Arrrrgh!!!

I could have sworn that I did a post last week. I can't believe I forgot to hit the "Publish Post" button! Arrrrgh!

Anyway, since the kit IPA I brewed at the end of last month, here's what I've been doing:

1. Kegged the English Bitter last night. Used 5 oz. corn sugar and am naturally carbing the keg. Have labeled it not to be opened before 8/31 (3 weeks)
2. Apfelwein (8/6) - 3 gallons cost $18
3. Apple Cider (8/10) - 5 gallons cost $22

#2 was a 3 gallon batch made with 3 gallons of Mott's "Natural" Apple Cider and 2 lbs. of Dixie Crystal regular table sugar. The yeast used was a Lalvin Champagne yeast (EC-1118). There was no boil. There were no hops. OG was 1.081. Expected FG is somewhere between 0.995 and 1.000. This would give an ABV of 10-11%.

#3 was a 5 gallon batch made with 5 gallons of Kroger brand apple juice (from concentrate with only water, apple juice concentrate and vitamin C added). The yeast used was Danstar Nottingham. There was no boil. There were no hops. OG was 1.048. Expected FG is somewhere around 1.000 to 1.002. This would give an ABV of about 6% or so.

I hope #3 (Apple Cider) will take about a week to 10 days in primary, followed by a 2 week secondary, followed by kegging with sugar to naturally carb in about a month.

#2 (Apfelwein) will take substantially longer. Because the apple juice/cider I used was "natural" (read: cloudy), it will probably take a long time for all of the sediment to settle out. Also, because the OG was so high, it will take a while for this to completely ferment. Further, with such a high ABV, this product will be raw for a long time. I expect something like a 1 month primary, a 1 month secondary and 2 or more months in the bottle (yup, gonna bottle this batch) before they lose their "green-ness."

Anyway, both batches were extremely easy and substantially shorter to "brew," even though I've been told that without a boil, you're "making" cider, not "brewing" it. all told, the longest part of either batch was cleaning (OxyClean Free) and sanitizing (StarSan). The actual assembly of the ingredients only lasted long enough to pour in 3 or 5 gallons of juice (straight from their store-bought containers) and toss the yeast on top. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy.