Best brewing & fermentation airlocks according to redditors

You raise some good points, but your attitude sucks. Anyway, here are the answers you are looking for:

• Champagne and wine yeasts are often bought my amateur brewers by the packet, similar to baker's yeast. "1 package" is the measurement, it's usually equal to 5 grams, which is a bit less convenient to measure because you need a very sensitive scale and it doesn't fill measuring spoons roundly.
  
  
• During fermentation, the yeast will turn the sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide (that's why beer and champagne are fizzy, yeast at work). If the carbon dioxide builds up too much, the bottle it is fermenting in would pop its cork or explode. In order to prevent this, the CO2 needs to escape. Because we can't simply leave the bottle uncapped (bugs love to lay eggs in sweet ferments, and oxygen is detrimental to successful fermentation) we need a way to let the CO2 out without letting anything else get in. That is why you use a fermentation trap, also called a fermentation lock or airlock. It lets CO2 out, and keeps anything else from getting in by way of a water barrier. You can pick them up at brewer supply stores for around $1 each. The one pictured is a 3-piece type, though I prefer the S-types because they allow you to keep track of the fermentation rate by noting how quickly bubbles are escaping more effectively.
  
• Dandelion wine is a country wine, and like most country wine, it's going to have some spices or flavors in it besides the main ingredient. Dandelion wine is traditionally made with citrus to compliment the flavor. Folk-culture food is just like that, you'll have a hard time finding unflavored picked egg recipes for the same reason.
  
  
• Also, I'd like to emphasize that only the petals of dandelions are used. If you go find a dandelion and stare it down for a bit, you'll realize they have very few petals, and they are very light and airy. You need a lot of dandelions to do this, even if you only collect half a gallon of petals, it's a full afternoon activity in a dandelion field with your friends just to collect them.
  
  
  The comic is definitely vague; it ends with "let age", but knowing how to rack and age wine is an art all in itself!
  
  TL;DR: If you know nothing about dandelion wine then this comic is a nice primer to which is actually a fairly simple process. It leaves out some details but you probably shouldn't be making wine from a comic's instructions to begin with.
  
  Source: I make dandelion wine, so I guess you were right.

I don't know of any good comprehensive tutorials, but I can write a bit of one up for you. Do some googling. This website is a good source of information and I refer to it quite often.

The problem with a tutorial for how to make wine is that there are so many variations and methods from extremely simple to extremely complex.

The first wine I made was from store bought grapejuice just make sure you're getting it without preservatives as the preservatives can screw it up. You can do this for about ~$5. If you have a home brew store nearby I would recommend going there, but you can also order online.

1. Buy an airlock like this.
   
   
2. Buy a bung that is big enough for the mouth of your bottle of grape juice like this.
   
   
3. Buy some champagne or cuvee yeast from a brew store. I recommend the champagne/cuvee yeast because it is very hardy and alcohol tolerant. Lots of the red or white wine specific yeasts are very particular about their environment and much harder to ensure full fermentation. Don't use bakers yeast. It will ferment, but it can produce some off flavors and it tops out around ~5-7% alcohol or so.
   
   
4. Buy 1 gallon of no preservative fruit juice.
   
   
5. Pour some out, add between 1 lb and 1 1/2 lbs of sugar to the bottle. The alcohol content will depend on how sweet the juice is to begin with, but if there were no sugar in the juice this would put you between 6-10% alcohol. With the sugar already in there it should put it at around ~13%. The champagne yeast is good up to about 16% alcohol so you should be safe there (too much alcohol will kill the yeast and stop the fermentation). You will want to leave a little bit of air space between the top of the bottle and the juice level because it will foam a bit during fermentation and if you fill it too much will start spewing out through the airlock, then you have a mess.
   
   
6. Add the yeast in, put the (thoroughly washed) airlock in, and let it sit somewhere at ~70 degrees. Don't let it get above 76 or so, and don't let it get below 65. Yeast goes slower if its too cold and produces off flavors if its too warm.
   
   
7. Leave it alone for about a week and a half. The day after you add the yeast you should see bubbles rising through the airlock. This is the C02 from fermentation being released. Do not take the airlock off. Air spoils wine and since you are not using any sulfites, you really don't want to open the top.
   
   After the week and a half, you will have a drinkable young wine with lots of yeast sediment in the bottom. It will taste alright though (maybe a bit fizzy and slightly sweet). Just pour carefully to avoid getting sediment in. Don't bother letting this one age, it will turn bitter if you don't get it off the sediments so go ahead and drink it. This is more about just understanding the process and proving to yourself you can do it.
   
   You need a bit more equipment and to spend some time reading to go much past that point. As an example, the wine above will be cloudy. Typically you would "rack" the wine off the sediment into another container and continue letting it sit. You might do this several times over the course of a year. The flavor profile will change drastically over that time, the wine will mellow out and taste less "alcoholy" and it will slowly clarify as the yeast settles out. You need to research pectic enzymes for fresh fruit fermentations, and also probably read about acid, tannin, and campden tablets to get really good results or to let it age for extended periods of time. You can also get much better results out of whole fruit (i use frozen) than juice, but its a bit more involved.
   
   The one piece of advice I would give you is that when you start buying equipment, skip the 1 gallon jugs and fermenting buckets. Go straight to the 5 gallon. 1 gallon is 5 bottles of wine, but its the same amount of work to make 1 gallon as it is 5 gallons. Much better to make 25 bottles at a time. I have gotten lazy lately, but for awhile I kept 3 batches going at any given time and was able to have more than enough to only drink wine I made and never buy alcohol.
   
   Edit: Alternately, you can buy wine making kits that will produce really good wine. The problem is you need the equipment and they are expensive. I avoid them because I calculated out that the kits using good wine grapes average ~$4 dollars a bottle, where as ones I make from fresh fruit generally average ~$0.50 per bottle. Most people are a bit surprised, but a blueberry, blackberry, or strawberry wine can be every bit as good and complex as grape wine.

Also, it's incredibly simple to make. Here is a very basic recipe to make cider. I would recommend using a glass bottle and a real airlock like that to make it, simply for sanitary reasons.

I would think that a water lock would be the best method. These are mostly used for brewing beer.

Airlocks are easy/cheap but you can make your own with a hose and water in a bucket

The sanatizer is also easily done and cheap but you can use a highly diluted solution of bleach and water but dont want any bleach in your brew.

The yeast do all the work, put it in a closet and check on it, works easily and well. I haven't done a mead yet but about 5 batches of cider and 4 of beer in 5 gal. carboys, investment costs at first for a full set up can be high (but still sub $200) to make your brews/ciders/meads in 5 gallon batches.

Check out /r/homebrew good people over there and excellent information to get you into it if you're really interested in a hobby you can really enjoy.

Brewer's airlock for fermentation. Lets out the co2, but doesn't let any nasties in. https://www.amazon.com/E-C-Kraus-1L-ME8X-6SVS-S-Shape-Airlock/dp/B0057JBABM

Grapes, ehh no wine you can make at home will compare to a $10 bottle of red you could get at the store.

Cider is different story, most of America's cider making apple varietals were chopped down during prohibitions, so the cider market isn't what it could be, compared to wine.

Now most apple juice you'd buy at the store is gonna be from Dessert Apples, apples with low tannins(bitter stuff that gives body/better flavors) and high in sugar. Most apples you'd find on trees, say in your back yard, are probably a dessert apple, unless theyre crab apples in which case theyre pretty okay for making cider. A good varietal for cidermaking that is grown in the USA is Winesap, that's probably the best you can find, if you don't know what you're looking for. If you have any access to peaches or pears you can add those to your juice to give it a little complexity.



So here's what I would if I were ( and I am) a frugal bastard wanting to make cider on the cheap. Go to wholefood, trader joes, any "organic" market you can find and look for one of these now the key for apple juice, if you're buying from the store, is that is DOESN'T have any preservatives. Those preservatives help block or inhib fermentation, so it has a longer shelf life. You want something that says it doesnt have any preservatives, look on the ingredient list for things like potassium sorbate.

So you've got your juice ( and conveniently a glass container to ferment in) now you need to get some sugar ( any sugar will do), an airlock, a rubber seal, and some yeast. Throw some sugar into the juice, toss some yeast in, put the bung (rubber seal) on, put some water in the airlock, smush that into the bung, place in 55-65F degree dark room, and wait 2 weeks.

Ka-Blam 6-10% Cider. Add back in some apple concentrate to taste when you serve it, and there you go 5-8% ABV Apple Cider on the cheap.

And now you get to keep the glass container, which is known in the brewing world as a carboy for future brews.

Here is, albeit a little over priced, bung and airlock combo from amazon.

I'd look into something like this with this with this. So that's $11.50 plus shipping, which at worst would be a total of $20 for 640 ounces of hooch.

If you always keep your hooch at room temperature, you should be able to pour out about 60 oz into another bottle, drink that, then pour new juice on top of the four ounces of remaining old hooch, and the whole process should start over again. Keep on top of it, and you can perpetuate the whole fucking thing.

I'd recommend an airlock that will allow air out but not in. Fermenting in a sealed lid could cause the fermented contents to build up pressure from the CO2 and then explode.

I can't really tell, and I hope not. Its literally just the airlock this one to be exact, and the jug. The jug is new today, and when I cap it, it builds pressure with no leak. The airlock works to my knowledge (I gently blew air through it and it bubbled normally) so I don't get what could be happening.

Sorry to be this guy but get a damn airlock. Seriously though the next time you or your friend make an amazon purchase try buying something like these here. They're so cheap and you'll need them eventually if this hobby interests you.

The balloon will most likely being to lost its elasticity and start to feel crunchy. When this happens it's very likely that the balloon will start to tear or the small hole you made will become large enough, from loss of elasticity to keep it closed, for bacteria and airborne contaminants to get in.

I brew beer mostly, no patience, and the yeast for an ale sometimes takes up to 36 hours to get going to the point where I see good bubbling in my airlock. Good luck!

Granted, I've never made the mead in the official cookbook, but my husband and I make a batch of mead every fall. We start with apple cider and honey instead of the suggest water and honey. This is called a melomel, or apple mead, and it's not entirely necessary, we just like it more that way. And for your first tries, you don't have to get super fancy brewer's yeast. We just use baker's yeast from the grocery store to keep our costs down. It's not the best quality, but the first few batches are never going to be perfect, and it's better to make the early mistakes on less-expensive ingredients.

For the actual brewing, I highly recommend getting a bubble airlock for your carboy. It lets the carboy release gases, so you don't have to worry about potential explosions, but also doesn't let in flies and other pests that are attracted to the smell of said gases. Also! Once it's been fermented and strained, you can add extra spices and things to flavor it. We usually add a bit of brown sugar (I have a sweet tooth) and usually a tiny bit of extra cinnamon so that flavor stands out a bit more with the apple.

Last, when it's all finished, make sure you store your mead in the fridge or other likewise cold space. No matter how well you strained your mead, there will always be yeast left in it, and those little buggers can and will start being active again if left at room temperature. That can lead to a build-up of gas and a taste you may not enjoy.

Honestly, you could do a 1 gallon batch for much cheaper if you want. You could buy a gallon of water in a plastic jug, get some sort of air lock and bung (so long as the bung fits the jug), buy some wine yeast for a dollar or so and make your batch in the jug. Some people just put a balloon over the opening and poke a hole in it.

The only other thing you'd need is bottling equipment (tubing to transfer into the bottles, a bottle capper and caps or a bottle corker and corks, and empty bottles). Everything else is optional. Hell, the bottles are optional if you have enough people!

6.5gal plastic fermentor - $17.88 (Don't bother with glass fermentors!)

6.5gal Bottling Bucket - $18.81

Hydrometer - $12.99

3 3-piece airlocks - $5.00 - trust me, they'll break.

stopper not needed with plastic fermentor

Bottle filler - $5.09

10 ft 3/8th inch tubing - $10.99

Auto siphon - $8.76

don't need a bottle brush with plastic fermentor

144 bottle caps - $5.78

Use any pure sugar for priming - just calculate it right. I use cane sugar without issue.

Wing bottle capper - $15.48

Dial thermometer not really needed if you're slapping on an adhesive one, but definitely get this for a hot liquor tun if you're doing that.

Wine thief - $11.20

I never used a funnel or fermentor brush - you can use anything to clean but I suggest Oxyclean rinses

32oz Star San - $20.70

Adhesive Thermometer - $4.84

Total Cost: $137.52. Not ridiculous savings BUT you get 32oz of star san instead of 4oz of io-star which will last you years and sanitizer is expensive. You get a plastic fermentor instead of glass which is so much easier to clean and keep light out. Glass carboys are good for aging and aging is good for wine or special beers. Focus on simple ales that don't require it first.

The real savings come when you do all grain and make your own equipment. You can save $137 alone if you buy a big stainless steel pot and slap on a dial thermometer with a ball valve.

https://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Elite-Hydrometer-Kombucha-Hardcase/dp/B01CITP03W/

https://www.amazon.com/3-Piece-Airlock-Qty-5/dp/B007HCHXKO

https://www.amazon.com/Brewmaster-Brewcraft-Homebrew-Primary-Fermenter/dp/B07HFDSJNK

^^^ that is cheaper locally.

https://www.amazon.com/beautyfamily-Carboy-Making-Bottling-Equipment/dp/B00WK09TVE

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Fermenter-Capacity/dp/B00KQN9OSK

https://www.amazon.com/Fermtech-5478-6H-Auto-Siphon-Tubing-Clamp/dp/B00SDLLZDY/



^^ for 1 gal

https://www.amazon.com/Fermtech-Regular-Siphon-Tubing-clear/dp/B07FZ4484B

^^ for 5 gal

https://www.amazon.com/Spring-Loaded-Beer-Bottle-Filler/dp/B07JDFDXV9

https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-B0064O7YFA-San-32/dp/B0064O7YFA

They're Masontops Pickle Pipes. They function like an airlock. There's a tiny hole in the nipple and when the CO2 puts pressure on it from the inside, it will expand enough to release the gas but it's small enough to prevent oxygen from getting in.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Brew-LLC-7H-EOH8-VCRW-Carboys/dp/B0064OED86/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468506553&sr=8-1&keywords=carboy+cap

How does this look for a shopping list?

Airlock

Yeast

Jar One (3L vol)

Not sure how much water, but maybe about 2.3L?

25 Raisins

1 Cinnamon stick

1 whole orange, sliced, no peels to prevent bitterness

1 pinch of allspice

1 pinch of nutmeg

1.6kg of wild flower honey

1 whole clove

Jar Two (also 3L vol)

Again, not sure on the water. 2.3L maybe?

1kg blackberries

1.6kg of wild flower honey

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

Start there if you look to make future batches. Also, I wouldn't have used distilled water. Spring water is better. Yeast needs vitamins and minerals. I would also use better yeast in the future. Lalvin D47 is a good mead yeast. I'd replace your baloon with an airlock. They are really cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W

I'd keep what you have out of direct sunlight (so in a closet or throw a blanket over it) and I'd keep it at 70 degrees F.

Three piece airlock along with some sort of bung is great. Easier to clean than a two piece, but those are also good.

Here's how I do it, but folks over at /r/fermentation will probably argue with it. They'll also argue that Sandor Katz is the end-all-be-all, which is horseshit, because he doesn't actually understand the damn science behind everything. His first book is a great intro to fermenting food, but his second is a a giant book full of inaccurate and sometimes flat-out wrong woo which rivals your average anti-vaccine non-celiac gluten avoider.

1. Grind that shit up in a food processor. Not grinding it up would be a lot like fermenting beer after steeping whole grains. Sure, it'll work....slowly...and inefficiently... and the end product wont be the same at all. You don't want it to be a sauce, and you still want some chunks, but fermenting them whole will take FOREVER to get the same results.
   
   
2. Add salt. 5% by weight, give or take. Adding more would be good if its summer there, or if its warm. I definitely wouldn't add less.
   
   
3. If there's not some liquid, add water. It doesn't need to be distilled, and don't worry about the chloramine thats inevitably in your tap water. Some very wrong people will say to use distilled water, which isn't a great idea for the same reasons that using distilled water for beer isn't a great idea.
   
   
4. Put it in a jar and wait. I funded this kickstarter, and while I'm glad that they made it to market, but I'm not fond of everyone now trying to get me to eat their shitty Sandor-inspired mushy pickles.
   
   
5. Wait some more.
   
   
6. Separate the liquid from the solids. It could be a little runny, so add some of the pulp you just fermented back in, toss in some xantham gum which will both thicken it AND keep things from separating once they're mixed.
   
   
7. Taste it.
   
   Now, there are a lot of other things you can do in addition to this. Add fruit, garlic, vinegar, honey, oak chips, whatever. Be a little mindful that raw garlic tends to carry clostridium botulinum (read: make you dead) so be mindful here. Unless you've been fermenting stuff and have a fairly big resident strain of lactobacillus crawling about your house, add some yogurt during step 1 to make sure you get a good bootstrap.
   
   Questions?

I've made some slight modifications to this, mostly to make it easier to follow. I've also included steps that should be quite obvious to someone who's done any homebrewing before, but I wish someone had told me when I first started.

I'd link to the original, for the sake of attribution, but the user who posted this deleted their account not long after I wrote everything down.

This will produce a sweet fruit-mead (or melomel). WARNING this will be far more alcoholic than it tastes, and should not be consumed if you've recently taken antibiotics, or suffered gastric distress, as the yeast culture will still be alive, and will happily colonize your intestines if your gut microbiome is too fucked up.

Equipment: Most of this stuff will be a good deal cheaper at your local homebrew store, but I've included amazon links (also to the yeast).

At least 2 (3 is better, for reasons we'll get to) 1-gallon jugs (I don't recommend scaling this up), glass preferred. Add an extra jug for each additional batch. This one includes a drilled stopper and airlock

Drilled stoppers (or carboy bungs) and airlocks, non-drilled rubber stoppers.

An autosiphon and food-safe tubing.

Food-safe sanitizing solution (I recommend StarSan).

An electric kettle with temperature selector is useful, but not needed.

If you want to bottle it rather than just keeping a jug in your fridge:

Empty beer or wine bottles (just save your empties), capping or corking equipment, caps or corks, and a bottling wand.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs (1130g) honey, clover recommended.

A cup (approximately 250ml) or so of fruit (I recommend blackberries, and I strongly recommend against cherries, other recipes have worked for me, but this yields a very medical flavor with cherries).

1 packet Lalvin EC-1118 yeast (a champagne yeast notable for its hardiness, its ability to out-compete other microorganisms, and its high alcohol tolerance).

Optional: potassium sorbate (to reduce yeast activity when our ferment is done), pectic enzyme (aka pectinase - for aesthetic purposes). Both are also available in bulk.

Process:

Day 1:

Mix sanitizing solution with clean water at specified proportions in one of your jugs, filling the jug most of the way. Stopper it, shake it. Remove stopper, set it down wet-side-up (to keep it sterile), pour the fluid to another jug. There will be foam left behind, this is fine, don't bother to rinse it or anything. At low concentrations this stuff is totally fine to drink, and won't ruin your fermentation or flavor.

Add honey to jug, all of it.

If you have a kettle, and your jug is glass, heat water to around 160F (71 Celsius), pour a volume into your jug roughly equal to the amount of honey present. Fix sterile stopper to jug. Shake until honey and water are thoroughly combined. The heat will make it FAR easier to dissolve the honey. Set aside for an hour or so while it cools. Add clean water 'til mostly full, leaving some room for fruit and headspace.

If you're missing a kettle, or using a plastic jug, this is gonna be a little harder. Fill most of the way with clean water (I recommend using a filter) leaving some room for fruit and headspace. Fix sterile stopper, shake 'til honey and water are thoroughly combined. This will take a while, and you will need to shake VERY vigorously.

At this point, you should have a jug mostly-full of combined honey and water. To this, add fruit (inspecting thoroughly for mold, don't want to add that). Then dump in a single packet of the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, don't bother rehydrating it first or anything, it'll be fine going straight in. Add pectic enzyme if you have it (this does nothing to the flavor, it just makes the end product less cloudy). Stopper it up, shake it again. This jug now contains your "must" (pre-ferment mead).

Pour some sterilizing fluid in a bowl, put a carboy bung/drilled stopper in the bowl, with an airlock. Ensure full immersion. Let sit for a minute. Replace stopper with your bung/drilled stopper, affix airlock. Fill airlock with clean water, sanitizing fluid, or vodka. Rinse the stopper, fix it to your jug of sanitizing fluid.

Place must-jug in a dark place, I recommend a cabinet or closet.

Days 2-7:

Retrieve jug, give it a little jostle. Nothing so vigorous as to get your mead into the airlock, but enough to upset it. This is to release CO2 buildup, and to keep any part of the fruit from drying out. The foaming from the CO2 release may be very vigorous. Do this over a towel for your first batch. If the foam gets into your airlock, clean your airlock and reaffix it. Perform this jostling procedure at least once per day, more is better.

Day 8:

Final jostling, I recommend doing this in the morning.

Day 9:

let it sit, we want the sediment to settle.

Day 10: Time to get it off the sediment

Shake sterilizing fluid jug. Affix tubing to siphon. Put the siphon in the sterilizing fluid, shake the jug a little just to get the whole siphon wet. Siphon fluid into either a third container or a large bowl. This is all to sterilize both the inside and outside of your siphoning system.

Remove siphon from jug. Give it a couple pumps to empty it of any remaining fluid. Place siphon in your mead jug, leaving the end of the tubing in sterilizing fluid while you do this.

Take the jug that you just siphoned the sterilizing fluid from. Dump what fluid remains in it. Place the end of the tubing in this jug, then siphon the mead into it. Make no attempt to get the last bit of mead into your fresh container, it's mostly dead yeast and decomposing fruit.

Add potassium sorbate if you have it, stopper the jug, place it in your fridge.

Clean the jug you started in. Clean your siphon and tubing.

Day 11:

Let it sit

Day 12 or later: time to transfer again, or bottle it.

If you no longer have a jug full of sterilizing fluid, make one.

Repeat the earlier steps to sterilize the siphoning system, with a bottling wand attached to the end of the tubing if you want to bottle.

Sterilize your bottles or a clean jug, either with fluid or heat.

Siphon mead either into your bottles or jug. Stopper/cap/cork when done.

Put your jug/bottles in the fridge.

The yeast culture is still alive, and will continue to ferment. The fridge, and optional potassium sorbate, will merely slow this down. I recommend drinking any bottles within two months, to avoid a risk of bursting bottles. The mead should already be tasty at this point, but usually tastes much better after a couple more weeks.

EDIT: Fixed the formatting up a bit.

Yup, that's probably your problem then. I highly recommend a simple airlock like this:

https://www.amazon.com/SocalHomeBrew-Plastic-Piece-Airlock-Pack/dp/B000E60G2W

There are other methods you can use, but this is the simplest and least likely to blow up. If you want a really basic set-up to get started, just get an empty two-liter soda bottle, poke a hole in the lid to fit the airlock and then brew your kombucha with that. You might want to pasteurize the kombucha before you add the champagne yeast to minimize the possibility of introducing unwanted yeast strains and bacteria, but that's up to you. You'll probably get alcohol either way.

It's easy. EASY. It's not like the sweet hornsby's stuff. IT's drier and closer to beer.

If you wanted to experiment I'd buy a gallon or two of apple juice, like tree top. You don't want anything other than ascorbic acid as a preservative, a packet of chapagne yeast. Like this (http://www.amazon.com/Champagne-Yeast-10-Packs-Dried/dp/B00434CB74) You only need one and they're usually about .55 a shot.

Get an air lock like this: http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W/ref=pd_bxgy_gro_img_z.

Take your juice and pour yourself a small glass to give it a little airspace.

Take the lid and a drill bit and drill a hole in the juice cap sized right for the air lock to fit into the lid tightly. The plastic is soft so you can force it to get a tight seal. I used a pocket knife. If you want to save the headache, you can spend $2 on a rubber bung to fit the container lid.

Put a couple table spoons of sugar and dissolve it into some warm water. Add, I don't know, maybe a quarter of the packet of yeast. THat little packet is usually for five gallons. Eyeball it.

Let it set and get a little bubbly then add the measuring cup of liquid to your juice jug. Recap it with the air lock and enjoy. YOu can put distilled water or booze into the airlock. It doesn't matter which.

Then you wait.

After a week taste it. If you like it, drink it. If it doesn't taste hard enough wait a few more days. AFter you do the first one, you'll want to do two gallons then five. A gallon goes pretty fast. When it gets to where you like the hardness and sweetness of it, put it in the fridge with the airlock on it. IF you cap it while it's still actively fermenting you could get too much co2 built up in the bottle and have a problem.

Seriously talking about $15 at the MOST to start up and after that, it's the cost of yeast and apple juice.

PM me if you have any questions. I'm not an expert, but I do okay.

Make your own! Honestly, if you like kimchi and eat it a lot, it's the best solution.

• Jars, set of 6
  
• Caps, individual. Probably don't need more than one or two for active fermenting
  
• Airlocks, set of 3. These should fit the lids I listed, but you can wait for the cap, then get a specifically fitted on at Brew and Grow at Kedzie/Addison.
  
• Recipe/technique
  
  
  You can also get the kit as an "all in one" package. But if you plan on fermenting a bunch of stuff, or storing multiple batches, it's more economic to buy it the way I listed. You can see the kit is just exactly what I listed, marked up in price in individual sets.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064OED86/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

One of this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KTJXOBO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041F2DL4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I found these grommets and airlocks are bigger than the ones I got from my lhbs.

I do it 5 gallon batches so 5 gallon cheap store apple juice, 2 lbs of corn sugar, 2-3 lbs of peeled shredded ginger, and [champagne yeast] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00434CB74/ref=od_aui_detailpages01?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Put it all in a Fermenter bucket with an airlock. Wait two weeks and bottle it/put it in a keg.

The plastic pieces are Airlocks typically used for fermenting beer/wine.

http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bubble-Airlock-Carboy-Bung/dp/B00A6TRKO4

Airlocks

One of my other airlocks has broken (cat jumped on the bucket of fermenting mead and attacked the bubbling airlock), so I am down to making one bucket at a time right now. A new airlock would go far towards allowing me to make enough mead to gift to all my friends/family for the winter holidays.

Before you pull the trigger on that, there's a groupon for a homebrew set:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gx-midwest-hydroponic-atlanta

It's the basic kit plus brewing ingredients, PLUS a $25 coupon. The kit you linked also includes:

-Carboy, if you really want to get it. Honestly, for a first batch, you can get by without one and just do a single stage fermentation, but it's recommended to get a secondary. My first batch was an extract that spent ~2 weeks in a primary then straight to bottles. Came out great. There's a good deal at Amazon right now on a 6 gallon glass carboy. Also add a bung and Airlock

-Bottles. Drink some beer, keep some bottles. If you want to buy them, get 48 for a 5 gallon batch (about $25) or go cheap and get some plastic PET bottles. Also a good option. See: every argument of plastic vs. glass for a comparison.

-Large stock pot. For a first extract, you won't need more than a 2 gallon boil, so you can get by with as small as 12 qts. A cheap 12 qt pot can get you started.

Here's a six pack for $8.50. I must have gotten mine on a really great deal, it was a third party seller, but this is still pretty cheap. And Prime eligible.

I just drilled holes in some plastic mason jar lids, and sealed it with some caulk. Rubber gasket would probably be better, but I worked with what I had.

For best results, add sugar, add champagne yeast, and put one of these where the cap goes. They fit directly in a welch's container.

To be honest it's going to be a good prison hooch, Hold off and get a Hydrometer

Airlock with #6 Stopper then go shopping at the cvs,rite aid,market for a 1 gallon cheap wine ($8-9) and dump the wine and wash the jug well. Now you can start making cider.

My recipe: Apple juice (1.040), Can of tree top apple juice concentrate (1.035) now add enough concentrate to get the gravity reading up to 1.065 (about 113 grams or 1/3 can) and munich classic wheat beer yeast and let it ferment about 30 days. It should be done fermenting (1.012 or so) and is drinkable or let it age longer.

They came with the airlocks. Ordered them on Amazon.

Air Locks

Molds, fungi and yeasts are all around us, absolutely. They're everywhere. If you want to do an experiment, you can open a bottle of fruit juice for a day or so and after that day, fix an air lock to the opening. It won't take too long before you see air being forced out of the bottle through the air lock. That's local yeasts that found your juice while you left it open, eating the sugars in the juice and breaking them down into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The alcohol stays in the liquid while the CO2 escapes through the airlock. If you choose to use grape juice you may have drinkable wine by the time it's done.

Are you looking for a recipe that specifically uses ginger bug? I've only done a little fermentation as far as food, but I've done a little more of beverages. If you seal your concoction right after bottling, you can put it in the fridge as soon as it's carbonated and it will not have produced much alcohol (based on my limited experience with homebrewing). The fridge will stop it from carbonating as long as it's below 45-50 F-ish, so you want to leave it at room temp until it carbonates.

If you're concerned about how much alcohol it produces, I recommend making a small batch and bottling it in 2 containers. Seal one so it carbonates and give the other one a bubbler so it won't carbonate. When the sealed one finishes carbonating, you can check the alcohol level with a hydrometer (do you have friends who homebrew? I bet you could borrow theirs). I assume the carbonated one will have a similar amount of alcohol. Note: you do need to measure with the hydrometer both before and after fermenting to know the alcohol content. Plenty of resources online to find the calculation. Edit: I forgot to say - check the alcohol content of the non-carbed bottle as the carbonation will mess with your hydrometer readings.

If you're willing to not use your ginger bug, read on!

This recipe uses bread yeast to carbonate (is that heresy on this sub? I've not spent much time here). It takes just a day or two to carbonate then you put it in the fridge to stop the yeast. Tastes pretty good!

From some personal experimenting, the flavor ratio I like is:

• 10g sugar
  
• 10g ginger juice
  
• 20g lemon juice
  
• 140g water
  
  This quantity isn't much (maybe 3/4 c?) but the ratio should scale up. I was playing around with tablespoon-type amounts because I didn't want to go through loads and loads of ginger. For the ginger juice, I grated the ginger with the grater blade on my food processor (had to stop to pull fibers out of the holes every so often) and then hand-squeezed the juice out of the pulp.
  
  It's fairly ginger-spicy (which I find good) but not overpowering. You can always start with less water and add more as necessary. I used this lemon:ginger ratio because more lemon made it taste like ginger-flavored lemonade (good, but not my goal) and more ginger made it taste like disinfecting floor cleaner (also not my goal). I played with sweetness by making a light syrup (25 g sugar to 100 g water) and trying varying levels of that in the final mix.

To piggy back on u/stormbeforedawn's comment.

This is the equipment I used that I've had good luck with so far. It's what he recommended, I'm just providing links to the specific product I used.

• 2 gal primary bucket
  
  
• 1 gal secondary glass
  
  
• Autosiphon
  
  
• racking cane
  
  
• Hydrometer
  
  
• Starsan
  
  
• GoFerm
  
  
• I used Fermaid O, not Fermaid K, because I was following a specific nutrient regimen. It's called TONSA 2.0. Popular, but apparently not cost efficient with larger batches. People better at this than I can answer nutrient schedule questions.
  
  
• Bubbler/Airlock.
  
  
• Bottles and cap method are your preferance. You can get bottles of tons of shapes, colors and styles. Corked, capped, swingtop, etc. Just make sure the bottles are food-safe and not decorative hobby/thrift store stuff. If you use corks, same rule, don't use decorative stuff. You'll want #8 agglomerated cork and a hand corker tool to put the corks on. #9 corks work too, but you'll need heavy tools (like a floor corker) to do that..

Here you go-

3-Piece Air Locks, 3 Piece... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7TN5BY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Red Star Red Star Premier Blanc... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00434CB74?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

ATP - Vinyl-Flex PVC Food Grade... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PXJDESI?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

HYDROMETER - ALCOHOL, 0-200 PROOF... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013S1VAM4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

LD Carlson Yeast Nutrient, 2 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0149IY8F6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

As far as recipes, I’m still working on these first 2. Adding black tea and raisins and b-vitamins seems to have kept things bubbling.

As far as juices, I get most everything from Aldi (or Trader Joe’s if you’re fancy) very few preservatives, dirt cheap prices and unique flavored juices (Harissa Mango Pineapple juice??!?)

Hope that helps! I’ll post updates as the batch progresses. 2 days from now I’ll probably cold crash and do a gelatin clarifier.

I'm sure the mix is fine; the pressure just built up. The fermentation process creates CO2.

The Lactobacillus bacteria responsible for the fermentation are facultative anerobics, and fermentation works better without oxygen. If you like you can punch holes in the lids and glue in some airlocks which can be found at winemaking supply shops.

Also, someone introduced me to these lovelies for making sauerkraut with, I would imagine they would also be handy when making kimchi (hopefully I'm allowed to post, if not grab the info and delete my comment): https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01LWS63OF/?coliid=I334PGNMEWURNZ&colid=1O0N3J44KWXW&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Or, if you have enough containers, simply transfer it into containers of the correct size. It's not really the 'headspace' that we're worried about, or that has any effect on the amount of oxygenation. It's the surface area that is touching gas. Another simple solution, if you're sure you're done fermenting, is just to seal your fermenter with something like this.

Surely! I have 6-gal plastic carboys. I currently have a carboy cap that has a racking cane and a filter on the other end. The end of my racking cane tubing is attached directly to a barbed disconnect on the liquid post. I still use gravity but I get the siphon going by blowing through the filtered end of the carboy cap. I actually am purchasing this today to replace the filter so I can use pure CO2 to push the beer from my carboy. Just know if you use CO2 to push the beer from the carboy to keg that you need to keep the pressure very low as the carboys are nor pressure retaining vessels.

I have to give credit where credit is due though. I built this after seeing /u/brulosopher 's kegging method

Side note: If you do use an airlock for long term, get this type....

https://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bubble-Airlock-Carboy-Bung/dp/B00A6TRKO4/

versus this type....

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brewing-Supplies-48-9AJX-W965-Econolock-6pk/dp/B0041F2DL4/

I currently have six carboys on the rack coming up on 12 months and they all have the first type of airlock with the double chamber. At most I have lost 5mm of water over that period. I use a sharpie to mark a line so I can see if they are evaporating. With the second type of airlock, I can't go three months before having to add water. They also have a tendency to open a pathway for air to get to the wine while looking like they are okay for fill level.

Lids: White Plastic Standard Mason Jar... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017IT8U2U?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Airlock: Home Brewing Supplies... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041F2DL4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Grommets: Home Brew Ohio black Replacement... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0149K5RZY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I'm building a 4 station stir plate using a PC fan controller. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074BQ4K77/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0X1LDbA9JG433

I'll post pictures on this sub when it's finished.

Here's a link for an Erlenmeyer Flask (2000 ml) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074DB1S5H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_E21LDb4MTW30A

Here's 3 Piece Airlock With Silicone Grommet, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KLXXLLN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_x31LDb4YR7YA6

This is the best sanitizer for fermenting food and beer. San Sanitizer (32 oz) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FA86OVG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_F41LDbEJ7APQ7

Yes, you can. They sell grommets too

Malt extract is basically a syrup. It's sugar (and some other things) it needs to be dissolved in hot water so buy a thermometer and a big ass spoon.

Get the water up to 155-200 degrees F.

Add all of your extract and stir a lot until it's dissolved.

Then raise water/syrup mixture until it boils and add .5 oz to 1 oz of hops. Set a timer for 60 minutes. after 15 minutes add another .5oz-1 oz hops. Wait 30 minutes and add another .5oz to 1 oz hops.

Cool mixture to 70 F. Add Yeast.

Put in a clean sterilized container with a way to release pressure.

Like [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bubble-Airlock-Carboy-Bung/dp/B00A6TRKO4/ref=asc_df_B00A6TRKO4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=222720245886&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7780163563752260182&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007095&hvtargid=pla-384129294913&psc=1)

basically they're like paper clips in that I'm not sure what brand I bought, how many brands I bought, they're all the same. Here's one

https://www.amazon.com/3-Piece-Airlock-Qty-5/dp/B007HCHXKO

some come with the rubber stoppers, they fit right in the spout

This is an airlock:

http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W

You fill it up to the little line with sanitizer or vodka and it allows the CO2 being generated by the yeast to bubble out, but nothing from the outside to invade. If you can find one, you'll need a stopper that'll fit your 2-liter bottle that has a hole in it the right size for the airlock. If you can't find one, you should maybe loosely cover the top of the 2-liter bottle with sanitized tinfoil.

hey i just watched this video, you might want to try a few new things regarding the dill pickles:

1. use a 5% brine
   
   
2. rather than sealing the jar with a lid, use an airlock by putting it through a plastic lid via a rubber grommet.. (or just get a clay crock, but they can be pricey.. or MAKE a clay crock.. episode idea?)
   
   
3. if all else fails, use a commercial yeast rather than depending on wild yeast

It is fairly easy to get large equipment like vessels and burners locally in India but it's the little stuff that makes your brew day/bottling day easier like the bottle fillers and auto siphons which are kind of difficult/expensive to get hold off. Depending on which city you are in hops, malts and yeast can be easy to source especially if you have any brewpubs around. The selection of hops is again very limited so like like /u/chino_brews suggested you could get bulk hops from YCH. Dry brewing yeast is available (Fermentis, Lallemand) but it is mostly sold in 500g bricks so I would recommend picking up some 11g packets as well. You should definitely pick up a large 16/32 oz bottle of StarSan and a tub of PBW or something similar for cleaning and sanitizing. I would also pick up a hand held bottle capper, a racking cane, a couple of airlocks and a spigot for bottling. Almost everything else can be improvised or jugaad if you're a little handy :)

Don't, it's a bad idea for this. This is a good set up for making a gallon of hard cider, mead or beer. But OP is going to spend a good hour or 2 trying to get those peppers out. Also there is no way to weigh it down because of the cone shaped interior, and you can not fit anything in the tiny hole that work anyway. So, mold it a high probability.

But, for other fermentation purposes (i.e. mead), this set-up is fine and you can get one gallon carboy just by buying some decent apple cider and resuing the jug. The other parts are simply a rubber stopper and an airlock..

Oooo I want to try this. How many grams of yeast for six gallons? Do I need to buy a special sanitizer?

This is what I have in my cart right now:

[Airlock](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6TRKO4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?
smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1)

Yeast

6 gallon carboy

Anything I'm missing beside the juice?

Buy an airlock and stopper that’ll fit whatever you’re fermenting in.

Use Starsan to sanitize.

IDK where you can get yeast but maybe an online home brew store will ship you some dry yeast.


You also will probably want to do a staggered nutrient addition or you could add raisins.

Also check out r/mead

This woman's kimchi is super spicy. I only used 1.5 cups of hot peppers. Anyway, I've gotten used to how hot it is and find myself craving it. I eat 2 tablespoons of it with every plate. And I drink kefir milk or kefir water. Kombucha sometimes, but that takes 2 weeks to get good. The kefirs take 2 days and are pretty strong.

I mention kefir because if you make milk kefir in a Fido jar for say a day and a half at room temperature. The curds and whey will separate and you strain that whey into a jar with either olives, baby cucumbers, hardboiled eggs and beet juice, asparagus, cabbage (kimchi and sourkrout), pear onions, salsa, Brussels sprouts, garlic, and I'm sure more. You use the curds you made with the milk kefir grains to make fermented hard cheeses, yogurt (awesome for ball jar parfaits, cream cheese,

If you want to get really crazy you can buy a 5\8" glass drill bit off amazon for 6 dollars. Drill holes in the lids. Use either rubber grommets or a drilled airlock grommet and airlocks to let the CO2 buildup release without letting fresh air back in. The company that makes and sells them call them Pickl-It jarsImage. They look identical to what you can make for much cheaper. This isn't necessary but it costs about 5 bucks to do to each jar and the result is that you now have a 40 - 120 dollar fermentation crock.

Buy this jar: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/fido-5-liter-jar-with-clamp-lid/s495151?a=1552&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CJ7Whp7ZkroCFabm7AodOmkAHQ

Or at surlatable if you want more than 1 jar, and want 1.5 liters like the legit picklits. I found 3 liter Fido jars at hobby lobby for $5 each. I suppose just look for clamped glass jars with italy stamped on the bottom, not china.

The dehydrated food you weigh after and portion out into serving sizes. If I'm packing them as a lunch I separate atleast the meat from fruits and vegetables. Match each serving of meat with what used to be one or two cups of kale. A solid ammount of tomato chips and mango, peaches, apples or banana leathers. (Go easy on the mango) Blend and fruit rollup your berries. I'm not a nut and grain person, but a granola bar probably wouldn't be bad in there. I suppose you could stuff all these bags into a food saver bag and have like a cheap, fresh and healthy MRE all set and ready. No cooking required. I'm not sure how long the meat would last. So I wouldn't let it sit too long. Plus make sure your jerky sits in a brown paper bag for a few days first. To draw out any more moisture before vacuum sealing it.

Oh yes, and it is quite simple to get the stuff together without buying a kit. Do you have a local home brew store?

This subreddit's wiki which includes a beginner section: https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/wiki/index
There are several videos on youtube that have good instructions.

Here is a basic list of gear to brew beer in a bag. You can get all of this stuff on amazon if you don't have it already. This is not the best list, but it works.
http://homebrewmanual.com/home-brewing-equipment/


Some of the stuff you won't likely have at home:

• Starsan: http://amzn.com/B01467UGN8
  
  
• Hydrometer: http://amzn.com/B013S1VAM4
  
  
• Grain bag for Brew in a Bag: http://amzn.com/B00CA5PH4W
  
  
• Bottle Capper: http://amzn.com/B001D6KGTK
  
  
• siphon: http://amzn.com/B0064ODELI
  
  
• airlock: http://amzn.com/B00A6TRKO4
  
  
• bottle caps: http://amzn.com/B000Q64T8M
  
  Beer recipes: http://beerrecipes.org/
  
  To get grains from amazon, type in the grain type and it will provide you options. If you don't have the ability to mill it yourself, you can order it crushed. Its not ideal, but if you don't have a homebrew store near you and don't have your own mill....it will work. You will have to measure out the correct amounts for each grain that you add on your own from the bulk that you ordered. If you want to brew with extracts, you can also order those on amazon as well.
  
  You can order hops on amazon the same way as grains or extracts.
  
  
  

Here’s the link to the airlock and grommets for anyone looking to make some:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KLXXLLN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_iwVyDbMYSWARN

And the buckets:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/United-Solutions-2-Gallon-Residential-Bucket/1000462837

https://www.lowes.com/pd/United-Solutions-9-72-in-White-Plastic-Bucket-Lid/1000421401

I just got an airlock in the mail, I would recommend it, super cheap but it's well made.
Twin Bubble Airlock and Carboy Bung (Pack of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6TRKO4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_d2JwcdyQM9mwC

The best thing would be something like this airlock. Normally used to let off CO2 in home brew fermentation, would probably work just fine for this purpose. Just cut an appropriate size hole and add, follow instructions for particular airlock. Probably a bit cumbersome but I'm sure there's a way to engineer a sleek design somehow

edit: didn't think about creating a vacuum would defeat the airlock and draw the water in :/

https://www.amazon.ca/SocalHomeBrew-Plastic-Piece-Airlock-Pack/dp/B000E60G2W

This is the airlock. The reason I can't brew in the winter is that it's too cold for me to sit outside for two hours making my mash and then my boil. -15 Celsius is a little crazy to be doing anything in outside.

OK well I'll give you my recipe, here's what you'll need:

1 large stock pot 30-32 quarts is what you're shooting for. I got mine at Walmart for much less than this.

Yeast nutrient I prefer fermaid K but you can use Fermax, avoid DAP for a while it's kinda rough to dial in for a novice and can cause funky stuff to happen.

Campden Tablets

Wine Tannin

Some form of CO2, you can use Wine Preservation spray or if you paintball like me, fill your tanks up at the local place, and just use a regulator to dispense it.

WLP-099 for yeast. You can also use Wyeast 4347 if you want it to finish a bit sweeter.

You need a bathtub full of apples (not kidding) this is about ~100-150 pounds. I live in New England and buy cider apples for cheap money when they're in season from an orchard.

18-21 pounds of honey depending on which yeast you're using and if you want it to finish sweet or dry, I like to use orange blossom honey for this recipe, but anything light such as clover or some wildflower honeys will work. If you go with the Wyeast stuff stick with 18 pounds, if you're using the White Labs stuff and you still want some residual sweetness, go for 21 pounds.

A juicer to crush your apples. You could do this manually, but you will hate your life.

A Carboy stirrer or a Wine Whip You could use a super long stainless steel spoon, but in all honesty these do a much better job.

A big ass primary bucket this is what I use now, but if you've got a pair of 6.5 gallon buckets you're good too. I drilled a hole in the top for my "dry airlock" These open at 0.25 PSI, and they're both indestructible and cheap, plus you'll never have to worry about forgetting to fill your airlocks.

2 6.5 gallon glass carboys (these will be MUCH cheaper locally due to shipping costs)

1 All in One Wine Pump with a 10" house filter setup You can get the 1 and 5 micron filters cheaper on Amazon then the site they link there, and for the 0.5 micron finishing filter you get that HERE


Start with a bathtub full of apples with the stopper in, after the tub is full, fill around the apples with hot water. let that soak overnight to loosen up the dirt and hydrate the apples as well as you can. All hot water, no cold for this. Stir up the apples gently.
Wash the apples in bunches the next day, I have my kids help me with this, any ones with bad spots they put aside so I can either reject them outright or just cut the bad spots off. Cut the apples into quarters, only remove the stem and any leaves don't worry about the core or seeds or anything else. Any bad spots or worm eaten apples throw into the garbage.

Run all of the cleaned apples through a juicer. Put the pulp into your big primary bucket & put the juice into your big ass pot.

Heat the juice to 200 degrees, add 3 to 3.5 pounds of honey per gallon of juice (depends on what yeast you're using) and stir until well mixed (and still at 200 degrees.) This is to pasteurize the apple juice and kill any wild yeast or other microbes. Don't boil it, 200 degrees is fine. You should have about 7-7.5 gallons of juice from a full bathtub of apples plus a crapload of solids.

Add 1 teaspoon of Fermaid K nutrient, 1/2 teaspoon wine tannin, and 2 crushed campden tablets, stir that bitch up good.

Pour that on to the apple solids in each bucket. Mix it quickly, and make sure it's still at least 185 degrees F. This will pasteurize your apple solids. If it is under 185 degrees, then either pour in some boiling water and get it back to temperature OR siphon some juice out, reheat that stuff and pour it back. This is the ONLY time you can add ANY water, and if you're quick with the apple juice you won't need boiling water and it will turn out MUCH better.

Wait 24 hours.

Pitch your yeast. For this brew I make a big ass starter of the WLP-099 or the Wyeast 4347. With 3.5 pounds of honey per gallon plus the 100% apple juice liquids, I end up with around 35-37 Brix, giving me a high potential alcohol. The WLP-099 typically eats it nicely if step fed and aerated daily for the first week to give around 22-23% ABV while still finishing sweet with 3 pounds per gallon of honey and the Wyeast 4347 it will finish slightly sweet at around 20-21% ABV.


Let it sit on the apple mash for 30 days, for the first week use the Carboy stirrer to mix it up good, every 3 days add 1/3 teaspoon yeast nutrient for the first 9 days (so initial addition during creation of the must, and an additional 1/3 teaspoon on days 3, 6 and 9 so 2 teaspoons total fermaid K.)

Let the mash sit unmolested from day 12 to day 30.

Siphon that off into glass carboys for secondary.

For this step I normally pull the mead through a 5 micron and then a 1 micron filter (both in a single pass with my filtration setup) this doesn't remove the yeast, but it makes sure no apple particulate is transferred into your secondary. It will still be very cloudy though, to the point where it is opaque, that's fine.

Hit the carboys with some CO2, either from wine preservation spray or the paintball canister setup like I said.

This is where I add spices and any other flavor. I have made a number of differently spiced Cysers, but my typical secondary includes 1/16 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/8 teaspoon cardamom, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground cinnamon.
After 30 more days I rack it off that, passing it once again through the 5 and 1 micron filters.

Then I hit it with CO2 to prevent oxidation and bulk age it. It doesn't move for at least 6 months, 12 if I can leave the carboys full for that long. After 2-3 months aging you can swap to a solid bung as you don't need the airlock anymore.

The mead will clear during aging. When it's transparent, it is ready to bottle. I do one more pass from my carboy through a 0.5 micron filter into another carboy, then siphon into my bottling bucket. I don't like bottling with my vacuum pump I suck at it and just make a big ass mess.

Yea it's a lot of work, but it's some of the best Cyser you'll ever have, and it's got one helluva kick so take care when you drink it.

Cheapest thing: Two pack of airlocks with rubber bungs

How much: $1.25 +$5.45 shipping

Why do you want it: They're airlocks. I'm a homebrewer. I will use them to make delicious mead, cider, wine, and beer!

My favorite pokemon is: Hariyama!

the only thing with these kits i didnt care for was the airlock that comes with them. most come with a "S" shape airlock, they work just fine i just dont like them because you cant really clean them well. might want to pick up a 3 piece like this.
https://www.amazon.com/SocalHomeBrew-Plastic-Piece-Airlock-Pack/dp/B000E60G2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464846742&sr=8-1&keywords=3+piece++airlock

Noob here but what is this contraption with the red cap?

Edit: Nm Found it!

1: A simple awesome tasting mead:


Okay, here we go:

You need something to ferment in. a 1-gallon bottle is perfect. You also need an airlock of some kind. Fermentation produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. If you sealed up something that's fermenting it would explode. So you want to let out the CO2 without letting IN any air (contamination, blah blah.) Some people use a balloon with a pinhole in it when they're getting started. But a proper airlock is only a couple bucks.

A profoundly simple, wonderful tasting mead that's great to start with is one called "JAOM" (Joe's Ancient Orange Mead.) There's nothing ancient about it.

• 1 orange
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
  
• 1 whole clove
  
• small handful of raisins. (25ish)
  
• 3.5 pounds of clover honey
  
• little package of plain old bread yeast.
  
• Water to fill (about 2" shy of the top. This gets fizzy and you don't want it to explode.)
  
  Now? Just put all that in the jar and put your airlock on it and wait.
  
  The hard part? Waiting. Depending on the temperature it may take a day to start bubbling. It will actively ferment for weeks. Perhaps a month or more.
  
  You need to wait for it to clear. Really clear. Like "I can put a piece of paper behind this and read it through the mead" clear.
  
  This is going to take months. I recommend putting it in a closet someplace and pretending to forget about it.
  
  You'll notice, over time, that a layer of stuff is going go cover the bottom of the jar, and get pretty deep (maybe an inch or so thick.) This is fine. It's mostly dead yeast. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's a little gross, so you don't want it in the final product. What I did before I had syphoning gear was pour as much off the top into a soda bottle as I could, then pour the rest into another one. It would re-settle so that I could do it again.
  
  It's a cumbersome process, and you'll always have to waste some of your initial product. But it's worth it.
  
  Now that you have a bottle of clear mead you have two options, only one of which will you take.
  
  
• Drink
  
• Let it age. This stuff gets better for YEARS. My first experiment was this mead a couple years ago. I bottled it (in 2 liter soda bottles. very classy) and it was awful. I figured I had nothing to lose by just keeping the bottles around. I tried it this spring? We drank about 3 liters in a week. It was so damn good. So even if you don't like the result, hang on to it. Write the date on it with a sharpie. It'll be good.
  
  Disclaimer: This isn't my recipe. I found this on one of my favorite sites on ye olde innert00bz. Those knuckleheads are awesome.
  
  

That's actually not bad but as mentioned below, a decent pot will go a long way. I bought a 30quart turkey fryer and put in a ball valve and that's been one of the best upgrades I've made. I have a fermentor now, but I got some free 6+ gallon food grade icing buckets from my grocery's bakery. Spigots, air locks, and bottling wands are $6 on Amazon. Tubing can be found pretty cheap online or at LHBS/hardware store.

Kettle - $25

Ball Valve - $22

Bazooka Screen - $9

Buckets - Free

Spigot - $6

Airlocks - $7

BIAB Bag - $5

Bottling Wand - $5

Capper with Caps - $18

Various Tubing - $15

This doesn't include your first beer kit, but you can pull off an all grain BIAB as long as you've got fire. My second favorite piece I own is my mash tun which is just a 10 gallon cooler with a bazooka screen and ball valve. I don't bottle anymore, but I feel like if I were to do it again that's all I would need to start. Oh, and a thermometer and some StarSan.

I made a book-length comment a while ago on here, lemme copy-paste it. This was for carboy-keg, but it's a similar idea. Just get creative about it ;)

"Sorry about the late reply, but here it goes.

Since you have a glass carboy and a siphon, I think you have 2 options: pressurized transfer and unpressurized (read: gravity) transfer.

First is pressurized, which is what I did. When I was doing research when I first did it, a lot of people used caps like these. Basically, they would use the large hole to put the siphon in, and the smaller hole to connect to the gas. The Gas connection should be easier with the cap.

To connect the gas, turn the regulator down to about 1 psi. be careful not to go too high, since the glass carboy can explode with pressure, so I wouldn't go higher than 1 psi. Close the tank once it's set, and disconnect the gas manifold from the regulator. This tube should go on the smaller hole on the cap, but again, this isn't how I did it so your mileage may vary. make sure you use a hose clamp and clamp it down tight too, because you don't want your CO2 to leak out. Essentially, this will push the beer from the top, down through the siphon, out the top of the cap, and down into the keg.

The siphon should fit down the cap, but if it doesn't you should be able to use a silicone tube that's the same OUTER diameter as the holes INNER diameter. The siphon hose will connect to the beer side of the keg -- or the side of the keg that normally dispenses the beer. In my case, the actual connector was clamped shut in such a way that I couldn't remove it, so instead I removed my faucet head and connected the 2 tubes. Either use a tube union like this one or jerry-rig something up. Make sure to use more hose clamps, because otherwise you'll have beer leaking all over which is no bueno.

At this point you should have a connection from the gas to the carboy and from the carboy to the keg. The last thing to do is know how to vent the keg. I have pin lock kegs without the pull-tab relief valve, so I stick a screwdriver into the unused connector to open it, allowing it to vent the gas that is being displaced by the incoming beer. On ball-lock kegs, they usually feature a nice pull-ring valve on the lid that can be pulled to release the pressure. Either way, you will need to release the pressure regularly during the process or else the pressure will equalize and the beer will stop flowing.

At this point, you should be able to start. Make sure all of the connections are tight, the connector is plugged into the keg, and you can vent the pressure. Open the CO2 tank valve, and make sure the regulator is still at a light 1psi or lower. The pressure of the gas will force the beer up into the siphon and down into the beer line, filling the keg from the bottom. This forces the gas out through the top of the keg, which is where you release the pressure that builds up as it equalizes.

Once it's done filling, turn off the CO2 tank and disconnect all of the tubes, and you have a full keg of beer!


The gravity version (which I haven't done) is basically the entire thing, but the carboy needs to be higher than the keg, and instead of a CO2 connection there . . .nothing. This obviously exposes some of the beer to the air, which is not good, but it probably is a lot less likely to explode. "

This might be a better investment. I use this for my 2F and it works great. You may also want to get a Air lock and a siphon as well.

This might get you started. At least it's funny. This is probably what you're looking for. Airlocks can be purchased at a local homebrew store or easily on Amazon. They let carbon dioxide from the fermenting juice out while not allowing any germ-laden air (or flies) in.

http://www.amazon.com/SocalHomeBrew-Plastic-Piece-Airlock-Pack/dp/B000E60G2W/ref=zg_bs_979848011_1

Cut out the middleman:
10 packets of Champagne yeast: $5.50
2 airlocks: $5.99

Everyone's got time for it! Next time you're at the store, get a gallon or two of apple juice... the one in the glass jug. Get one or two Of these and a few packets Of this and you're good to go. If you want to get to the scientific part, get one of these to measure potential and finished alcohol content.

Dump out 1/3 of the juice, add more sugar for more alcohol if you want, add the yeast, put the air lock on and throw it in a dark place for a few weeks ;)

Someone didn't study home brewing much.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6TRKO4/

For next time

Haha, considering you don't know anything about brewing beer he probably could have done a better job explaining some terminology. Gravity doesn't refer at all to the weight or mass, gravity refers to the sugars present in the liquid and therefore the potential ABV. This is what you must measure to determine how alcoholic your beverage will become, and ABV cannot be measured in any other way. Gravity can be measured with a hydrometer, and must be measured before the mixture has fermented at all. Potassium sorbate can also be found on Amazon if you aren't near any brew supply stores, but while cheap you'll probably have to buy around a pound if you want it shipped to you for free.

Lastly, as for equipment you'll need an airlock, an airtight glass jug or plastic bucket the airlock can go into, and some kind of siphon to get it out. That should be good enough for a basic setup.

Another option is to use airlocks for the second phase

I'm in the same boat as you. I followed this recipe. The only additional step I took was melting the sugar before I added it to the mix.

I bought a jug and a set of airlocks on Amazon. I bought a 4lb bag of sugar, a can of frozen white grape concentrate, and some packets of yeast at the grocery store. It cost about $25 total, but most of it was on the jug and airlocks, and I won't have to buy those again.

Since I had the extra airlock, I started another batch in a 3/4 gallon bottle of grape juice with some added sugar. Should the grape juice batch turn out better, the $10 jug wouldn't have even been necessary. I'm 10 days in, we'll see which batch turns out better.

I've considered buying the e-z caps too. But then I realized it's essentially one of these airlocks with a convenient screw top attachment to fit on a standard 2 liter bottle and some yeast. If you're trying to go cheap, it might be worth putting together the few pieces necessary to DIY, add some rubber stoppers and a gallon jug of juice and you're pretty much good to go.

In fact, I might just buy all that stuff now...

Edit: It'd probably be cheaper at a local homebrew shop, none of these links I put in here actually come from Amazon so you can't get combined or Amazon Prime shipping. :(

This is what I use, And get this plus the air locks

I got it at a local ferment shop but you can get them at amazon

This: https://www.amazon.com/Masontops-Pickle-Pipe-One-Piece-Fermentation/dp/B01LWS63OF

Plus some wide mouth jars you can get on Amazon or locally.

It's worth paying a few bucks up front to avoid wasting time and money down the road. When you pour the saltwater into the jar, only do it part way up. Take a small ziplock bag, fill it with a bit of water (you can adjust it to fit) and put it in the top of the jar. It will keep all the big bits that tend to spoil from floating to the top.

Here's a reddit thread where someone did it for hot sauce: https://www.reddit.com/r/fermentation/comments/9958k1/hot_sauce_ferment_modification_with_the_ziploc/

Hope this helps. Sometimes it still fucks up. You might try slightly upping the salinity % if that happens a lot.

Cool, coots recipe it is.

The recipe in the sidebar specifically mentioned horse manure compost, so I'd imagine it would be fine, though hearing from others would be reassuring too. I'll do some more research though.

> fermenting lids
> > $29.99

holy shit that's highway robbery. Maybe I'm missing something, but those seem to do the same thing as homebrewing airlocks. With these grommets and these airlocks you'd be able to make 5 of those for about 15 bucks. Regardless, thanks for the advice, since cleaning up fermented plant material and broken glass doesn't sound very fun. Any ferments (or top dressing additions, etc.) you're particularly fond of?

As far as the LEDs go, I'm thinking of building 2 light assemblies, each with 2 BXRC-30E10K0-D-73 and 2 BXRC-40E10K0-D-73. That would mean 2 3000K and 2 4000K chips per assembly. Those chips drop 37.2V at 1400 mA, so I'd run them on a HLG-185-C-1400b and add a potentiometer to let me dim the driver down to ~1000mA, which would give me a range of 38-52W per chip. I think that gives me a lot more flexibility than a single monolithic light.

I've gone through a lot of iterations of my planned LED setup lol. If you'd have asked me two days ago I'd have said cxb3590s all the way, but 25 bucks a COB from digikey seems like a pretty solid deal. I haven't even checked kingbrite yet.

Your response was super helpful, much appreciated!

I've been cold crashing(33-38F) in 6.5 gal glass carboys for 3 years (40 some odd batches) using:
Small Universal Carboy Bung-Solid-Set of 3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BV75I7Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_mjNRCbP1YGK62
With great results. Sometimes they are hard to remove, but otherwise work great. The lip has -so far- prevented them from getting sucked in.

Haha thanks! It's just one of these caps with a regular airlock in the middle hole. It was only a couple bucks at my local homebrew store.

I'd like to do 5 gallon batches. I don't think the quantity from the Mr Beer keg is worth it.

How's this look? Total is around $80.

Fermentation bucket

Bung/airlock

Stock pot

Autosiphon

Star San or Idophor (What's the difference?)

Is there any advantage to having a carboy as well? How long would I leave the beer in the fermentation bucket?

So if I wanted to do sours, I'd basically have to get 2 of everything?

Edit - actually, wouldn't this kit be about the same, but with an extra bucket but no stock pot?

Edit 2 - another pot, 36qt is good price, leaving this here so I can find it again.

Equipment:
2 5 gallon glass carboy

Bubble Airlocks These allow the CO2 to escape the carboy while keeping the oxygen out. Alcohol fermentation is an anaerobic process. Too much oxygen will cause production of acetic acid(vinegar).

Non-Chlorinated water(I buy 5 gallon jugs, carboys what have you of spring water from my local co-op. Make sure it is spring water. Not "drinking" water. Chlorine isn't good for yeast.)

Wine siphons are really helpful. Used to just use a polyurethane tube, and that lead to some trial and error siphoning. There are two fermentations that'll happen during the process. You'll have to siphon the wine from one carboy to another. Hence why you need 2. Pro tip: Don't stick the siphon all the way to the bottom. That's where yeast, the oak chips, and clay from the primary fermentation are going to settle. Same with the secondary, but that'll be mostly yeast if you siphoned from the primary properly.


A giant ass funnel and corks obviously.

Wine Bottles! Go with the green. Reduces oxidation by letting less light in.


Bottle Tree! Use this to let your bottles dry out after cleaning them. Make sure all your pieces are sterile.

A corker!



I usually buy a wine must kit that has the clay sediment for nutrient content, finely ground oak, yeast, clarificant, and of course the wine must. (Must is a high quality grape juice that is fairly dense). For a first time I do suggest getting a must kit. It has detailed step by step instructions along with it. It's going to take about a month for both fermentations to be completed. Do try to keep the temperature of the carboy between 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit/23.5-27 degrees Celsius. Saccharomyces cerevisiae thrives best at that temperature gradient.


The musts price range wise are going to be between 60-200 dollars for the most part. You can ferment anything with sugar though. A 5 gallon carboy is going to get you 25+ bottles of wine easy. It's actually interesting to see how the taste of the wine changes over time between each bottle. Generally the yeast/sugar content will give you ~12% alcohol in these kits.

Without a proper airlock, the brewing vessel is either going to build up pressure and pop, or it's going to let in all sorts of things from the air, and would be about as safe as any attempt to drink grape juice that's been sitting out on the counter for a few weeks.

It's possible to brew this way, but it's almost guaranteed to end up poorly. There's a very high chance of it going bad, that is, of growing mold or other unwanted microbiotic visitors. You'll probably be able to see this happen.

Even if it doesn't work, the end result will most likely be one of the nastiest forms of wine you've ever had. It's not quite prison hooch, but it'll be close.

----

If you and your friends really want to try and get into brewing on the cheap, my suggestion is to start with an airlock and bung like these, find a gallon of apple juice or apple cider at the grocery store in a glass bottle with no preservatives (check the label), and drop in 1/4 of a packet of a brewing yeast like this one. It's a very beginner friendly (and kinda harsh) yeast that will survive mistreatment and bad conditions no problem. You put the yeast in the apple juice, you put a little water in the airlock, you put the airlock on the jug, and wait a month. You'll want to get a food safe hose to siphon out the brew when it's done, and you'll need bottles to age it in (the stuff will taste bad at first but give it 5-8 months and you'll have somethign wonderful). When the brew finishes that first month, fill up the bottles and seal them, then keep them somewhere cool for 5-8 months. Note: you'll need clean glass bottles, and you'll want to sanitize them or else any bugs in there will make the brew go bad while it ages. I like swing top bottles, they don't require a capper machine or a supply of caps.

Total cost to brew up a simple tasty cider, including all supplies:

• ~8$ for the gallon jug of cider to start.
  
• ~2$ for a pack of EC1118 yeast (the amazon link above is for 5 packets)
  
• ~3$ for an airlock and a bung
  
• ~18-20$ for a half dozen 16oz swing top bottles
  
• ~5$ for a hose
  
  Coming out to less than 50$ to get started, and most of that you won't have to buy again for later brews. If you find a local homebrewing shop you might be able to get these things cheaper... or not. At least you should be able to find them in single packs instead of amazon's bulk sets.

If you want to take it to the next level, use an airlock instead of a balloon and a strip thermometer. By keeping the temperature low (55F) you will get a smoother mead with less hot alcohols, but it will take longer to ferment.

I've considered using a jar, although you'd probably also need a way to release excess gasses. I haven't done it yet, but my idea is to run an airhose from the jar to above the water-level, and using one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IGY9P2G

Ours is a little more complicated than most:

Supplies

• 1 Growler or jug (could be the jug the cider comes in)
  
• 1 Airlock
  
• Cheap hard liquor to fill the airlock
  
• Bottle(s) that can withstand carbonation pressure
  
  

  Ingredients
  

  
  

• ½ gallon pasteurized cider (e.g. from the grocery store)
  
• ⅜ cup lemon juice (preferred) OR ½ tbsp. citric acid
  
• ⅘ cup sugar
  
• 1 tsp. champagne yeast (or other yeast)
  
  

  Directions
  

  
  

1. Heat 2-3 cups of the cider in microwave, and dissolve sugar into cider
   
2. Put everything into a growler or back into cider gallon jug
   
3. Add champagne yeast
   
4. Put airlock on jug, with hard liquor to fill it
   
5. Wait 3-8 days, depending on how fast your yeast grows and how hard you like your cider
   
6. Put cider into bottles, and possibly directly into fridge
   
7. Wait 1-2 days for carbonation, then drink!
   
   

   Notes
   

   
   

• You can also heat the cider in the microwave for warm hot cider, and that's delicious too.
  
• We like our cider pretty hard (~6-8% alcohol), but also still pretty "juicy" (i.e. still tastes kinda like the raw cider), so that's why we add the sugar at the beginning; it feeds the yeast enough to let them produce that much alcohol while still leaving enough sugar at the end to still be tasty. You can modulate this by increasing / decreasing sugar content at the beginning and increasing / decreasing fermentation time: more sugar means more food for the yeast, and more fermentation means more sugar turned into alcohol.

I would strongly caution against a 35 quart pot. The Bayou Classic 44 quart (11 gallon) pot is only a little more, and it's of dimensions more ameniable to brewing (tall, rather than squat). If you plan to migrate to BiaB, the version with the basket is quite useful; you'll be able to fire your heat source without worrying about scorching the bag.

For ingredients, I would recommend looking around for a LHBS (local homebrew shop). You'll likely not save much money ordering those online, due to their weight/cost ratio, and a LHBS is often the centre of your local community of homebrewers.

With regard to literature, my bible is John Palmer's How To Brew. You can also read the first edition online, but much has been learnt since that was published and the latest edition has current best practices.

That equipment kit is decent, but there are a lot of things in it you'll probably wish you hadn't bought.

You will want:

• 6 gallon primary fermenter carboy
  
• 5 gallon secondary carboy, for dry hopping (can't find any that ship with prime)
  
• A bench capper (wing/emily cappers are cheaper, but it's not worth it)
  
• An autosiphon
  
• A bottling bucket, with spigot
  
• A bottling wand
  
• Sanitizer (Starsan looks more expensive, but a bottle will last a long, long time. Especially if you pick up a spray bottle at the dollar store.)
  
• Two carboy caps and airlocks

Depends on the ingredients of the beer, but it really is basically just that. You just need a cointainer and something then to keep oxygen out. Those things cost several dollars only. They're little plastic/glass airlocks you stuff on top of the bottle:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00IGXQ5I4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1

Wine's easier to make though.

Happy Birthday! This bung is $2.99 with free shipping

Thanks!

>Will you be giving the yeast a proper starter and vitamins?

I don't think I will, unless it's something I can do with household items. I'm trying to challenge myself to do this as frugally as I can. I'm basically just using yeast and this airlock
> Will you be crashing them or running them the entire time?

I'm not too familiar with the terminology, but my plan is to add the yeast to fruit juice, wait until it stops reacting, and then pour it into another container through a cheesecloth to filter out the inactive yeast.
>What is the temperature where they are fermenting?

Room temp, roughly 65-70
>What is the starting gravity?

Not too sure about this. I'm probably going with grape juice or some fruit concentrate. Could I measure this with a scale?
>What is the max ABV of the yeast?

I couldn't find those specifications, but all the reviews suggest it's the ideal product for brewing with juice. Maybe it'll say on the back of the packet?

These work great.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pickle-Pipe-One-Piece-Waterless-Fermentation/dp/B01ERZGVVK/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1494329377&sr=1-1&keywords=mason+jar+lid+airlock

I used those for a while and had siphoning issues I switched to these http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E60G2W?cache=0def084219be6974be04a3df0f07f8de&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1408932109&sr=8-3#ref=mp_s_a_1_3 and haven't had a problem since

You could get him a home brew kit if you want to springboard him into his hobby?
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Homebrew-Home-Made-Beer/dp/B000QGI5RS/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1

Or else get him one/both books and a small piece of kit like an airlock. This would be good to have as a spare even if he already has a kit
http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bubble-Airlock-Wine-Making/dp/B008ACWSZU/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1418754163&sr=1-4&keywords=airlock

Plus how about getting him some nice craft beers to taste someone elses handywork? Does your local beer shop sell any unusual varieities or local breweries?

Lastly, every cyclist I know is always loosing their multitool