I made my second cider run recently (one can really only have a go once a year if it’s got to be our own apples!) and it turned out fine. Both runs have had a little bit of beer wort in them too: caramel malts are absolutely my recommendation to try. Makes it ferment better too.

I’d like it stronger (tastewise) though. So an idea has been brewing as the cider has been flowing: could I ‘boil down’ the apple juice without heating it by using a Vevor vacuum chamber and pump? I don’t know if the pump would be happy with water vapour, but since the Vevor kit is only 140 € for 18 liter capacity, I’d really like to try this.

Here’s one who swapped out Gnome apps on the desktop for Cosmic’s. Niri does windowing though. It kind of stuck, though on the laptop I still have Gnome apps and Niri.

Cosmic seems very slow but consistent in its development. Recently it got the ability to rename folders attached to the file manager side panel, been waiting for that since the switch 😂 Apps are snappy and stable though.

I had the idea to try making just a tea from hops, as I’m sure they’re the happiness-inducing ingredient in beer. Never tried it, but you could now 😊

This, but in a high-stakes international undercover spy setting.

This could be a game changer. I’ll look into it. My steel fermenter has two posts on the pressure lid and the relief valve can be swapped out for a stiffer one. Would be mad cool to also be able to ‘boil down’ beer worts like that. Thanks for throwing the mad professor a bone 😂

I was thinking of first boiling some juice and getting a taste of how it tastes afterwards. If I like the effect, then ditch the sulfite, heat in a wide kettle to lose a bit of volume, then a quick boil to sanitise…

If the boil test makes it worse, perhaps just keep it on a bit of heat to evaporate. Vacuum would be nice (could be done in my fermenter), but how to get the vapour out seems a bit of a challenge…?

As others have said – there’s nothing more needed than apples and the yeast, but both myself and the yeast like malted grain (probably for different reasons though :D ) so what I’ve done is used up some leftovers and made a small amount of beer wort to go with the ferment. Beer wort is loaded with all the nutrients yeast need to thrive, so it aids the ferment. One could use some yeast nutrient product as well, but this keeps it free of ‘additives’.

The syrup and sugar are really trace amounts in 23 liters, I add them to make the starter go brr. It’s just become a habit to have the syrup in there and I can’t leave it out now. Goes in all of my beer runs too :)

Nope, as I’m going for the minimum of added anything as a bit of an ethos in my brewing. Enzymes are really cool things though. Might try pectinase someday, but evaporating some water to boost flavour is certainly the first thing to try.

Good luck with the apple harvest!

Looks like a Windows mockup running on the ZX Spectrum. Highly meta 😅

The colloiqualism goes a bit further still in real world Finnish, ‘mulla on ruokakauppa’ gets chopped to ‘mullon ruokakauppa’. But yeah, just what you’d expect at the late night grill when two strangers share: ‘Mä oon lääkäri’ - ‘I’m a doctor’. ‘Mulla on ruokakauppa’ - ‘I run a grocery store’.

Here’s one who hasn’t ventured beyond 250 cc in over 10 years of riding. Almost did, but went with a 250 nonetheless 😅

For me it’s enough, fast enough to rule the regional 80 - 100 km/h roads and I never take motorways even in the car. Very fuel efficient too. I’m riding a Vespa now, and the small wheels make 250 feel very zippy indeed.

That’s the stuff. Encyclopedic knowledge there on our favourite subject 😅

It did start, but settled at a fairly slow rate of putting out CO2. It has been steady, though. It appears as if much of the pitched yeast has died, and at 16 °C, ~1,8 bar and no oxygen, it won’t multiply.

I looked at my notes from a year ago, then I was using a cider yeast and the active fermentation went on for like 10 days. So again it looks like a long fermentation at this rate. Patience shall be prescribed… And by the third time next year maybe I’ll remember the 24 hour wait 😇

Thank you. I decided to pitch before going to bed for the night, so 14 hours after the Campden clock got started. The yeast in question is a peculiar breed - the ‘sahti’ fresh yeast that I’m fond of - let’s call this an experiment to see how it deals with the situation. It’s the morning after now, no pressure yet, but we’ll see. I have enough for a second pitch in any case.

Condolences, that’s a bummer I can relate to… Apples indeed do not happen every summer, gotta carpe that diem when things go your way.

GrapheneOS on Pixel 8a. Yes one can 👍

Umm, I have GPS on my Goog-less main profile no problem. The other profile with Play (just banking, parking and employer-subvented lunch app) also does. So not accurate.

Camel Boots sure have evolved.

Another dual use is to line your food items carrier (in case there is one) with someone’s foam pad, and it’ll insulate the food from the direct heat of the sun.

Excellent! Here’s one who was waiting to hear how this experiment would go. Great to hear of your success 👌

My vote on this too. Had a Surface Go 1, small battery but elsewise superb. Got a 3rd gen, absolutely perfect until one day it wouldn’t charge off USB-C anymore. Sold that and returned to the 1st gen I stii had (all accessories are compatible), and it’s still serving just fine as a ‘quick errands’ machine. Both work out of the box with Arch. Battery life is good enough with TLP and extreme powersaving.