Yeast

Hi all
Just made up a gallon of Cider. Think I may have been a bit keen to get the yeast in. I'm thinking that I should have waited until it was room temp'. I'd say it was warmer than luke warm. If I've killed the yeast, can I save it by adding more yeast ( once it's definitely room temp' ?

jimmy2plates said:

Hi all
Just made up a gallon of Cider. Think I may have been a bit keen to get the yeast in. I'm thinking that I should have waited until it was room temp'. I'd say it was warmer than luke warm. If I've killed the yeast, can I save it by adding more yeast ( once it's definitely room temp' ?

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Definitely you can add yeast. But I would seal it up and wait at least 24 hours. How long since you pitched, what yeast?

How did the cider get so warm? Unless you heated it (and don't do that!), it would be fine.

Copied a recipe on YouTube. Heated the juice with cloves. It had been cooling for an hour or so.
The yeast was Young's Brew Wine yeast super compound.
It's from the UK.

Oh and it's only been a couple of hrs pitched

How hot did you heat it? I wouldn't boil it, that can set pectins. Unless it was filtered apple juice. But whatever, that's in the past.

Some wine/champagne yeasts should be rehydrated around 103-104F, which is more than room temp.

Is there any extra sugar in it, or straight cider?

Give it 24 hours, and if there's no activity (look closely for tiny bubbles), then repitch. Keep it closed till then to keep bacteria out.

I added 500g brown sugar yes.
I've just checked on it and there's a bubble approx every 5secs. So fingers crossed.
Smells lush!
I didn't boil it. Just brought the heat up to a simmer for about 10 mins to get the fragrance of the cloves to come out.

I've done similar things in the past and simply found that fermentation took longer to get going, but in the end it worked out fine. Not sure if the heat stunned the yeast or killed most of it off, but it all worked out. I'd give it several days before adding more.

It can take a while for the yeast to get going. Nutrient is a good idea with cider. I think that kind of heat should be ok, but I would probably only heat a small amount of the cider, or mix your sugar with water and add the cloves. Heat that like you did, the dump it all into the juice.

We had bad results with a spiced cider last year. Too much spice.

Think I was worrying prematurely. It's fizzing like a volcano now , phew!

I used chopped sultanas for a bit of depth, oh and a few Cloves. 1tsp of yeast nutrient too.
Can't wait to see how it turns out.
OG was showing at 1.09
So could be a drop of loopy juice.

Any suggestions on what's best to back sweeten it a little with?

Sultanas?

Don't heat your juice.

We call them golden raisins on this side of the pond.

Well this questionable Cider is finally bubbling away like crazy.
The last Cider I made was finished and quite drinkable in 4 weeks.
If I leave this one longer, does Cider improve like wine?

jimmy2plates said:

The last Cider I made was finished and quite drinkable in 4 weeks.
If I leave this one longer, does Cider improve like wine?

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Some people claim it does, but to be honest with you I can't tell any difference. Maybe my taste buds are just permanently fried or something. I've also never had beer that tasted like band-aids, soap, butter, apple, cut grass or cat piss. Mind you, there are people who actually claim to be able to detect these flavors.

jimmy2plates said:

Any suggestions on what's best to back sweeten it a little with?

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Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate works well, if you can find that, I like to use honey. If you want it still, use potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate to stop the yeast, once fermentation has finished, then backsweeten. If you want it carbed, backsweeten, add priming sugar, and bottle in beer bottles and one or two in PET soda bottles. When the soda bottles get hard, it's ready to bottle pasteurize on the stove. There is a sticky that gives directions on that step.

Hi all
Well this batch of Cider in doing is proving stubborn to clear.
It's very dark brown in colour and when held up to light, nothing can be seen through the glass.
Am I being impatient ?
Will it eventually clear? Or have i knackered it?

8 days is usually not long enough to clear, since you heated it I think you're going to have to wait longer to get what clearing you'll get


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In my experience, cider does improve with age, and so does applejack. Like I said, in my experience, applejack went from pretty good to lush in 10 or so months.

Sorry to seem thick.. . . Applejack?
Is that apple wine?

It's cider that has been freeze concentrated by removing some of the water while leaving sugars and alcohol behind


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