bottles, 750’s, etc.).
8/14/23
I tried some cider from the mini keg. It seemed possibly kind of funky but I’ll give it time and see.
9/22/23
The cider from the mini keg is very good! A little time has significantly improved it.
9/28/23
I labelled the bottles and tried some, it's not bad!
