CrabandWinkle

Recipes 

So, we pressed these two batches the same night. We used the same apples, the same yeast etc. all at the same time. One has obviously commenced primary fermentation while the other looks a bit like a potion.
I'm worried that this might be some sort of bacterial reaction. Has anyone had a similar problem? Is this batch done for? If not, can it be saved?

Thanks everyone.

__________________
Stand fast twig, bear well top,
God send thee a yowling crop,
every twig, apples big, every bough, apples enow.
Hats full! caps full!
Half bushel bags full!
And my pockets full too! Huzzah!”

LeBreton

Recipes 

Looks like a surface yeast infection to me. Bad, but not unsalvageable I suggest you add ~50ppm of sulfites and rack out from underneath, leaving the film behind. If left unchecked for too long, it will start to develop off flavors in the cider.

__________________
Bellwether Hard Cider
In all the states no door stands wider,
To ask you in to drink hard cider

CrabandWinkle

Recipes 

Thank you LeBreton- you always come to my rescue!
So, I'll rack it off into a clean carboy and then add the sulphites? Any idea what may have caused this? Sterilization laziness?

__________________
Stand fast twig, bear well top,
God send thee a yowling crop,
every twig, apples big, every bough, apples enow.
Hats full! caps full!
Half bushel bags full!
And my pockets full too! Huzzah!”

LeBreton

Recipes 

Probably a case of bad luck and too much headspace. Air carries all kinds of microbes of which any number may cause a surface yeast. Luckily it's early on and a clean ferment should remove most traces of infection flavor.

__________________
Bellwether Hard Cider
In all the states no door stands wider,
To ask you in to drink hard cider

CrabandWinkle

Recipes 

So it looks more like krauzen than odd white bubbles now, which, I believe is a good thing (knock on wood).
Shall i repitch some yeast? Wouldn;t the sulphites have killed the original yeast?

__________________
Stand fast twig, bear well top,
God send thee a yowling crop,
every twig, apples big, every bough, apples enow.
Hats full! caps full!
Half bushel bags full!
And my pockets full too! Huzzah!”

LeBreton

Recipes 

Well that's good news! No need to re-pitch though, sulfites have a negligible effect on commercial yeast strains.

__________________
Bellwether Hard Cider
In all the states no door stands wider,
To ask you in to drink hard cider