Well... that escalated quickly.




Oh, and over the weekend, i also inherited this:



Cleaning out some unwanted/unneeded tools from my grandmother's place in NH. The enormosaw, the felling axe, and a nice framing chisel as well as some other random odds/ends.

Is this that ginormous 9-lb. foot-long axe head I see here? Alas with my busyness of late I missed the last updates on the thread about Chris's (quite literally) axes.

Yarr, that is the big fucker. Now it lives on a slightly longer handle though, as above, second down in the axe shot.

Currently it is getting some competition in the Most Ridiculous Thing I Own olympics, from the new two man supersaw. The saw however, though forty seven inches long, actually weighs less than the large axe, and is (somehow) less unwieldy.

Making apple cider. Initial Hydrometer reading pegs it at somewhere between 7-8% ABV. Technically I started this on Thursday
The primary fermentation should be finished by friday so I can then rack it and then prime it for bottling

Nice!

I was thinking of making some dirty applejack this winter.

Why do i not remember seeing this?

Did you knot poast this beest?

Is the last thing in the foist poast on this page, as my settings view it. Big-ass saw. Could almost be used by one dood, but starting the cut would probably be kind of a pain in the dick, because the saw teeth are each about as big as a child's finger.

Yes? Tell me more.

In general, how long from start to drink, for a cider?

What are you using for an apple source?

The initial fermentation phase takes 7-12 days depending on temperature. It's been quite warm so it should be closer to 7 than 12. It's still fizzing away and it does fizz much less violently than wine does which will bubble CO2 through the airlock with high frequency although my wine had twice the ABV so that shouldn't be a surprise. So Friday/Saturday looks to be the bottling day. Half of it will be stored in 5L PET demijohns (or carboys as you doods call them) and the rest will be bottled. At this stage you add 8g of sugar for each litre of booze to the bottle/demijohn to prime the bottle for secondary fermentation which is what adds the fizz. This takes about 3 days. Alternatively you can degas the booze and drink it flat. I'm gonna prime it for fizz though as I'm not too sure of the quality of the seal of my bottles (screw top) and the positive pressure will stop it oxidising into cider vinegar. Reminds me - I should pick up some PTFE tread tape to enhanced sealing.

The Apple source this time was from a cider kit so its a highly concentrated syrup. A friend of mine has an apple tree that is ready to yield so I will be making some raw cider from that. That is a bit more involved so there will be more pictures. Basically though you take the apples, cut them into bits and then twat them into a pulp with a mallet/tenderiser. You can then either let them naturally ferment which is a bit of an unknown quantity and also you'll cultivate any bacteria lurking on the apples too or you can boil them off in batches to kill the bacteria and bad bads and then add a campden tablet to the must to kill the yeast. From there you can make up the desired fluid quantity to temperature and then add your own yeast, nutrient and additional sugar. I'm torn as to what use. Regular yeast will get get to 6-7%, champaign yeast to about 12% or I have a source of potent purple yeast which tops out at about 21% but should exceed 15% without too much fuss Then depending on flavour I will add thing as necessary. Usually the apple flavour isn't too pronounced if you don't press it so I may add some juice from concentrate (either apple or carrot, possibly both) to enhance the favour. After than if just needs straining when its racked from one vessel to another at which point it is ready to ruin your life

ahh, I had been checking in on tapatalk which doesn't show me all the pics as I am used to, so I overlooked the saw. That is exquisite.

Thats a fine set of tool you have right there Mr D.

Hola, señor Sheen!

Tell us its story.

Same amp I've been building since forever! I may get this thing working this week assuming no fuck ups. The B+, bias and heater circuits work. Next job is to wire up the power tubes, OT (primary disconnected for testing) and the PI. I do need to stake a mini board for an input buffer stage but thats just going to be a parallel 12ax7 stage and a pot so it couldn't be much simpler. Once that works it's time to start or my rack preamp.

Cider is now conditioning in the bottle
It's quite drinkable as it is now and it will taste a treat when I return from France in a could of weeks.

A good friend of mine has a few apple trees which has netted me this little lot of crab and bramleys



Some of them have turned bad and will have to be chucked but hopefully there will be enough good ones to make a decent tannin must from. I've got 12 L of 100% apple juice and some honey to make turbo cider with using the tannin must to add a cidery flavour back to it. I will further bastardise the brew with cinnamon and ginger. I may also add some blueberry or cranberry to it too. More pictures later no doubt.

Funny you should mention appples. My family has owned this house for almost thirty years, and never before now have the apple trees in the yard produced anything but inedible tiny green things. Out of fucking nowhere, this year, the fuckers have continued to grow, have developed red bits, and it would appear that we had some sort of fucked up Newtown Pippin tree just lying latent here all the fuck along:



They are fucking delicious actually. Kind of similar at this stage(which might be slightly early for pickin') to granny smith(which is generally my favorite anyhow), but with some kind of other vibe in there also. Supposed to be good for cider making too, though, i don't think i will get enough from the tree for that.

It is fucking awesome having edible apples right there on a tree in the yard though.

I've changed my brew to a turbo cider using 100% apple juice as the main ingredient. I've then added some extra flavours to it as I'm working on the recipe for me winter mulled cider. Gotta be prepared after all! I still used some of the apples to enhance the tannin flavours to make it taste more like a proper cider should. I'll post about this properly tomorrow with pictures and shit.