Success and Ease of Use in Home Cider Making
585859
I have had very good results using this strain for home hard cider production in 1 gallon batches. Using about 1.3grams to the gallon and fermenting at 'room' temperatures of about 70F. I have found a week of fermentation, then cold-crashing clarifies pretty well and encourages the yeast to settle. Then racking with added sugar or fresh juice to create carbonation, and a week or less in the bottle before refrigerating makes a nice sparkling cider.
3940162
I've used commercially produced apple grinders and cider presses but didn't really want to spend that much money on one.  So I got this and away we went.  We've got the grinder built and will work on the press over the winter.  I don't think we're saving any money by building our own, but I think what we've built works better than the commercially manufactured grinders.  We made an awful lot of cider per bushel of apples.  And while we haven't built the press yet, the design is smart and it would seem to get even more cider from the grind than we got from a standard press.  I recommend this if you're willing to put the time and effort into building your own and you're not hung up on how the grinder and press look.  You'll get more cider.
4644767
I actually do like to know the very specific nature of all the drinks that I make. The detail of each component of the recipe, following to make exactly what I want is important to me. When I'm finished I always check the ABV and note results. If you enjoy taking the time to make your own brew, I suggest you use this as a check for your work and to have that exactness in knowing the details of your work. The hydrometer is easy to use. No moving parts to get confused by but you just have to be careful because it is delicate. It does come with a nice protective case so it should take most of that risk away.

This unit came in perfect condition and after initially checking to see if it was reading actuate, all looked good and was reading as it should. The label is easy to read and seems to be mounted securely for now but I haven't had it for a long time to mention otherwise. The tripe scale is also handy and I'm glad it's included along with a conversion table. After I use it I do of course clean it under water and if you really want that clean look, then a cleaning cloth is also included which will get any water spots left on it. It will look new every time. I received this product free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
1319383
Good yeast, fast starter. Airlock activity in just over two hours... Yeast was pitched in appx 65 degree must.

I'm using this in a hard cider experiment. Brown sugar and some frozen concentrated apple juice added to a gallon of regular off the shelf apple juice. I think it's "Motts". Racked for 4 months, turned out just over 11.6abv. Very dry, but very tasty ;)
2592266
I received this product about 2 - 3 weeks ago and so far I'm really pleased.  We've been juicing lots of apples and have probably juiced about 7 gallons of cider so far.  We haven't tried juicing anything else yet since we finished up canning all our vegetables.  We got this mainly for apples.  The machine is quite quiet with little vibration.  I highly recommend this product.
2540858
This mix makes amazing mulled wine. The family asks for it every year after midnight church. I haven't tried it for cider but I'm sure it is amazing. Dissolves well and is not gritty or thick like some mixes.
1739351
Excellent product for my home fermenting hobby. Cost effective as you use only the length of strip you need vs individual strips, and can test base as well for soap making. Will definitely purchase again.
4700229
I have tried other wine stoppers in the past but these are the best I have used. I've tried many different products and techniques to keep the cider fresh but have yet to find anything that works...until this product! I have recommended this product to friends and family members; I am highly impressed with its quality. You will not regret your purchase, I plan on buying other items in the future from this company. This item is identical to the one pictured on Amazons site and is everything I expected it to be. This item performed flawlessly, it works exactly the way it was designed to by the manufacture. I received this item at a discounted rate in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
539995
I have never owned or used a juicer before, and have always squeezed things like lemons and oranges by hand.  I always thought that having a juicer was a great idea, and when this became available to review for Vine, I ordered it immediately.  I had no preconceived notion of what I thought the juicer would be like as far as assembly or use, so  my comments are written as a first time user with no prior experience in juicing.

Upon opening the box, there were 9 parts that needed to be washed (excluding the base) prior to use.  I washed them all by hand, because some pieces were quite large and would have taken up a lot of space in my dishwasher, and others were just too big to fit in my top rack due to height constraints.  All of the pieces were quite sturdy and were easy to clean.  The juicer does come with a cleaning device that looks like an oversized tooth brush.  I did not use it, however, because the juicer was easy to clean (including the pulp strainer) without it.

My first attempt at juicing was using the citrus attachment.  While I did not find the assembly all that intuitive, it was not all that hard to assemble after a little bit of trial and error.  The instruction book is fine, however, there are so many pieces to the juicer, that I had to keep flipping back and forth from the instruction page for assembling the juicer to the page that lists all the parts, to make sure I was putting the correct pieces together.  Once assembled, I tried the suggested method for juicing citrus (I used oranges) by using an apparatus that comes with the juicer, which is supposed  to hold the orange in place.  I found it to be a bit cumbersome to use the suggested tool, and the orange kept moving around the juicing cone.  I found it much easier just to hold my hand over the top of the orange (to keep it in place) while the juice was extracted.  Four oranges later, I had two full cups of juice.  The juicer definitely got all the juice out of the orange, and it yielded more juice than it would have if I had done them by hand.  The trade off is, I could have juiced the oranges much faster by hand than it took to assemble the juicer and juice them with the machine.  Advantage to the juicer as far as yield is concerned, but advantage to a hand juicer for convenience.  If you had to do a very large batch of oranges or lemons, it would be well worth the time to use the juicer, but for a smaller batch, I will probably stick with my hand juicer.

My next attempt was to juice apples.  Unlike another reviewer that said she could get an entire apple into the chute, I had to cut my apple in to 6 smaller pieces.  Initially, two apple pieces got stuck, and I had to turn off the machine to try to pry them out.  The rest of the apple went in easily.  One apple yielded 1/2 cup of juice and was very fresh tasting, although a bit foamy.  It also yielded 1/2 cup of pulpy residue, which was a bit surprising to me.  I thought the idea of the juicer was to extract as much juice as possible, but 1/2 cup of pulp for one apple seemed to be a bit much.  It had small chunks of unground apple in the strainer, and I would have thought that they would have been juiced, not left as pulp.

I really like the idea of juicing things like apples, pears, pineapples, and strawberries to make fresh juice, and I would not hesitate to take the time to assemble this juicer to use it for that purpose.  I would also use it for large batches of lemons and oranges, but I will stick to my hand juicer for smaller batches of these items.  I think this would be a great purchase for someone who wants to try juicing.  The price is quite affordable and the results were pretty good.  As I try other fruits or vegetables, I will update this post.
1865640
I owned a "juice man" juicer years ago and retired it.......for no real reason.  Anyway, after revisiting the benefits of juicing I wanted to return to my "green" drinks.  I own a VItaMix--while this is a fantastic kitchen appliance, it's not so good for juicing.  You can "puree" greens and fruits to create green smoothies but they are thick and chalky.........not as palatable as juicing.  I didn't want to spend a fortune on a juicer nor did I want a monstrous piece of machinery on my counter.  The HB Big Mouth had mixed reviews but most were positive.  I  would like to refer to a negative one in particular......a user reported that the machine "bounced" around when items were put in.  This actually happened on my first use......carrots.  The trick is to grab a handful of greens with your apples, carrots, pears...whatever and use your hand to guide them in the chute.  If you simply toss chunks in without guiding them and following immediately with the pusher, they will cause the machine to jump and bounce on your counter.  So, that "issue" was easily resolved.  Overall I am very pleased with the juicer:  easy to assemble, reasonable cleanup (as with any model), and easy to use.  It makes great juice and I have not experienced difficulty with any particular vegetable or fruit.
3201202
Been taking braggs applecider vinager..fire cider s taste is so much easier to swallow. And the ingredients are all so good for you.. I'm &ograve;n my 2nd bottle
4094506
I made this batch with my 5 and 7 year old kids. Almost everything is included that is needed besides brown sugar, white sugar and a 1 gallon jug. I used public water with no issues at all. Follow the additional ideas that I wrote below as the same principals help in producing regular beer.

Sanatize the equipment you use well so the yeast doesn't have to compete with other bacteria. Instead of adding the included popular brand wine making yeast to the mixing bowl i would suggest adding it to the 1 gallon jug instead. This will make sure the yeast which tends to want to float makes it into the jug. Shake the jug for about a minute to make sure the mixture contains enough oxygen to feed the yeast. I filled the bottles and placed the bottles in a dark closet for 2 days. I refridgerated the bottles for a little over 24 hours. The root beer came out great.

I will more than likely use brown amber glass bottles next time for smaller portions. I primarily use beer bottles with pop caps. You can remove old labels easily with water and baking soda. Just let them soak in a bucket. Handheld bottle cappers are inexpensive and bottle caps can be purchase for cheap also. I suggest using a popular red handled bottle capper.
1778485
I have recently began trying some of the seasonal selections of beer in our local grocery and have surprisingly enjoyed alot of them, so I thought this DIY Beer Brewing would be a good read to start exploring the art of home brewing. With so many types to choose from, they take what could be an intimidating and confusing process and simplify it so that you can quickly get started and gain knowledge and courage to tackle more complex brews. Being a big DIY person, I love that with this method you can customize brews to your individual tastes without pre knowledge of even the difference in pilsners and ales. I found it interesting that homebrew can even be healthy for you and appreciated the master tips as well as the breakdown of different style of glasses and their uses.
I received this in exchange for a fair and honest review
1865945
Great for the beginner.  Home brewing presented in a fun, relaxed process. Home brewing with out stressing about it.
Thanks Greg
490851
These are a nice addition to my growing collection of fermentation gadgets. I already brew ciders and other drinks and have most of the equipment needed, but have found counter-top fermentation of vegetables without airlocks to be a little pungent (especially kimchi), so these are a great addition for fermenting inside!
1771720
I purchased this Craft A Brew hefeweizen kit for myself to get started in home brewing. I am essentially a novice when it comes to homebrew, but I have done an all grain batch with my dad.

First off, the equipment in this kit appears to be the same set of items that you get in other similar priced kits from other companies. The difference between the similar beer kit companies with this type of kit seems to be in the included recipe ingredients, and then branding &  packaging. I picked this particular kit from Craft A Brew because they were one of the only ones I found that offered a hefeweizen mix.

This kit gives you most of what you need, but it does leave some gaps.

What you get:
-1 Gallon carboy
- Racking cane (not auto-siphon)
- Air lock & stopper
- Thermometer
- Tubing
- Tube clamp
- Funnel
- Recipe kit with sanitizer packet

What you still need:
- large pot (recommend 6 quarts or more)
- bottles (can save up used glass bottles - pry off only)
- Bottle caps
- Bottle capper
- Bottle filler (not required, but is much easier)
- Hydrometer & test tube (Optional, but needed if you want to check your specific gravity and alcohol content)

The Brewing Experience:

I followed the directions for the kit, and made it threw the brewing process without issue. This is an extract kit, so the process isn't as long or involved as all grain brewing. The only issue I ran into was I only ended up with about 1/2 to 2/3 of a gallon when I saw done boiling. The instructions said to top off the carboy to the 1 gallon level of you are short, so that is what I did. However, I am removing one star because of it. I'm assuming they have you start out with 1 gallon of water assuming most people might not have a big enough pot to boil larger quantities, but with the importance of sanitation when brewing, I don't like the idea of having to top off the level before fermenting.
Final thoughts:

Overall, I like this kit. The packaging is good, the instructions are good. You have pretty much everything you need to create the brew and start fermentation. I knew the gaps going in, and ordered the additional items at the time of ordering my kit. If you like extract brewing, then this kit works well enough.

Pros:
- Gets you the essentials to get started
- Recipe mix included
- Good instructions that are easy to follow

Cons:
- Doesn't get you everything you need (bottling equipment being most critical)
- Following instructions led to a batch significantly less than 1 gallon (forced to top off in carboy)
4076486
Well made and easy to use, though I recommend some practice. I have had about an 88% success rate (I've cut about 200 bottles), but have been unsuccessful so far with square bottles. The additional tools are extremely helpful when processing large batches.