Hard Apple Cider

I've been brewing beer for many years and decided to make some hard apple cider. The apple cider kits that I've seen online are quite expensive.  So this recipe is made using frozen concentrated juice and frozen fruit.  This recipe I'm going to use old orchard frozen concentrate apple juice.

recipe makes 5 gals:

13 12 oz. cans of Old Orchard apple concentrated juice.

3.5 gals of water.

4 lbs. of brown sugar.

~20 oz. of frozen fruit.

1 packet of safale S-04 yeast.

On 12/09/15, I "set" a batch of this cider. In a large stainless steel stock pot I combined 1/2 gal of water,the sugar and liquefied fruit( using a blender), on low heat until all the sugar was dissolved.  Added a gallon of cold water to the fermentation bucket and then added sugar/fruit wort to the bucket. Next I added the 13 cans of frozen apple concentrated juice (ended up using store brand concentrate) to the fermentation bucket and cold water to the 5 gallon mark on the bucket.  After mixing well, I took a hydrometer reading to determined the potential  alcohol content of the finished cider.  That reading was 1.0085 specific gravity.  Water has a specific gravity of 1.0.  Assuming all the sugars will be consumed by the yeast, the reading becomes .0085 and .0085 times 131.25 equals a potential  content of 11% ABV. Then I "pitched" the yeast.

Being a retired engineer, I wanted to know where the correction factor of 131.25 was derived from.  After some internet research I found that 131.25 is a thumb rule for making beer.  Because cider has a higher alcohol content due to the amount of sugars in the wort this correction factor is not totally accurate.  In other words the higher the specific gravity the greater the potential alcohol content.  This can be seen in the chart below.

The equation for the line in this chart is:

y = x * 0.136 - 0.169

where:

y = potential alcohol

x = hydrometer reading

So with this cider, my hydrometer reads out in round numbers 10 -90, we have:

y = 85 * 0.136 - 0.69

   = 11.4 % alcohol

48 hours after setting, it has a sweat smell as seen by the gnat flying near the airlock.

Update 12/24/15: 

It has been over two weeks and it is still fermenting!

some lessons learned:

1) open the juice cans while they are still frozen.

2) maybe use concentrated frozen apple/fruit instead of frozen fruit.

3) check all rubber gaskets on equipment before use.   

12/29/15 Bottled cider:

It's been almost three weeks and the fermentation has stopped.  So I bottled the cider.  Sterilized 18 bottles and added 1 teaspoon of sugar to each bottle to carbonated the cider.  It should take about another two weeks to carbonate.  Before bottling I took another hydrometer reading and tasted the cider.  Taste was good and the hydrometer read zero.  Meaning all the sugars were converted to alcohol making the cider 11.4% ABV.   

     

Kamp Kitchen Krate

chuck box, also called a patrol box or grub box, is a device used by campers for storing the many items associated with a camp kitchen. When packed up, it looks like a large box and traditionally contains kitchen items such as cooking pots, pans, plates,utensils, and cleaning items. The box will unpack (usually with a fold down front and sides) to reveal its contents in specifically designed compartments, shelves, drawers and racks.   A patrol box is sometimes referred to jokingly as the "ark of the condiments.

It is generally believed that a chuck box evolved from a chuckwagon. (Chuck and grub are both "cowboy" terms for food.) A chuck box, grub box, camp box and patrol box (scouting version) are all the same thing.

The box is especially popular with Boy Scout camping, and boy scout troops generally maintain one box for each patrol, where they are referred to as patrol boxes. Building such boxes is often a service project for which scouts can earn awards while learning carpentry.

There are several models commercially available, but many campers choose to build their own to suit their personal camping checklist. Some campers use plastic storage containers or crates in lieu of custom built chuck boxes.

I have chosen to build my own box and call it the "Kamp Kitchen Krate. I started with a design concept based on many Boy Scout boxes found on the internet. Here's the concept design:

concept design

Bicycle Trailer

My new project is a trailer to carry bicycles . I started with a harbor freight 4' x 4' trailer kit.

Then added a bicycle roof rack.

Manland

Every Man needs a place That he calls his own.  When growing up as a boy it was your bedroom.  Your sisters were never allowed to enter your bedroom only your mother would go in to get your laundry and then tell you to clean it up.  Some men will convert the basement into what they call a "Man Cave" with big screen TV to watch sports and drink beer with male friends.  Since our basement is finished into a family room, my Manland is the garage. The main purpose of my manland is a workshop where all my tools are neatly stored and where I can make my home brew.  The manland will have a work bench with lots of storage and every tool will have it's place.  Also since manland is a place for men to use their hands and tools to pursue one's hobbies.  In my case it will be a place to use my one good hand since I had a small stroke which  left my left hand without fine motor skills.  So my projects will show how to overcome this disability.

Phase one: The Work Bench

The work bench was constructed using 2 x 6s  for the bench topframe  2 x 4s for the legs.  Legs are 2 2 x 4s laminated together making a 4 x 4.  The top is 9/32 plywood.  The bench is screwed into the block wall using tapcon screws.

If I had a hammer

The use of a hammer and a nail is a two hand operation.  You can't build a work bench without  a lot of nails.  So if you can't use both hands the next best thing is a pneumatic nailer.

Being retired and on a fixed income, I shop at Harbor Freight Tools often.  I got this nailer on sale for about sixty bucks.  It works great, I have ran over 500 nails through it with no problems.  Harbor Freight has a 90 day store return policy.  However, if the tool has moving parts like a nailer I highly suggest buying a one year return policy.  

Work Bench Phase Two - pegboard

Installed furring strips and pegboard on one wall.  Will do the same for the other wall.  A shelf will be installed above the pegboard.

  Furring strips glued and screwed to the wall.

Pegboard attached to furring strips.  Pegboard will be painted white.

Pegboard complete.  First coat of many  polyurethane sealer on the bench.