[simpits-tech] First Helopit pictures

[Rob Hommel]

When doing cider you do not need to use a yeast, apple juice is a naturally
fermenting liquid. It has it's own yeasts already available. I have used
some pretty exotic yeasts in the past I had some friends who went into
business making yeast cultures, his wife was rather tolerant of such things.
I thought it was a great deal of hassle. I keep strains of yeast as long as
I could if I got good results. Champagne yeast is not one of the better
yeasts for most things and especially not if you are going for high alcohol
yields. I can't make any recommendations any more as I no longer do home
brew and as a result have lost touch with the finer parts of the science. As
if baking bread was a science as well.

Apple cider will go through several fermentation cycles, as a result you may
think it has stopped fermentation only to have the fermentation begin anew.
I found that after about three fermentation cycles I started to become
impatient so I would go ahead and start the tripe squeeze freeze process.

Cider really should not have a fizz to it. Unlike many other products cider
should be sippin' stuff more like a wine not a fizzling thing suitable to
shoot your neighbor with. We referred to the apple cider as factory
squeezing. Don't ask me why, I think we were a bit drunk when we named it..

Mmmm..mead, you might want to try an alcoholic ginger ale sometime, good
things happen drinking that stuff in the summer with beautiful women. Maybe
they only look that way.

Keep 'em Flying
Rob Hommel
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bubba" <mysticz28@swbell.net>
To: <simpits-tech@simpits.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 12:58 AM
Subject: Re: [simpits-tech] First Helopit pictures


> Rob Hommel wrote:
> >
> > I learned a thing or two about making cider over the years. If you
> > recall,
> > alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than water. Freeze your cider
> > then
> > punch a hole in the top of the ice, it has never frozen solid on me.
> > Drain
> > the cider liquid off then freeze it again. I have done this up to
> > three
> > freezes and raised the alcohol level up to 38% alcohol. For those of
> > you who
> > don't know that's  76 proof alcohol. Makes for some really excellent
> > sipping
> > stuff after it has had a chance to mellow in a cool dark place for a
> > couple
> > of months. The gals really love the stuff, it makes them do silly
> > things as
> > well.
>
> Yup, I know about that trick. I, uh, haven't done it yet and, uh, won't.
> Yeah, that's it. Since, uh, it's technically distilling and not legal in
the
> US.
>
> Honest, haven't tried it (watching for black helicopters...)
>
> ;)
>
> The first batch was somewhere around 16%-18% IIRC using Premier Cuvee
> champagne yeast, double pitched. Started it off like normal, 5 gals. apple
> juice, yeast, yeast food. When it stopped fermenting I added 5 pounds of
> corn sugar and pitched more yeast and yeast food. When that stopped I
added
> another 3 pounds of sugar, let it go for a day or two (it was pretty slow
at
> that point), and bottled it in champagne bottles. That stuff would bounce
> the cork off the ceiling if the bottle was on the floor. Got a good 20
foot
> range without shaking it up. Tons and tons of carbonation and none of it
was
> forced :) We call it "Make the Bad Man Stop" for obvious reasons. Couldn't
> taste any alcohol, which was the major problem since everyone kept
chugging
> the stuff. People were dropping like flies. Looked like the plague rolled
> through camp.
>
> I gotta make another batch :) Maybe I'll just double pitch this one and
> stabilize in a month so I can put it in corked splits. The last batch was
in
> magnums which, no doubt, added to the problem since all the manly men
> thought they could handle 1.5l themselves. Yeah, right ;)
>
> And my brewing partner has 3/4 case of 9 month old mead in my dining room,
> too.
> --
> Steve
> mysticz28@swbell.net
> The only difference in 40 and 140 is the sirens and flashing lights
> behind you.
>
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