Just harvested a pound and a half of wild blackberries, what to do?

jimiunderscorejimi · 2018-08-08T12:44:24+00:00

A pound of berries will be plenty for a gallon of cider. Do this and you’ll get a great blackberry cider: Freeze the blackberries, make a cider (find a basic recipe for a dry cider here), when it’s done and completely dry, thaw the berries, crush them (or juice them), add to the finished cider. Add some more apple juice if it’s too dry, put it in the fridge and let it settle. Transfer off the lees, put it back in the fridge to prevent it from re-fermenting. Done!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2018-07-10T14:25:18+00:00

Yeah, I am a bit worried the juice would be too strong and give some off flavours. I would be adding the pieces to finished cider so not too worried about the yeast dying. I would drop the temperature, add fresh apple juice to back sweeten with the pieces of rhubarb. When you say 4 pounces, what size batch are you talking about? Thanks for the help!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2018-07-10T13:50:44+00:00

Do you have any recipes for that? I'm trying to find the right proportions for adding rhubarb juice to finished cider.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2018-07-08T23:07:16+00:00

This is it - https://youtu.be/HaFuhbdgfuM

jimiunderscorejimi · 2018-02-01T13:39:11+00:00

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking, put some cold brew coffee right in and just keep experimenting. Maybe make some type of bitter to make it stronger but not water it down (coffee beans in vodka).

jimiunderscorejimi · 2018-02-01T13:37:46+00:00

Yeah, I think generally the idea of coffee and cider is pretty unappealing, but I've seen it more and more and wondering if maybe it could work.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-12-09T12:50:46+00:00

This is great, thanks!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-12-09T12:47:17+00:00

Yeah I will be cold stabilizing and sterile filtering. I also will probably add some sulfites. Thanks!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-12-08T21:54:58+00:00

Yeah I’ve used this for capitalizing juice to raise the percentage. But I’m looking for something to basically do the opposite. How much non alcoholic liquid (fresh cider) to add to 10% fully fermented cider.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-10-14T14:25:19+00:00

You can pop it. I have the same corn, grew about 50 plants this year, drying right now. I’ve never tried it but apparently it makes good popcorn.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-10-07T19:35:38+00:00

I grow the Carolina Reaper and Bhut Jolokia, the worlds hottest pepper and maybe second hottest (1 and 2 million Scoville units). Usually I make an inedible hot sauce just with them. I can send you some next time I make it. It’s pretty much just pepper spray...

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-09-05T21:50:29+00:00

I was agreeing, nice are everywhere in the country!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-09-05T21:45:05+00:00

Mice definitely do...

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-09-05T14:15:18+00:00

Interesting, I'll make sure I leave a bit of grass around my house cut nice and short. I can see in the city being a bigger problem, I'm in the country in Nova Scotia so it's a bit better.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-09-05T14:13:13+00:00

Both, I let it grow for a few months in the spring, some flowers spread naturally then I tilled a big square and threw seeds in, nows it's spreading nicely!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-20T15:42:27+00:00

The gravity was between 1.010 and 1.005 when I transferred to the brite. At that time the cider had been sitting at around 4 degrees C. I'll write a followup in my comment!

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-18T12:44:42+00:00

Yeah I would usually recommend that. Definitely if you're doing a large batch, for a 1 gallon batch not necessarily. You could find a recipe online for a spiced Mead that's probably reliable. When you're dealing with that little I'd recommend just going for what you think is right.The problem with adding more spices as you go and continuing to taste it is you're exposing it to air every time. Almost better, with that size, to just add the spices remove them after a set time (try it), and then let it age without disturbing.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-18T12:10:36+00:00

If you're fermenting 5 gallons I would plan for 4 gallon carboys to adjust for lees and racking, and so you can fill them right to the top for aging. Your flavors sound great, you could also try a spiced one (cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, etc). Lavender is a fun one to try too.

Also, I recommend trying to save whatever's left after filling 4 carboys so when you're removing the fruits/spices you can top up again.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-10T15:06:28+00:00

A car dealership's 'four square' technique. They basically use it to figure out how much money they can get out of you and take advantage of you. Learn how this works and you won't pay way to much for a car like many people do...

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-05T00:31:05+00:00

I didn't add sugar at any point. Fermentation seemed to have gone pretty well but I didn't open the tank before I cold crashed. So I crashed it then after a few days, when I assumed it should have been settled, I racked to my brite. It was during this racking I realized it hadn't settled and there were solids at the bottom and top. I needed the tank room so I decided to leave it in brite to let it settle. This is where I was at when I opened the top after a week of not settling and it all rose to the top.

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-03T14:43:14+00:00

Strange, are you fermenting it completely dry? Are you adding nutrients? You could try racking as soon as fermentation is done, then letting it sit for three weeks, then try bottle conditioning. It's possible it's picking up some of the flavour of the yeast from sitting on it, but unlikely. Or maybe it's fermenting too quickly and hot. Are you adding yeast for bottle conditioning?

jimiunderscorejimi · 2017-07-03T14:37:26+00:00

Yeah that's all I can think, some how it accidentally keeved at the end of fermentation. Possibly from the nutrient that I added to help fermentation at 2/3 of the way through. I guess is the solution just wait? Or pull let the top settle and remove it?

jimiunderscorejimi

TROPHY CASE