Hello. I have made 3 batches of mostly traditional mead thusfar and wanted to make a cyser since I got my hands on 2 bushels of semi-local apples recently.
Not sure of the entire recipe yet, as I usually prefer more of a hydromel, and havent decided on what gravity to aim for.
My question pertains to starting fermentation with the juice of these apples (i have a juicer and will juice them until i get the desired number of gallons)
With the other meads ive made I did not add any sulfites because I trusted the honey to have its own resiliance to infection, but if I am adding my own juiced apples, will it be NECESSARY to treat it with sulfites prior to fermentation?
I plan on at least washing each apple before juicing, probably scrubbing, or at least wiping down with a rough washcloth. I do not know if this will be sufficient to eliminate enough bacteria to be able to trust that the honey and yeast will be enough to take care of themselves.
On that note, I have access to K1-V116, 71B-1122, and a dry ale yeast called Safale s-04. I was leaning towards the 71B because Ive used it the most and enjoyed the product sooner with it, but more experienced users may have better insights than I on which yeast to use, and if it should factor into whether or not I use sulfites.
To sulfite or not? If I absolutely should use sulfites to prevent the possibility of flushing my money down the drain I will, but are there any precautions I can take to make this not necessary?
thanks a lot!
Not sure of the entire recipe yet, as I usually prefer more of a hydromel, and havent decided on what gravity to aim for.
My question pertains to starting fermentation with the juice of these apples (i have a juicer and will juice them until i get the desired number of gallons)
With the other meads ive made I did not add any sulfites because I trusted the honey to have its own resiliance to infection, but if I am adding my own juiced apples, will it be NECESSARY to treat it with sulfites prior to fermentation?
I plan on at least washing each apple before juicing, probably scrubbing, or at least wiping down with a rough washcloth. I do not know if this will be sufficient to eliminate enough bacteria to be able to trust that the honey and yeast will be enough to take care of themselves.
On that note, I have access to K1-V116, 71B-1122, and a dry ale yeast called Safale s-04. I was leaning towards the 71B because Ive used it the most and enjoyed the product sooner with it, but more experienced users may have better insights than I on which yeast to use, and if it should factor into whether or not I use sulfites.
To sulfite or not? If I absolutely should use sulfites to prevent the possibility of flushing my money down the drain I will, but are there any precautions I can take to make this not necessary?
thanks a lot!
Sulfite it. For some reason people think honey is totally protected from fermenting on its own, that is right IF its at 18.6 % moisture, above that and the yeast that came from the wild, the yeast that came from the beebread, can start a fermentation on their own. Dilute the honey to 5 times its volume, it has no protection from wild yeasts, how else do you think we can make mead from it? Your apple juice, honestly you are probably not ready for a wild fermentation yet, sulfite it. A little bit of insurance goes a long way. Later comes the carboy farm, the stainless steel appliances just for wine, the big box with multiple kinds of yeasts in it, only to be left in the fridge because now you want to go all natural and let the wild yeasts make your cider, when you can pull that off excellent, or vinegar, but it will be very good vinegar, homemade stuff is always better
Also note I have zero experience making beer, and have only made 3 batches of mead as far as fermentation experience goes. But on the plus side, those batches were all extremely delicious according to everyone I have shared them with!
