hard lemonade= no fermentation

I started a batch of hard lemonad monday. I followed YOOPERBREWS recipe and got everything together. started the yeast and pitched the yeast tuesday after adding must a couple of times and getting a good foamy start. I checked the OG monday and it was 1.080.......checked it just now and it is 1.080..... Am I too impatient or should I see SOMETHING by now? Also , I have more yeast if you guys think I should make another bigger starter and try again.

My hard lemonade attempt took about 5-6 weeks to ferment out.

I used a 2nd starter and yeast nutrient after 3 weeks. I had no strong fermentation after my original pitch (no airlock activity and just a bit of condensation).

Once it got going it was fine and fermented out completely, but it did test my patience. I did not notice any off flavors at all from the 2nd pitch or from my several stirring attempts.

you didn't use any lemonade with 'sorbate' in it did you?

Nope 5678910

I decided to pitch another packet of yeast.. Started it in a bowl with a small amount of must and got a nice foamy start....added a bit more must and stirred it up. this morning I have nothing but a bunch of yeast on the bottom of the mason jar...looks to be dead also. I hate to waste this batch of lemonade but it seems DOA to me. any suggestions?

I don't have any words of wisdom, beyond making the starter. You could try a package of champagne yeast, and adding sugar water to it, and then a bit of the must. Diluting the must makes a big difference in the acidity. If it's mostly must you're adding, the yeast won't be able to handle it. Diluting the must with some sugar water and building it up that way works pretty well, if you do it very slowly over the course of several days. Eventually, add more must and less diluent until you're adding straight must and the fermentation continues.

YooperBrew said:

I don't have any words of wisdom, beyond making the starter. You could try a package of champagne yeast, and adding sugar water to it, and then a bit of the must. Diluting the must makes a big difference in the acidity. If it's mostly must you're adding, the yeast won't be able to handle it. Diluting the must with some sugar water and building it up that way works pretty well, if you do it very slowly over the course of several days. Eventually, add more must and less diluent until you're adding straight must and the fermentation continues.

Click to expand...

Wish I would have checked in on this 5 minutes sooner.... what I did YOOP was this.. I opened the started jar ( loosely covered with foil) and the alcohol smell was intense. My theory is that it used up the available sugar already and fell out of suspension... I just went ahead and pitched it into the lemonade....If it works I will be happy, if not I am just out 10 cans of lemonade... AND if you REALLY take a good sniff of the lemonade you can MAYBE smell a hint of alcohol so MAQYBE it is SLOWLY Starting to ferment a little.

Well, grab a spoon or dowel or something, and sanitize it and stir it up like crazy. That might help, since the yeast need oxygen to reproduce. I always stir in primary, and this yeast seems to need all the help it can get.

Mine was in the bottle in about 1 month...

I just took another hydro reading and it hasn't budged at all.. I am thinking of just dumping it or pouring it onto a beer yeast cake.

I FINALLY have fermentation happening. The stuff smells horrid but it is fizzing and bubbling away. Now , I had to pitch yeast three times to get this going, should I siphon this off of the dead yeast or just let it go a few days before going to a carboy?

Once I got mine going, I waited until fairly close to FG (like 1.012) before moving to a carboy. I did not remove any yeast or fuss with it in any way in primary. I let it sit 1.5 additional weeks in the carboy and it cleared fairly well. In the end, there were no significant off-tastes.

Like wine, it will slowly smell better and better (and less like spoiled fruit) as it gets closer to being done.

Will not pass myself off as an expert, but I have 2 x hard lemonade and 15 x wine kit done.

OHIOSTEVE said:

I FINALLY have fermentation happening. The stuff smells horrid but it is fizzing and bubbling away. Now , I had to pitch yeast three times to get this going, should I siphon this off of the dead yeast or just let it go a few days before going to a carboy?

Click to expand...

don't mess with it!!!!!

Stir it well, maybe to get rid of some of that "horrid" smell, and to give it some oxygen. If you have yeast nutrient or enegizer, add some to it. Stir it well at least once per day.

Thanks guys. I just added some nutrient, and it went crazy. Stirred it and covered it back up.

I have made several batches of hard lemonade and all took quite a bit of time to start, so be patient. You do need to get O2 into the batch prior to pitching the yeast. I use a starter on all hard lemonade batches. The high acidity of the batch shocks the yeast, so you need a healthy starter and patience.

A side note.......... we now add lemon simple syrup to our hard lemonade after fermentation is complete to liven up the lemon flavor. Remember, without sugar (fermented dry), the fruity flavor will be less pronounced.

I also add in some Llimoncello to kick it up a bit.

Good Luck.

Salute!