First Batch! With Wyeast 3068

Hey guys,

All the rave reviews of cider using Wyeast 3068 has provoked me into trying it for myself. I bought a 23L Better Bottle for this long-term ferment and filled it with 19L of Graves Apple Juice. I know the 3068 will have a crazy krausen so I opted out of a 23L batch. I pitched the yeast at 19*C and it'll stay that way until I see some activity, at which point I'll drop the temperature down to 17*C and let it do it's business for 6 weeks and then bottle. I chose not to add any sugar because I want something my girlfriend and I can enjoy together, which means low ABV. The SG is 1.048 so I think I might get something around 5-6% does that sound correct with this yeast? I'll post some pictures later on.

Sounds good to me, keep us updated.

Hey guys,

It's been 9 days since I pitched the yeast and I thought I'd add some pictures now!

I had to put a dress on her as there is some light that comes through the windows despite the room being in a basement. I'm not sure if light affects hard cider as much as it does hoppy beers, but better safe then sorry.



Striped down, you can see that there is still a lot of krausen on top of the AJ. It's to be expected as it's fementing at 17*C and still cutting the cheese every 5-6 seconds.



A better shot of the krausen. It never really went wild like I expected it to as a "true full cropping yeast" that said it required 33% head space. Maybe it's because I'm fermenting it at such a low temperature or perhaps the yeast can't party as hard at AJ's house as they can at Hefe's? Anyways, I took the tinfoil cap off after about 2.5 days and replaced it with an airock.

First light: Skunking is not possible without light, as it is a actually reaction to UV interacting with the chemicals in hops. But a cider is affected by light, as light can strip it of its flavor and definitely its color. So being safe is the best bet, just not being so doesn't lead to nearly as bad of results.

Second krausen: You're rarely going to get as strong of a krausen as with beer, because there aren't all the same particulates and whatnot in ciders as there are in beer. But with certain yeast, especially hefe's you will get a pretty good one going, as you've seen already haha.

Third awesome: Hope it goes well and you end up with some great brew. Looks like you are doing great so far.

I Hope this comes out awesome dude, I'm starting my first cider next month once i'm done school

SurlyLeprechaun said:

I Hope this comes out awesome dude, I'm starting my first cider next month once i'm done school

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Another student from NS, that's great! If you're close to Hfx I'll keep a bottle for you, you'll just have to wait until the beginning of next school year to crack it open ha ha.

SeamusMac said:

Another student from NS, that's great! If you're close to Hfx I'll keep a bottle for you, you'll just have to wait until the beginning of next school year to crack it open ha ha.

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Sounds good man, i'll hold on to a pint of mine for you and we can do a trade