Another first cider question! :P

Started a batch of 2 gallons this weekend.
I put my camden tablets in crushed into the two gallons of cider.
I also put in 1 lb of honey to raise the alcahol a little.
Now the first thing I may have done wrong was the cider was cold when I put it in. SO the honey had trouble dissolving, but I stirred it until it dissolved.
WOuld a cold setup cause any problems with the cider?

I was given the choice of 4 yeasts, I chose the dry yeast because I had a long ride home and the others were all smack packs. I didnt want the ride to harm the yeast. They did tell me the nottingham has trouble compared to the others with sulfur.

Last night after 27 hours (I was told 24-36hrs for camden pellets) I put in my nottingham dry ale yeast.
I did stir the 2 gallons for proabaly 4 mins than decided stirring/shaking the entire carboyl was a lot easier and effective. I did that for about 6 mins. I was told to stir the carboyl 10 mins to get the sulfur out.

This morning not much appears to be going on.
Is it time to start worrying or should I wait a day?
Nothing seems to be going, which I guess is good that it looks like not any wild yeast or bacteria seems to be growing also.

On a side note, I added the lb of honey to the 2 gallons of cider. Before I put the yeast in and after I shook the carboy I took a OSG. It was at if I remember right, at 1.08. Which was like 9% alcahol and way higher than I expected the alcahol to be for just 1lb honey.

Since I shook the carboy a lot, will the cider solids that sink to the bottom normally, will they fasely raise the gravity? Should I have let them settle and take a sample of the solid free top portion? I was expecting a gravity of around 1.065.

thanks

Well its bubbling pretty good now. its gone through the sulfure rotten egg smell stage., the apricot smell stage and now its in the vomit smell stage.

Sounds like you got a good start, though a little slow. Hope it gets past the vomit stage. 1080 is a bit much for nottingham, but it might just mean a little sweetness at the end. A pound of honey in two gallons would add 23 points to the OG.

Ahh thanks, I was thinking exactly the same thing. About .23 more alcahol. I wa also told by many that almost all cide starts at around 1.05.
So that was why I was suprised it was so high and was worried about the yeast. My hope is it was higher than it should because I shook it up and the cider solids hat normlly settle were effecting the gravity.

Cider can be sneaky. People think it's fruit juice, but ABV's of 6% are common without adding any extra sugars.

Ok i took a gamble on my cider. I wasnt sure how far the gravity had dropped on it but I know the bubbling had gone to 1 per minute.
I dont currently have a secondary for my 2 gallon batch, all my secondaries are 5 gallon.

I was concerned about leaving the cider on all the yeast and what not at the botttom. I was also worried how effective gelatin would be for clearing with all the yeast.

So I took the cider out and put it in a santized bucket, cleaned the primary and put the cider back in.

While doing this I measuered the OG and it was 1.00.
So, it looks like the fermentation was close to done.

I was also concerend if I did this, there would not be a nice barrier of CO2 on the cider so I added some left over priming sugar I had. The equilivant of what you would use for a 3 gallon batch.

Im hoping that wil lbe just enough to get some CO2 but not to much to raise the alacahol to high to kill the yeast.

I tasted it and it was quite dry in taste with a strong smell of alcahol. Kinda reminded me of a dry warm wine.

All sounds good, no problem storing it in a sterilised bigger container while you cleaned and sterilised your smaller carboy, just try and keep oxidation down to a minimum when you transfer in and out of your containers by syphoning. And if it's really that dry your yeast has worked well.

I started a new batch similar to the one before.
Added 2 lbs of honey to 5 lbs of cider.
Did everything else the same.

I didnt stir it this time but shook the 5 gallon carboy for 10 mins approx.
Than I added the yeast.
I did this at 48 hours from time of camden tablets.

Its now 48 hours from yeast introduction.
How long should I wait till I should go buy some more nottingham and put it in?

Nothing seems to be going on at all. No bubbles which I assume and hope that if my yeast isnt growing nothing is.

If this doesnt start going soon, could I use some of the remaining yeast i have from the last batch (12 oz bottle) , pour off the cider and swirl the yeast and use it in the carboy? To try to start it up?

thanks