Beginner brewer.

Soo i started my first batch, i used lalvin 70 wine yeast and 5 gallons of organic made in vt, added all together...annnd its been about 36 hours. Not much activity from the air lock, could it be because i added to yeast to the cider that was still cold from being in the fridge? I figures i could get away with just adding the yeast and letting it do its thing once the cider finally climbed up to room temp. Please help.

Is it in a bucket or a carboy? Can you see the cider? Just because your airlock shows no activity does not mean it is not in fermentation.

Hi 802cida, You may be a beginner brewer but when you make cider you are not brewing. You are fermenting. There is really nothing to brew with cider. Heat and apples is not a good combo - unless it is jam or jelly that you hope to make. I realize that brewers like to count the burps in an airlock but wine makers (and cider is a wine) you should feel free to ferment the apple juice - or must in a bucket loosely covered to keep out bugs and dirt and pets. A hydrometer is the best way to monitor the fermentation. Loosely covering a bucket which you use as your primary means that you can easily incorporate into the must during the first few days of fermentation. Yeast really appreciates air in the early stages of the fermentation and stirring your must to aerate has the added benefit of helping to expel CO2.
Good luck with your cider

Okay so im a beginner fermenter, smith u didn't answer my question. anyways its in a 6.5 gallon bucket i cant see the cider unless i took off the lid. Im thinking i should activate the yeast like make sure its working in a small amount of cider and the just add it in if that makes sense? If so i assume the taste will not be what I would like but that should work what do you think?

802cida said:

Okay so im a beginner fermenter, smith u didn't answer my question. anyways its in a 6.5 gallon bucket i cant see the cider unless i took off the lid. Im thinking i should activate the yeast like make sure its working in a small amount of cider and the just add it in if that makes sense? If so i assume the taste will not be what I would like but that should work what do you think?

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It's probably fine. If you're absolutely not going to sleep if you don't know if it's actually fermenting (and it is), then pop the lid off and take a hydrometer reading. You can also look for signs of fermentation, like some c02 bubbles breaking the surface.

Thanks yooper, and yes it does effect my sleep lol, just from reading up before i started i was under the impression that i would see activity in the airlock, for example at least a bloop here and their. I will check it tomorrow. But if you think its fine, that is very re-assuring. Ill update tomorrow anymore tips would be much appreciated! Thanks again

What temp is the bucket in and did you add yeast nutrient? I found that yeast nutrients helped greatly reduced the sulfur off gas (rhino facts to my kids) from Apple cider and increased the fermentation activity. If you do stir in some nutrient be prepared for an eruption type reaction. When using a carboy the must shot out the top like a volcano when I added nutrients a couple days in.
Also look at your yeast characteristics. It might be a slow fermenting yeast. Most wine is done over months not weeks like beer. If you want hard cider quicker use Nottingham yeast next time and be able to drink it in 3-4 weeks.

Great thanks for the info, very helpful. Well its in my basement, i believe for the lalvin its recommended to be at 60 degrees, and it should be that down there if not a little lower. Ill check when i get home. And get a temp. Thanks again

If you started with cold juice and didn't use any yeast nutrient it could very well take a few days before fermentation takes off.

Not all buckets seal well and that means that any CO2 gas produced by the yeast will go through the gaps between the lid and the walls of your bucket which is why an hydrometer is really the only good way to tell whether your yeast is actively fermenting the sugars or not. A drop in specific gravity means that the sugar in the must is being transformed into CO2 and alcohol. No change in the specific gravity (the density) of your cider over a day or so means either that the yeast has stopped working (or has not begun to work) or all the sugar has been converted to alcohol (and CO2).
The starting gravity reading is typically around 1.045 (unless you added sugar - which would make it higher (more dense) and you can expect the gravity to fall over about a week or two to around 1.000.
You didn't ask but I will suggest that when the gravity falls to around 1.005 you transfer the cider into a carboy that you can seal with a drilled bung and an airlock because around that level of residual sugar your yeast will soon stop producing CO2 and when it stops producing CO2 there is little to protect the cider (or wine or mead) from the effects of oxidation...

Great info thanks guys! And yes the cider was cold fresh out of the fridge and so was the yeast 😒 just got excited and impatient haha but def should have been up to room temp after about 12 hrs. so im hoping that when i get back home today that its either bubbling and if not ill take a hydro reading. Thanks a lot guys. Btw i added about a pound of brown sugar to the 5 gallons. My plan was to (once i could tell the yeast was really doin work) to let it sit about 2 weeks till the bubbling subsided and then taste test/alcohol percentage test and move to 5, 1 gallon carboys. From there id love to here some further guidance! Thanks again glad i found this forum...

Another question, what mistake could be made to cause yeast to not do its job/just be dead?

802cida said:

Another question, what mistake could be made to cause yeast to not do its job/just be dead?

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If u add yeast to water or juice that's too hot or if there are preservatives in the juice.

Just because you don't see action in the airlock, it doesn't mean it isn't fermenting. Not all buckets are airtight, and even a slight leak will keep the airlock from being busy. Pitching cold is no big deal, some brewers/cider makers/wine makers, do it intentionally, myself being one. Freezing yeast doesn't kill it, and because your cider wasn't boiling hot when you pitched your yeast. Your yeast is most likely fine. Apple juice doesn't contain a lot of the nutrients that wort contains, so your speed of fermentation will likely be slower. I added 1/8 tsp of Fermaid-K to a 1 gallon batch of 1.060 cider, and in 7 days the hydro test said 1.004. In the past when making cider and I didn't add nutrient, fermentation took 2 weeks as I remember. I suggest you wait it out, and I am sure you will have hard cider when you are finished. We were all new once, so don't beat your self up thinking you have done something wrong; according to your post you did not. Please ignore the grammar Nazi, it appears he needs a life.

Thanks minden man! U guys have been a lot of help! Cant wait to see this turns out. Any more tips on how to avoid anymore common newb mistakes are much appreciated

Update, y'all were right it was just going to take a while since it was cold starting off I just checked it and it's bubbling away should be ready in a couple weeks!!

Yea! You have cider.