how do I fix this mess?

I used apple cider with preservatives, 4 gallons of it. then mixed a pound of brown sugar and nottingham ale yeast. in another thread I just found out that preservatives are bad, and won't allow fermentation. So, how do i get this to ferment? make a one gallon batch and blend it? I need instructions on this, step by step, because I want this right

Preservatives kill yeast. There's a small chance some of the yeast cells will survive, but it depends on the preservative. I'd give it a week or two to see if anything happens.

and if nothing happens dump it and start over.

dump it, no way! there had to be a sugary concoction to put together to ferment alcohol to mix into this. what about a gallon of non-preservative cider with another pound of brown sugar and another packet of yeast?

buy 4 packets of nottingham and pitch them all. if it still doesn't work, at least you only spent like... 4 dollars..

im fairly sure the preservatives will prevent any fermentation. no matter what you add you still have 5 gallons of preservative laced must to deal with. check the label on the cider bottles. if you see Potassium Sorbate anywhere in the list there will be no fermentation.

There are several posts on here about overcoming preservatives with a strong yeast starter. Some have done OK, others reported slow fermentations with flavor/odor problems. You might do some searches on the site and read up on what to do. I'm thinking (don't quote me) that some people recommended also using yeast nutrient to help things along. Sorbate is a reproduction inhibitor, not a poison. If you can get your yeast worked up into enough of a frenzy, love will find a way...

If it is potassium sorbate you should be ok. Potassium sorbate steralizes yeast so they can't reproduce, but does not kill them.

Edit: I did not read the above post close enough apperently.

But ya most perservatives only delay spoilege (read fermentation).

Ok, I just want to say that I have not tried to ferment a brew with preservatives, but you could try making a very large starter. In a large clean jug, make a large starter with your yeast and let if ferment out for a while, so that it'll reproduce inside that container. After you get a large ammount of yeast build-up inside the jug, just pitch the whole thing into your brew. People do it all the time when making large batches of brews, where you need to make enough yeast for multiple fermenting vessels, or when trying to overcome large gravity brews. It's worth a shot...

I've tried to brew with preservatives. Several times. It will ferment out but taste like crap. Perhaps you can keep adding stuff until it is drinkable, but what is your time worth? I'd start over with some good juice and feed the first batch to horses or pigs. They will like it.

has others found that even if you can get it to ferment it will not taste good in the end?

BlackE1 said:

has others found that even if you can get it to ferment it will not taste good in the end?

Click to expand...

yeah mine did ferment but tasted bad.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/fermenting-cider-preservatives-130000/

im still aging it to see if it will improve. but i believe it to be a lost cause.

mine was all junk. down the drain nasty!