Just won't stop fermenting

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Epimetheus

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It has been two weeks and the airlocks are still bubbling away like mad. Is this usual? I thought primary fermentation would be mostly finished at two weeks

This is my first try at cider so I tried two small batches from different sources. One source uses mostly sweet apples like Gala and Delicious. The other source has a more interesting mix, much more apple-y. No added sugars or other items, just UV pasteurized cider and champagne yeast, Lalvin EC-1118. Ambient temperature is 65F to 70F.
 
Cool it down, I found cooler slower ferments are much better. Try to move it some place cooler. What was the OG, and the gravity now?
 
I have had wildly varying results - I did a batch of store-bought juice which fermented for almost a month using Safale S04. It just never ended, I wondered what the heck was going on.

Then I did a batch with fresh-pressed juice, using a Bayanus cider yeast and it was WOOSH, done and dry in about 4 days.

A third batch just using wild yeast, i.e. no yeast added, done in 4 days or so.

I don't have enough experience really, but was pretty surprised by those wildly differing results.

(yes, I agree airlock activity is not a definitive guide, but hydrometers readings pretty much backed up what you could see going on in the airlock)
 
It seems to be fermenting if the airlock has positive pressure, so it is still going steadily after 2 weeks. Here are the gravities of the two varieties after two weeks of fermentation at 65 to 70 °F, usually 65.
Source OG temp°F Current SG temp°F
WholeFood Juice 1.056 72 not measured (need wine thief)
Atkins Cider 1.046 67 1.016 65


BTW,
I discovered a digital probe thermometer is wonderful for fast, precise measurements. It is the same type of probe you poke into a turkey or steak. I did not sterilize it because the samples were not returned to the batch. When I do the first whole grain I will use the digital probe and get a USB thermometer from Ebay so I can track the wort temp over time. Hmm - is that a beer geek?
 

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