Air lockin reverse

Started 5 gallon batch of cider on the 30 th of oct.

5 gallons raw cider
1 cup sugar
5 camden tablets crushed
WLP300 yeast

i waited 24 + hours after adding camden with bucket lid off.
transfered to carboy and pitched yeast on the 31 st.
today the 1st the airlock is trying to suck air into the carboy and water is getting in the mix.

is this normal or should i take action?

It happens, especially when the temperature changes and/or the weather changes. I'd say put some clean water and sanitizer in it, or vodka just in case it gets sucked into your cider.

i made a 1 gallon batch before i did the 5 gallon just to make sure fermentation would take off with this cider and it did within 4 hours

shouldnt it be started by now

I've never used WLP 300, but liquid yeasts are notoriously slow to start. That's not much yeast for 5 gallons. I've never used it, like I said, but I'm not surprised at all that it's not going yet. Without a starter, it may take up to 3 or 4 days to get going. Just keep it at a stable temperature and wait it out. It'll be ok.

I'm curious- why did you use a hefe yeast? I like my ciders clear and crisp and fruity, so I'm just wondering what the difference would be with a hefe yeast and what you're looking for.

this is my first attempt at a cider and i didnt want to spend what i didnt have to on this, i brew hefe as my choice brew so i had yeast in the fridge

Oh, now I get it! Thanks for clearing that up.

I use dry wine yeasts for ciders and wines and meads, usually. It's about .79 cents a pack, so I didn't consider the cost of liquid yeast. It is expensive, though!

does anyone know why it would try to get oxygen into the carboy?

pressure differential, High pressure outside vs low pressure inside . . .

could be caused by a rapid environmental temperature change (blame global warming ) or even just a strong front going through

roofman70 said:

does anyone know why it would try to get oxygen into the carboy?

Click to expand...

Probably not your problem, but I started my first batch of cider yesterday. Not knowing any better I added water to my air-lock then tried installing it on my bucket. The pressure needed to install it pushed down on the bucket lid, pushing some air out of the air lock. Not a problem until stoped pushing down on the air lock, The bucket then made sucked air back in when the lid came back up, and sucked half the water right in the cider. Oh well, at least I sanitized the air lock, and used boiled water in it.