My second batch of hard cider is finally racked off into three ¹⁄₂ gallon growlers, and stuck into the back of a closet to let them mellow out a little more. All my gear is cleaned and put away until the next batch takes me, and we’re working our way through the last ¹⁄₂ gallon of the first brew. A couple of notes:

1. If you are using plastic Better Bottle carboys, be damn careful about the temperature of the water you use when rinsing out the remains of the last fermentation. I have destroyed a 3 gallon Better Bottle by adding 180°F water to it. It may be safe to keep using, the experts at the local brewery shop warned me that I’m running a risk if I’m not %100 sure that no bacteria can build up in possible cracks in the bottle. I guess it’s glass carboys from now on, even if they are more expensive and harder to move about.
2. Save your beer bottles. The local store sells beer bottles for bottling, but it’s honestly cheaper in many respects to simply buy a six pack of Fat Tire, drink the beer, and then clean the bottles. I’m using growlers for this batch, simply because they were so much cheaper to buy.
3. Buy a large quantity of both sanitizing solution as well as brewery wash. I have more Star-SAN than I need, but not enough Powered Brewery Wash.

Remember to share your brew – so others will share with you.