New in this EZ stuff (step one done - ORDERED)

[ultraputa]

Just ordered a EZ cap kit, now I have to wait till it arrives to Spain :?

My home brewing experience is short:

2 batches of beer (kit)
1 batch of mead

I don't have so much time these days, so before to make a new beer batch (extract) I will test some ultra-fast EZ-batches.

There is one thing very interesting on this EZ stuff, well two. One is the short time and the other is the price. These combination allows you to make a lot of cheap and fast tests, if something is wrong or the recipe is a mess you just waste 2 weeks and few bucks.

My first 2 tests will be cider and mead.

Here you are what I plan to do. Is it OK for a EZ brew?

Cider
2l pressed apple juice (no water, no sugar)
Yeast

Mead
500g of honey
2l of water
Yeast
Maybe some flavor (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg)



I think there is no need to add extra sugar, according to brew calculators, apple juice has enough sugar to arrive to the yeast limit and 500g of honey on 2l batch should be enough to arrive to something like 7.3% ABV, enough for me.

I want to bottle at least 2 33cl bottles of each, one with prime and one without and let them not less than 4 weeks.


am I crazy? :mrgreen:

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

You can make cider without extra sugar, however it will ferment very fast and you need to be careful about it getting too dry to drink. It will also have a very low alcohol %.

[ultraputa]

thanks for your quick answer

I like dry beverages so it is OK for me.

From the alcohol point of view, the apple juice has sugar enough to get acceptable alcohol %, we will see. I will measure the density before and after fermentation and we will know the %

[ultraputa]

RECEIVED!!!!!!

Next Sunday I have a family lunch and I hope I will be able to have some hard cider no time for mead, but I still have a 75cl beer from my last batch

BTW... anyone knows how many grams of yeast we have to add? 1/8 to 1/16 of teaspoon it's 0.03ml to 0.06ml of yeast... but how to measure it? I only have a precision weight... and to calculate 1/8 of teaspoon is quite difficult

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

RECEIVED!!!!!!

Next Sunday I have a family lunch and I hope I will be able to have some hard cider no time for mead, but I still have a 75cl beer from my last batch

BTW... anyone knows how many grams of yeast we have to add? 1/8 to 1/16 of teaspoon it's 0.03ml to 0.06ml of yeast... but how to measure it? I only have a precision weight... and to calculate 1/8 of teaspoon is quite difficult

Just eyeball it. You can never use too much yeast.

[ultraputa]

1st BATCH (20-02-2012)
1liter 100% Apple juice
50g white sugar
Yeast
1.5l bottle
Initial density 1060 g/l


we will see...

[ultraputa]

the bottle is very hard, the cap lets go out some CO2 and the fermentation is on going... all as expected

Friday I'll put it in the fridge for clarification. Saturday I'm planning to siphon the liquid to a second bottle to keep the yeast at the bottom of the fermenting bottle, measure the density, taste it and back again to the fridge.

Sunday we will drink it

Now I have to think what I will put inside the fermenting bottle... apple again but without sugar, peach juice, pinapple juice, grape juice...

[ultraputa]

24-02-2012 --> fridge

only 4 days of fermentation, not enough, but I want it for Sunday so 24h of clarification in the fridge and then siphon to the final bottle and around 12 hours more in the fridge.

We will see tomorrow the % and the taste

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

24-02-2012 --> fridge

only 4 days of fermentation, not enough, but I want it for Sunday so 24h of clarification in the fridge and then siphon to the final bottle and around 12 hours more in the fridge.

We will see tomorrow the % and the taste

Fermentation in the fridge will be insignificant in that amount of time. If its too sweet give it more time at room temp.

[ultraputa]

I know... but I want to taste the 1st batch on Sunday lunch, so I will try and if it is too sweet I will ferment it few days more.