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Yeah, from that Jack Keller page it seems like the biggest challenge is the quickness with which watermelon juice spoils. Sourcing good fruit it probably an issue to, but it seems like you'll be getting good product down your way so that's less of an issue. To get something cider-ish I would...

For clarification: Do you mean a hard apple cider with watermelon flavor OR a beverage fermented entirely from watermelons? JS

You'll avoid bottle bombs and get a delicious, sweet, and boozey beverage with that approach, but I don't know if you can still call it sima. Unless you typed the wrong OG. Sima is meant to have a very low abv (0.5-1%). In Finland it's served to children. JS

I think this is supposed to be consumed within 4-5 days of starting it - 48 hours of primary and then 48 in the bottle to carb up. When the raisins float, drink it. Not surprised that you got bottle bombs with capped beer bottles sitting for 15 days. Even though this has a really low OG there...

Thanks to you both! James

I bought this 10 gallon brew kettle yesterday from someone in my local homebrew club. I should have asked a bit more about it from the seller, but just for clarity, the fittings on this are tri-clamp or tri-clover, right? (is there a difference?). To the question at hand, if I wanted to...

So I bought this 10 gallon brew kettle yesterday from someone in my local homebrew club. I should have asked a bit more about it from the seller, but just for clarification, the fittings on this are tri-clamp or tri-clover, right? (is there a difference?). To the question at hand, if I...

So it works well with a properly conditioned beer. You even get a bit of the cascading effect you'll see on nitro taps.

Yep, the whole idea is low carb/smooth beer. I'm going to prime for 1.5 vol and then chill them rapidly once they look/feel like they're going to blow. The nice thing about the spigot is that you can vent if it looks a little too bloated. With that said, the cubitainers are actually pretty...

Yeah, I have. If I do go the Co2 route I think that's what I'll end up doing. It's not out the question in the future, but I wanted to go low-tech and improve from there. Also, another issue is transporting Co2. I don't have a car, I rely on Metro and bus to get around, and I can't really...

Yep and for $2.99 it's probably the most influential bit of serving equipment you can get for your money. (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/sparkler.html). I hear what you're saying about the keg and I think you're right. The deal is that I live in a small apartment, so I basically rigged...

This is one of the issues or sacrifices you have to make. It takes about 8 pulls to get 16oz. I'm thinking about building a second one with a manual marine bilge pump that would more closely match a proper beer engine in capacity.

Ideally I'll condition in the cubitainers. The pressure shouldn't be a problem because this is designed to serve low carbed ales anyway and the benefit of the spigot is that you can vent as needed, mimicking the spile method used on a proper cask. I poured some commercial, low carbed stout in as...

Not the first person to do a build on one of these, but it came out pretty good. Can hold two of the full cubitainers comfortably and probably three if I was creative. Overall a really simply DIY for those looking to condition and serve milds, bitters, and stouts in a more authentic manner...

Out of curiosity, what's the container you used for your version? I'm having trouble finding the one used in the original post. Thanks!

How much yeast did you pitch? Did you use nutrient?

This thread on Northern Brewer from 2009 has some info on fermenting juices containing Red 40 (even Kool-Aid!). Seems like they ferment fine but the dye might drop out of solution. http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=73648

I have maple syrup as the primary gravity booster in two small batches of ciders fermenting right now. Just over a cup of syrup per gallon of apple juice (about 5% of the solution). They're still fermenting, but from what I've tasted the maple is very faint and on the finish. I'm not sure if...

Good to hear. I'm at around 72, maybe a little cooler. What are your typical OGs when you get it down that low? James

I would rack once active fermentation has stopped because it gets your product off the dead yeast and other sediment which can adversely impact flavor if the cider is left on them for too long. Plus, it'll give you an easy way to add the pectic enzyme. Once it clears to your liking then you can...