5 days to Hard Cider from a pack of baking instant organic yeast and organic apple juice in a .75 gallon jug

My instant organic yeast is already starting to work! Impressive.  

 Apple cider won't ever fully ferment because there are some pentosugars which aren't fully available to yeast. Crude equipment like hydrometer aren't going to tell you the difference between available sugar and total sugar. 5 days is probably fine

https://www.reddit.com/r/fermentation/comments/1dd2jyk/yeast_ate_all_the_sugar_within_less_than_a_week/ 

So based on Reddit - you can use baking yeast and if apple cider ferments too much it just gets a sour taste - so no point in needing a stronger yeast for higher proof. Baking yeast will yield a 5% proof or whatever abv.

 the proof level is twice the alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage. For example, an 80-proof spirit contains 40% ABV

Based on US standards, apple cider made with baking yeast that is 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) would be 10 proof

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 So the problem in the above thread is his apple juice has preservatives in it - that slows the yeast and so bacteria develops instead. 

 Apple juice alone, once fermented, will be around 4-4.5% ABV. Adding sugar will bump that. One pound of sugar in one gallon will add about 42 points to the OG, which equates to about 5-ish% ABV.

 a starting gravvity of around 1.050. After fermentation it will end around 1.000. That is around 6,5%. I'll use American units: adding one 12-oz can of apple juice concentrate per US gallon (3.89L) bumps the abv up to 9%.

 You need a wine yeast to make cider: they've been selected for flavor, not CO2 production. Bread yeast will ruin your wine.

 OG is Original Gravity, which is a hydrometer reading of a liquid's density before fermentation begins. It represents the amount of dissolved sugars and other substances that yeast will consume to produce alcohol. Brewers use the OG measurement, along with the Final Gravity (FG) taken after fermentation, to calculate a beer's alcohol content.

In terms of activity, the stuff works great. A packet of instant baker's yeast contains A LOT of yeast - we get bubbles coming out of the airlock within a span of hours at typical ale temps; which is much sooner than when we pitch in our fresh starter culture.

That said, after switching to more specialized brewing strains, there are noticeable differences in the final product. We noticed a more refined flavor when using specialized yeast strains. Brewing a good IPA using a US-05 vs a packet of RedStar resulted, in what I felt was a cleaner palate and nose and allowed the hops to really shine through.

 EC-1118 will strip out all the apple flavor in my experience, and require some age to taste decent. Lately I've been using US-05 with good results... I don't add sugar, though.

most don't even know that we used generic supermarket yeast until I tell them. Perhaps it's just that it's a huge delicious malt bomb of a brew, and it covers up any off flavors well, but really...like I said, the difference is more subtle than you would think.

Also, you get fairly fast fermentation with instant yeast. That stuff is absolutely optimized to get kickin' as soon as it hits water and sugar. I've actually seen bubbles coming from the airlock much sooner with instant yeast rather than our starter cultures of US-05, S-04, or any other specialized brewing strains.

Now for the biology: Regardless of strain differences, if you're using S. cerevisiae, 95-99% of the metabolism is the same. Just about all of the fermentable sugars are going to go through glycolysis and end up as ethanol. Some strains will produce a little bit more acetolactate (which will be converted to the "buttery" diacetyl), but the vast majority of the carbon flux is going to end up as either carbon dioxide and ethanol. Other strains display a higher rate of Alcohol Acetyl Transferase and will synthesize more fruity ester compounds. However, again, the rate of production of these compounds is incredibly low compared to the the amount of ethanol produced.

So in short, if instant yeast is all you've got, the instant yeast will work in a pinch - you'll still pump out more than drinkable mead and cider. If you're really serious about making some quality mead/cider, and you really care about the nuances of aroma and flavor, I'd highly suggest getting a more specialized brewing strain.

 Spoilage can occur if the dry yeast doesn't take off fast enough after the pitch. 5 gallons of sugar that is just under body temp is a great place for bacteria and such to latch on and take off. You want a vigorous fermentation kicking off as rapidly as possible to avoid this.

 Flocculation is a natural yeast survival mechanism and a key characteristic in brewing that allows yeast to form clumps (flocs) and move out of suspension, resulting in a clearer product

 Plenty of people ferment beverages with bread yeast. One thing that sets it apart is its inability to flocculate. Time, maybe some cold temps, can help the yeast settle. Bread yeast makes beer just fine, it just doesn't clear all that well and will probably have some phenolic off-flavors that are actually desirable in some types of beer.

A layer of persistent foam and bubbles indicates that the wild yeast and bacteria are actively consuming the sugar and releasing carbon dioxide. This activity is part of the fermentation process, but the foam is not a raft of flocculating yeast.

Flocculation often occurs at the bottom. In general, many wild yeasts have low flocculation characteristics, meaning they tend to stay in suspension and create a cloudy mixture.

 

 You can make a beer with baking yeast. Technically it will be a beer, however not a usual one. There is a traditional European style of farmhouse beer brewed with baker's yeast (I mean Finnish Sahti). Those Sahtis are rare specialties and they taste unlike a "normal" beer. They are VERY malty, if that's what you like.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXmrBmAEcvg

Garment Rack Hack: Clearance canvas for $100 off the retail price (to use as tent-hut walls).

 the main complain of this Canvas garment rack cover is that the canvas is a bit too rough, not soft enough

 I got these on clearance. So normally they are $15 each but I paid $14 for eight of them! Wow. Quite a steal. Again people complain the canvas is too rough - that's because it's 8 ounce canvas - perfect for tent walls!! The product is advertised as "poly-canvas" but I don't think it is at all. I have poly-canvas tarps and I have 100% cotton canvas - this is just really thick cotton canvas. 

So 14 ounce canvas is available as way more expensive... then 10 ounce... I'm talking a 20 x 20 size tarp. 8 ounce is thick enough for my purpose.

I got 3 x 5 by 3 garment racks canvas that have buttons. So I button the sides together but I will have to cut the top seam to expand out the 3 by 5 section. So I have a 3 foot top section to then go over the wall but under the roof - I will then attach it to the roof rafters as "roof blocking" between the rafters.

 I actually got 22 pounds of canvas for about 300 square feet.... total. But again 3 feet of that is to overlap the wall.... for the connection. So that brings it down to 120 square feet of canvas.

so 10 ounce is the minimum norm for a heavy-duty canvas tarp. 8 ounce canvas is not really heavy duty but it is heavy enough and I will create a "clay slip" to soak the canvas in clay for fire proofing - before I attach it to the walls. This will also make the canvas thicker and heavier duty.

 So 8 ounce canvas is also called a "drop cloth" as used for painter's tarp.

So if it was just a pure tarp then I could get it for about the same price of two tarps for $25.... so $10 more than what I paid. But with this "garment rack" design it works perfectly to button together to extend as a 5 foot tall high wall that extends for 44 feet or os. 

  18 L x 36 W x 65.5 H inches 

So instead of buttoning to itself - I button one end to a 2nd garment rack and keep going like that for 8 garment racks....buttoned together...

so I get 6 (1.5x2plus3) x 8 feet for the length = 48 feet....

the wall lengths for a 10 x 12 area are 12 x 2 plus 10 x 2= 20 plus 24= 44 length in feet.... 

OK so the only thing I need to do is cut the seam so I can expand the sides as length. So I have to make two cuts in the top where the top section connects to the sides for the top of the garment rack.... That top section then will connect between the roof rafters as "rafter blocks".

what will I use to attach the canvas to the wood framing of my tent hut? I could use a staple gun but that is a bit tedious for the spacing. I have a drill - so maybe - but drilling through canvas would twist it. Better to nail with a hammer but a nail would not hold. I could nail in staples...

OK I can get a staple gun with 500 staples at Harbor Freight for $10.... much better deal. vid review

 This stapler will not drive staples into wood unless you turn the tension knob to its maximum and then, you have to be the hulk to squeeze the handle. Most of the time the staples don't drive in straight, have to be removed and try again....Only used once before it stopped working. I opened to see if staples were stuck and the internal parts are bent.... Broken after not even 25 staples driven. The spring driven hammer that drove the staples out of the gun misaligned and bent and would no longer line up to drive staples. Because of this misalignment, it was much better and driving the entire tray out of the bottom, allowing the spring loaded staples to shoot out the front. Do yourself a favor, avoid this.

I suppose I'll be putting in a lot of staples to hold in the canvas - so I guess it's the best option...OK I'll just get one at the other DIY store. HF sells a lot of suspicious items but so does the other DIY store. hahaha

yeah the idea here is not to be water proof but water and wind resistant - and increase some insulation value. I actually have a wall that is collapsing but the actual wall framing is still solid. It's just the pliable membrane of willow branches as cob-hay insulation that is collapsing on its own precarious instability. I have it braced up with a solid wood 3 x 6 or something board.

It's all very makeshift shack janky but the framing has held up for five years despite major frost water heaving. Lots of holes in the walls - hence the need for this canvas membrane to block wind/water. The roof overhangs enough to stop water from coming in the walls. But I still get ground water coming in - as I don't have a floor.

 

Nazis, Drugs, CIA - academic discussion with Daniel Pinchbeck & Norman Ohler (Gaza Genocide in Lancet)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkWr7EKBsUs

WHO and UN agencies have reported at least 772 attacks on health care,³ with 94% of hospitals damaged or destroyed² and more than 1500 health-care workers killed⁴—the highest toll ever recorded.^5,6 No independent or neutral organisation has provided evidence that Hamas deliberately used hospitals or other civilian facilities as human shields.⁷ Even if proven in the future, such claims could never justify systematic attacks on the health-care system. This is a violation of international humanitarian law and demands explicit condemnation.^1,2 Most medical and surgical societies worldwide have remained silent or issued vague statements about Gaza's healthocide. A recent analysis found that only 24·5% of US speciality societies commented publicly on the Gaza conflict,⁸ in contrast to previous crises in which medical societies mobilised resources and expressed support.^9–12

The value of human life should not depend on nationality, religion, or political alliances. In fact, both Israeli and Palestinian physicians took care of those injured during the tragedy of Oct 7, 2023—proof that health care can be empowered to build bridges of trust.¹³ Organisations should also try to balance action to end the Gaza catastrophe with an attempt to support physicians and scientists in Israel who are making an effort to change the situation from within.

This is beyond politics; this is about care. Some say that medical societies must remain apolitical. However, ignoring political issues that affect health means ignoring real barriers to care. Staying silent while pretending to be neutral is, in effect, a form of complicity.

The principle of medical neutrality, grounded in international humanitarian law, does not mean indifference; it obliges us to condemn any erosion of this norm as a threat to both care and ethics. As the World Medical Association's Declaration of Geneva affirms, physicians must act in the interest of humanity, especially in times of crisis.¹⁴

The Israeli Medical Association urges the provision of medical assistance to all humans indiscriminately.¹⁵ As doctors, we must support all victims of conflict, denounce attacks on medical staff and facilities, and ensure care reaches those in need (appendix).

Let us be remembered for our solidarity, not our silence. This is a decisive moment. Future generations will judge whether we defended life or looked away. Medicine is more than science—it is a moral duty. And when that duty is under threat, silence becomes betrayal.

 

De Vogli, R ∙ Montomoli, J ∙ Abu-Sittah, G ∙ et al.

Break the selective silence on the genocide in Gaza

Lancet. 2025; 406:688-689

 

 Between October, 2023 and May, 2025, there were 720 documented attacks on health-care targets, including 125 health facilities, 34 hospitals, and 186 ambulances.5 Gaza has recorded the highest numbers of health-care worker fatalities (over 1400 deaths), UN staff deaths (295 deaths), and journalist fatalities (212 deaths) in any recent conflict zone.6
Starvation is being used repeatedly and relentlessly as a weapon of war.7
Leading human rights organisations, UN agencies, and UN Special Rapporteurs have officially recognised the genocide in Gaza.8 This position is also supported by a broad and distinguished group of genocide scholars.

 

 

still feeling 100 pushups on the pushup bars - two days later!

 

 

 I only got to the concept of having the bars wider and having the bars further down my body and then moving the bars closer to my body, etc. Not "angling" the bars as above.

There's a yt vid saying you want your arms at a 45 degree to your body for a perfect pushup. I didn't know that either - also you want your shoulders down.

Another thing about pushups is they mainly work your front muscles - so they end up pulling your shoulders forward - like a slouched posture. So that's why the Total Gym is better since you get a full body work out.

I didn't know about the "brachialis" muscle - I thought it was the triceps. I'm definitely feeling that muscle.

So I also saw a YT vid where it was said the ideal rep range for women is 3 reps. So I started out doing a set of 9 reps and resting maybe a minute. Then repeating. I did 7 sets like that. So 63 pushups but with the pushup bars you get a wider range of motion so you really work the muscles.

Then I maxed out at 6 reps for my 8th set. After that I switched to sets of 3. So 71, 74, 77, 80,  83, 86, 89, 92, 95, 98, 101... Something like that. 

I was waiting for Window 11 to install... 

 The design allows for a deeper range of motion, which really helps target more muscles.

yeah the main thing is to make pushups easier on the wrists. I still felt it on my wrists but there was no way I could do 100 pushups without these pushup bars.

There's a ton of vids on YT about how 100 pushups a day transforms the body but one person insists that after about 2 weeks you are not going to keep building muscle from 100 pushups a day. So then you need to change your intensity somehow.

Again the Total Gym enables me to change my intensity by doing the "chest press" exercise. I use the resistance band. Since I had not done any pushups in maybe a year - this proved to me that the Total Gym kept me in shape at least.

Normally I would try to max out a set - like go for 50 pushups. I always kept the standard that I should be able to do 50 pushups in one set. But since then I've gained a lot of weight (some of it muscle) - and 50 pushups is a big deal at my weight. Still doing multiple sets over an hour for 100 pushups is an awesome workout. 

Next time I try it I'll make sure to change out the pushup bars position like the image above. I will say that the pushup bars really do target the pecs better than doing just "chest presses" on the Total Gym - since the cables activate the shoulders more. 

But the other option is to do a chest press against the large squat board and that targets the pecs better also. Of course when I weighed 65 pounds less then I could crank out 50 pushups as one set.