Help no fermentation activity

Help! I made a 5 gallon batch of fresh pressed apple cider. I pitched US-05 with 1 cup of brown sugar at room temp (~70). I put the carboy out of sight and out of mind for 3 weeks. When I went to rack to second fermentation bucket and check, nothing happened! same gravity = apple juice. I pitched a second packet of US-05 and some energizer 72 hours ago and still no activity! WTH am i doing wrong?

How old was the yeast and was it possibly left out of the fridge for any extended period allowing it to lose it's viability? Also what kind of apple juice was it. Some of them already have k-meta/sorbate in them which keeps the yeast from doing it's job.

I would tend to blame the apple juice contents as stated . the dry yeast does not need to be refrigerated .as long as it is not left out in the blazing heat for a long time I would bet it is good.

sfgoat said:

How old was the yeast and was it possibly left out of the fridge for any extended period allowing it to lose it's viability? Also what kind of apple juice was it. Some of them already have k-meta/sorbate in them which keeps the yeast from doing it's job.

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Both of the yeast packets were fresh from the store the day I pitched them. The store is a great HomeBrew store that supports the HomeBrew clubs and community so I don't think its them. The juice was fresh pressed apple juice from the orchard (all natural). I don't have clue what the issue could be?

If we go with the assumption the apple juice is the issue: what can I do now if anything?

Dedonovan said:

If we go with the assumption the apple juice is the issue: what can I do now if anything?

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What was your starting gravity and is there anything else that you put in it besides brown sugar. Also what are you using to take your gravity readings, a hydrometer or refractometer?

Are you sure they didn't use any preservatives? Some cider mills will still use sorbate.

CiderRules said:

Are you sure they didn't use any preservatives? Some cider mills will still use sorbate.

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This is what I was thinking. They usually add in potassium sorbate in order to keep any wild yeast from taking up in the bottles.

When I first made the batch I added campden tablets, pectin, and energizer. Let sit for 48 hours then pitched my yeast. I'm using a hydrometer to test gravity. OG was/is 1.058/1.06. If it was a sorbate addition what can I do now?

Quick Update: I check the batch a few minutes ago and a small krausen appears to be forming around the edge and a "beer smell" is identifiable. Another hydrometer reading shows little to no improvement, still at 1.058. So am I just rushing the process or do I have the worlds slowest batch?

Dedonovan said:

When I first made the batch I added campden tablets, pectin, and energizer. Let sit for 48 hours then pitched my yeast. I'm using a hydrometer to test gravity. OG was/is 1.058/1.06. If it was a sorbate addition what can I do now?

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If sorbate is indeed the issue, then you can really only keep pitching (I would advise making a few 1l starters) and see if it will chug along.

I also think I have read somewhere that aeration can help get rid of it, though I wouldn't take my word on it.

Ok I called the orchard and sure enough they add <0.1% potassium sorbate to each gallon. So do I keep on Pitching yeast and aerate? Would a liquid yeast starter get me going more than a dry bag?

CiderRules said:

If sorbate is indeed the issue, then you can really only keep pitching (I would advise making a few 1l starters) and see if it will chug along.

I also think I have read somewhere that aeration can help get rid of it, though I wouldn't take my word on it.

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Maybe even try a tougher yeast like 1180 but there are no guarantees here because the sorbate is meant to stop new fermentation from beginning.

I'm new to all of this, but I thought that potassium sorbate just stopped the yeast from multiplying, but not the existing yeast from fermenting, causing fermentation to take much, much longer.

jamrs90 said:

I'm new to all of this, but I thought that potassium sorbate just stopped the yeast from multiplying, but not the existing yeast from fermenting, causing fermentation to take much, much longer.

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Well, since yeast generally reproduce before fermenting, in order to overcome sorbate you'd have to pitch a TON of healthy yeast cells that don't need to reproduce.

Also, there is a flavor impact from the stressed yeast being unable to reproduce, so even if it's slow and fermenting, the resulting cider will not be very drinkable.

That's was the answer I was afraid of. I have no real choice but to try and see what happens. I feed the yeast a cup of sugar and some more energizer. Hope I can over come the small %of sorbide.

Quick update: I added another cup of sugar and some more energizer and all of a sudden I'm back in business. The air lock this morning was bubbling away. I sampled some and everything tastes ok so far.

Glad to hear it.

If do another batch, check with your cider mill to see if they have, or will make a batch without the sorbate. My supplier provides both preserved and non-preserved, both are flash pasteurized by UV.
Check for different colored caps on the jugs in their fridge, that's also a clue.

It's toast! I checked the fermenter after a while to see how progress was going and the whole batch is sour and awful. I must have stressed the yeast out and pulled every bad flavor note possible. Well time to try again. Thanks everyone for the comments.