Made an initial batch of cider on Sunday. Seems too easy to be true, recipe was:
5 gallons regular Louisburg Cider (exp date 1/12/2011)
Wyeast 4677 Cider yeast, mgf 8/28/10
1 pint pale invert sugar (approx 1 lb invert cane sugar).
Tossed it all in a 6.5 gallon primary glass carboy. When I went to open the Wyeast pack, it was whistling from a tiny leak in the package, but it did swell the pack up completely and when shook. the whistling increased. When I smacked it in the morning, no leaks noticed, so hopefully alright. Maybe it started leaking after yeast got going, but will see.
After all combined in carboy, hit it with the wine whip a few times with the drill, going both directions to aerate the juice at around 6 PM. By the time I woke up Monday morning, the airlock was bubbling at a decent rate. So hopefully it will turn out well. Will wait a couple of weeks to transfer to a secondary 5 gallon glass carboy for clearing. Still trying to decide if I'll get another 5 gallons of cider to spice up and boast the sugar content (maybe use 2.5 pounds worth of dark invert cane sugar I have on hand) to end up with a strong New England style cider and throw on top of yeast cake after transferring first batch to secondary.
Kegged original cider on Sunday, hit the keg with 40 PSI, did the roll back & forth on the side for a bit, made sure the pressure was back up to 40 psi, then put in fridge. Tasted very dry when transferred to the keg, hoping for high carbonation to help give it a better bite for a finish.
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