Yeast Starter -- Problems (Hard Apple Cider)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

CiderBound

New Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
PA
http://hardapplecider--thejourney.blogspot.com/
I am trying to get some yeast starters going simply using slices of apples and apple juice. So far I am having a low success rate . . . . with only one of the six actually fermenting (I have had them sit for 4 or 5 days now). (The one on the far left is the only one showing signs of fermentation -- note the bubbles and discoloration.).

Is this normal?
 
Wow, I am impressed to see something like that on this forum! If nobody gets back to you, try the Cider Workshop out of the UK.
 
I think I saw a sticker on the apple, and you know cabin fever is setting in when you try things like this.
Most commercial apples sold at stores are already washed and sprayed down with sanitizers, and most stores do a sanitizer mist spray down daily so getting real yeast from the apple is not very likely.
Wild fermentation usually works with unpasteurized cider from the farm, but even then you can have a miss or two.
You could try to do a few yeast starters and go hunting for wild yeast in the spring time, and step them up to see if you can catch anything that you like.
Hope this helps, at least you know people are reading your thread.
 
Wow, I am impressed to see something like that on this forum! If nobody gets back to you, try the Cider Workshop out of the UK.

Candle, you'll probably find a lot more stuff going on in the fall.



As for the blog, unfortunately I can't look at it because it's blocked where I am... From what I've gathered it sounds like you're doing something like this?
Wild Yeast Experiment

What Kauai mentioned is correct, and because of this you might try looking for an organic grocery store. You can also use raisens for wild yeast but be careful when buying those as well. I hope you don't get discouraged...homebrewing is a lot of fun.
 
Hi. I got a wild yeast starter going from juice from a local cider mill that doesn't pasturize or add preservitives to it. It took about 6 days for it to start fermenting. I smelled it and tasted it and since all seemed good I added it to a gallon of juice from wall-mart. I cold crashed it at 1.020 and it turned into to really nice cider.

If you want to get a wild yeast started going your best bet may be to get some apples or juice from a local apple orchard. Bellow is a link to help you find one.
http://www.allaboutapples.com/orchard/index.htm

good luck!
 
Yeah, I was actually told (quite wisely it appears) that you are going to get a low success rate -- and that you should NOT wash the apples before hand. (With the logic being that the washing will wash away any natural yeasts growing on the apples).

As it turns out, my only success was a "clean" apple that I ended up washing -- so go figure.

As for stores, I just purchased the apples from our local Whole Foods -- which I would presume is fairly "organic", at least compared to other large grocery chains.

We shall see -- I plan to try to make a batch of cider with the new yeast tonight.
 
I just poured some store bought cider and put the yeast in and shook it. Left it in the fridge all night and it never started bubbling, but when i added to the fermenting jug with five gallons of cider and 1 pd. of brown sugar. It started bubbling in no time.
 
Back
Top