P Squared

 

Base Must:

• Motts Apple Juice x 4 Gal
• Old Orchard Pomegranate Blueberry Frozen 12oz. x 5
• Old Orchard Apple 12oz. x 1

Yeast:

Dry Champagne Yeast Red Star x 2

Gather equipment:

• 5 gal carboy
• Large funnel
• Carboy drilled stopper or hood
• 6x6 square and full sized square of aluminum foil
• Airlock
• Thermometer
• Small stock pot and a larger stock pot (to make yeast)
• ice
• Spoon
• Sanitizer (I use either Star-San or Iodophor)
• Racking cane with tubing
• Bottling bucket
• 48 glass bottles with crowns
• Capper

How To:

1. Gather carboy, bottling bucket, funnel, stopper, airlock ,racking cane, stock pot, foil, and spoon

2. Boil 2 cups of water in stock pot for 15 minutes

3. While boiling, mix sanitized in a clean carboy 5 Gal. Place racking cane in the carboy and fill the tubing. Once you have the tubing filled feed the tubing into the top of the carboy.

4. Clean bottling bucket and place stopper, airlock, spoon, and foil in bucket

5. After the boil has finished, set in the larger pot of ice until the temp is about 85-90 F

6. After about 10 minutes, using the now sanitized racking cane, transfer the sanitizer down to the bottling bucket. You are done with the cane.

7. Take the 6x6 square foil and wrap it over the top of the carboy.

Your water should be about 85-90 F by now…

Take 1 cup of apple juice and add it to the sterile water.

Add 2 packets of dry yeast to the water.

Stir until all the yeast is hydrated.

Cover with foil

Ok, Now the fun begins;

Using your funnel,

Dump 3 gal of apple juice into carboy

Dump in the frozen apple juice and all but 1 Pomegranate Blueberry.

Dump the last apple juice to help clean the funnel.

Take an OG(original Gravity) and write it down! And taste the must. Note the flavor.

Fill your airlock and push it into the stopper, then close the carboy.

Clean the funnel and put it in the sanitizer for at least 5 minute.

Time for a little shacking of the carboy, a good 5 minute of vigorous shacking will do nicely. BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET THE CARBOY SLIP OUT OF YOUR HAND! BROKEN BIG GLASS THINGY REALLY DOES A NICE JOB OF SLICING HUMAN FLESH!!!

While you rest your arms and back, check the yeast. You should have a nice layer of foam over the top. Good, time to pitch the yeast.

Pull the stopper/airlock out, using the now sanitized funnel, pitch the yeast.

Put the stopper back and start the now cider for another 5 minutes.

Try to control the fermentation as much as possible. Check after the first 24 hours, you should be able to see the airlock starting to bubble.

After the 7 or 9 days take another gravity reading. You should be almost done. Your target gravity will be about 1.004 or less. Taste the cider and note the flavor. If the gravity is still up there (over 1.005+), you will have to wait it out. Check it again in about 2 or 3 days. When you reach your target, taste the cider. Time to chill the cider.

Let the cider set in the frig for about 2 to 3 day to settle out most of the sediment.

On bottling day, pull out the carboy and frozen juice, set it on the counter for about 3 to 4 hours…   (I force carbonate all my brews, so instead of warming, I go straight to the keg)  This will let the yeast weak up. Now you can clean and sanitize you bottling bucket, bottling wand, bottles, caps, racking cane and tubing, a long handled spoon, and a few squares of foil. When sanitizing my bottles, I like to fill them with sanitizer and cover the tops with a small square of foil. Just to for my own peace of mind. Be sure to clean and sanitize a clear water bottle and lid to use for a carbonation tester! You do not want bottle bombs!!! You will want to dump the remaining sanitizer into a larger stock pot to keep you caps, bottling wand, and spoon.

Once you feel the cider has warmed up to about 64-68F, you are ready to bottle.

Rack the cider to your bottling bucket. While racking add the last juice to the bucket and gently move the cider with you sanitized spoon. Now attach the bottling wand to you racking cane and start filling bottles.

After you have all you bottles filled, BE SURE TO STORE THE BOTTLE IN A BOX WITH A LID. Exploding bottles can send glass everywhere. Test the plaster bottle every day until it gets firm. Now it is time to Chill… Crack open I nice hand crafted of homebrew and savor the moment.