Turbo cider?

All my experience is in sugar wash for fuel experimentation. 20-25% ABV is common.

on the 15th I started a cider ferment.

1 gal Kroger apple juice
2.8 oz cane sugar
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1/4 teaspoon yeast energizer (mostly DAP)
Aerated juice with 3/4 liter per minute O2 for 2 minutes with air stone.
KV-1116 Yeast re-hydrated in 1/2 cup water.


Starting SG 1.056

Pitched at 8/15 9:30 PM. By 11:00 pm it was starting to ferment well.
8/16 10:00 am it was going nuts. temp was up to 74 deg in a 68 degF room and the S-shaped airlock was going 120+ a minute. 4:00 pm 160+ per minute at 78 degF. I set the jug in 1" water with a towel around the jug and the end of the towel in the water. 11:30 PM temp was down to 72 and 128 per minute so I was happy.
8/17 7:00 pm was visibly slowing down and temp was at 70 degF. Took a reading and it was at 1.004 SG. 11:30 it was down to 8 bubbles per minute.

That dropped much faster than I expected. I understand it wasn't a high SG to start but is that kind of drop normal in 46 hours? Did the 78 deg temp really sped things up or did the oxygen really help? All of the above?

I intend to let it go till it clears which I expect to be at least 4 weeks. I am just surprised it went this fast.

Any and all comments welcome.

Normal gravity ciders ferment rapidly & two days isn't unusual.

Thanks. I am used to high gravity sugar wash fermenting out to .994 in 48 hours but you have to do special things to make that happen. I make my own Turbo Yeast for that kind of results. This just surprised me.

well after 10 days at 1.002 I assume it is done. Its interesting that it didn't finish below 1.000 but its going to sit in the jug for another 10 days anyway perhaps it will drop. The air lock really isn't doing anything except once every 2 days. But it will be slightly sweet which is what I wanted. Perhaps it was the K1V-1116?




I was an R&D engineer in the old days I take lots of notes. Force of habit.

My basement is 65F-68F deg. Once I prime and bottle this sider, how long will it take for the cider to carb. Not the aging part but just the carb part. Since this is new to me I am not sure of the basic time line. 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months? Anyone have an approximate or average idea?

If it's finished at 1.002, maybe the yeast is pooped out? If that's the cause, it won't carb for you. If the yeast is still up to it, it should be carbed up in about three weeks.

Hmmmm good point. Maybe I should add a few grains of EC-1118 to each bottle when I fill them or just let it go and see what happens? I am still wondering why it stopped so close and didn't finish.