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Cyser 1.0

With the Brewie+ down for the count again, this weekend I decided to do a couple of mead-based beverages.  First up is a Cyser, which is a combination of apple cider and mead.

Ingredients
64 ounces Honeycrisp Apple Juice
64 ounces of a generic Organic Apple Juice
4 ounces Orange Blossom honey
2 pounds Wildflower honey (plus enough to reach 1.089 gravity)
1 packet Lalvin K1V 1116 yeast
1/2 tsp. Fermaid K
1/4 tsp. DAP
Enough spring water to reach 1.75 gallons after addition of the above

Original Gravity: 1.089 SG
Batch Volume: 1.75 gallons
Final Gravity: 0.995 SG estimated (1.000 actual)
ABV: 12% estimated (12.4% actual)
Bottling Wand:  Stainless #2

Mixed apple juice, honey, and nutrients in a 2 gallon bucket fermenter until well blended using a drill and wine degasser. Dropped in a Tilt Hydrometer to measure gravity and track throughout fermentation.  Gravity registered 1.089 SG and temperature registered 70F.  Sprinkled on the yeast, sealed the fermenter, inserted an airlock, and placed the fermenter in the coolest section of the basement.

Post-Brewing Notes and Observations

10/05/2019:  No issues getting the ingredients blended.

10/06/2019:  Gravity is down to 1.084 SG today, with the temperature at 71F.  That's 5.6% apparent attenuation and 0.7% ABV in around 24 hours.

10/07/2019:  Gravity is 1.036 SG, temperature is 73F, 59.6% attenuation, and 7.6% ABV.

10/08/2019:  Gravity is 1.021 SG, temperature 69F, 76.4% attenuation, and 9.7% ABV.

10/09/2019:  Gravity is 1.009 SG, temperature 68F, 89.9% attenuation, and 11.1% ABV.

10/13/2019:  Gravity is 1.001 SG, temperature 64F, near 100% attenuation, and 12.3% ABV.  Gravity has held at this level for a couple of days, so fermentation may be finished.

10/14/2019:  Gravity is 1.000 SG, temperature 66F, 100% attenuation, and 12.4% ABV.

11/03/2019:  The cyser was bottled today, using small carbonation tablets to prime it. I used 2-5 tablets for a small subset of the bottles and two or three for most of the bottles.  This would have been a range of very low to very high carbonation if it was beer. My limited experience with wine yeast is that it seems to generate a bit more CO2 than beer yeast, so I primed most of the bottles very low in case this yeast follows that pattern.

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