how much yeast for 1 gal of cider?

I bought a 1 gal glass jug to ferment in to try out apfelwien. The yeast I picked up is Red Star Pasteur Champagne in a 5 gram dry pack. Will this be too much to pitch into the 1 gal of juice?

Also, should I add any sugar (light brown specifically b/c thats what I have)? The guy at LHBS was fairly busy so I didn't get to ask as many questions as I would have liked.

Thanks!

I wouldsput roughly 1/5 of the yeast in. Just guesstimate it. It will be fine. I also would beg or borrow a hydrometer and add enough sugar to bring it up to 1.060

Thanks Rugenbrau,

I actually have a hygrometer, so I'll be sure check it before I pitch the yeast.

I know it varies.... but what gravity would a typical apple juice be?

And how much sugar would it take to get it to 1.060 ish?

I don't know if we're talking a teaspoon or cup or what.

The juice I buy is usually between 1.050-1.060. It depends what they are pressing that day. I figure ,and this is a guesstimate, 4 1/2 oz a gal to raise it .010. What I would do, is just add a little at a time,say a quarter of a cup, and keep taking readings. It's easy to put in, but you you can't take it out!

Sounds good. What is the best way to put it in and get it mixed up? There probably won't be much room in either the jug or the fermenter. Will I have to pour out some into the fermenter, add sugar and shake, and then recombine to get a reading?

Also, I got some yeast nutrient today... should that go into the juice, or into the yeast rehydration water?

add the yeast nutrient to the juice when you pitch the yeast. As to the sugar, It depends on the amount of head space in your jug. I usually add it to my carboy and stir it as I fill it to make sure it gets dissolved. you can pour some into a bowl and dissolve it there and pour it back in. Just make sure you get it dissolved

If it's only 5g, just put the whole packet into it.

Sounds good. I'm off to find some apple juice.

A couple more rookie questions....

Will I need to use a blow off tube?

Appx. how long will this take before ready for bottling?

Thanks!

Cider doesn't usually blow off. Expect 6-9 weeks before you can bottle. It takes a long time to clear.

So I think I did alright at the store. I got two 1/2 gallons of unfiltered apple juice / cider whatever you want to call it, in nice glass jugs. I think they will make nice test batch fermenters. This stuff is 100% nothing added.

Then I went to Target to get a funnel that the grocery didn't have and they had a gallon of regular Motts apple juice for $4.09. This juice has ascorbic acid.

The 1/2 gals were only 2.99 each. A pretty good deal I think considering they come packaged in mini fermenters, and I just spent 5 bucks on an empty gallon fermenter. I need to go back to LHBS and get two more stoppers and air locks.

I was hoping to get started tonight but I'm going to wait and do it all at once tomorrow.

For your viewing pleasure.....

So a couple of followup questions....

The 1 gal of regular was 1.050, I added 2 cups (unpacked) of light brown sugar, and it came to 1.061. Also, 1 tsp of yeast nutrient, and about 1/2 of the 5 gram pack of yeast.

The first of the 1/2 gal ciders was 1.062, and I added no sugar, just a 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient and 1/4 pack of yeast.

Both of these are bubbling slowly this morning (appx 18 hours since I pitched.)

The other 1/2 gal of cider had a gravity of 1.058, which I adjusted to 1.080 with 1 cup of uppacked light brown sugar. Also added 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient and 1/4 pack of yeast. This fermenter is not bubbling this morning.

So I didn't mean to bump the OG up that high. 2 cups moved the 1 gal 11 points, so I figured 1 cup would move the 1/2 gal of cider ~11 points, not 22. Maybe I didn't have the 2 cups in the 1 gal mixed up enough before the reading?

I sprinkled the dry yeast on top of liquid in each fermenter.

So my questions are:

Did I mess the 1.080 up with too much sugar, or was it a happy accident?

If I didn't mess it up, is it normal for a higher gravity liquid to take longer to start noticeable fermentation?

I'm not freaking out or anything yet, I'm just curious about how it all works, and if the 1.080 one will be drinkable.


I did just think of one thing, the 1 cup of sugar put into the 1/2 gal was from a different pack than the 2 cups that went into the 1 gal, but I wouldn't think it would have 2x the sugar content.

1/4 pack of yeast isn't much, especially for a 1.080 wine. (That's a wine, now, with that high OG). I'd use a whole package for each gallon. The pitching rate on the instructions says something like "for one to six gallons". I'd say that 1/4 pack was underpitching, and that's a fairly high OG. Give it some time.

Should I go get another pack of yeast?

joe6pack said:

Should I go get another pack of yeast?

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I wouldn't yet. Just give it a little time. Next time, you may want to just use a whole $.79 package in each, but since you didn't, I'd wait it out a bit.

Yea I probably should have. Makes me sound pretty cheap, lol. I just didn't think about getting one for all of them.

Hey group. I did something similar. I pitched about 1/5 of a package of Nottingham into 1 Gal of pressed juiced. That was 4 days ago and there is no visible sign of fermentation. How long should I wait before I pitch more yeast?

benjita said:

Hey group. I did something similar. I pitched about 1/5 of a package of Nottingham into 1 Gal of pressed juiced. That was 4 days ago and there is no visible sign of fermentation. How long should I wait before I pitch more yeast?

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Immediately. Did your juice have any sorbate in it though? If there is sorbate in the juice, it won't ferment even with a whole package.

No sorbate. I added 2 campden tablets 2 days prior to pitching the yeast. I had started another 5 gallon batch at the same and is bubbling along nicely. Could I take some of the must from that carboy and add it to the non-fermenting one? How much would be sufficient?

Ok. Looks like there is some fermentation going on. There is a bit of lees on the bottom but almost no airlock action. I guess that this is probably because I added so little yeast. Is it ok to have so little fermentation occurring? Will it speed up?

benjita said:

Ok. Looks like there is some fermentation going on. There is a bit of lees on the bottom but almost no airlock action. I guess that this is probably because I added so little yeast. Is it ok to have so little fermentation occurring? Will it speed up?

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It might. The speed isn't really important, but you may have some very stressed yeast by underpitching so much. It'll probably take them a while to get going.

YooperBrew,
You were right. It took some extra time for the yeast to start doing their thing. Do you know if the stress can cause any issues- flavors, etc? Next time, should I just pitch the entire dry yeast package? I was worried that I would get a runaway fermentation.

Thanks for your help

Yooper said:

1/4 pack of yeast isn't much, especially for a 1.080 wine. (That's a wine, now, with that high OG). I'd use a whole package for each gallon. The pitching rate on the instructions says something like "for one to six gallons". I'd say that 1/4 pack was underpitching, and that's a fairly high OG. Give it some time.

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I have been trolling the Cider pages for 30 mins to find this answer. So even if I make 1 gallon batch still use the whole pack of yeast. Got it.

Yes yeast is cheap always put a full packet in gallon jugs

I just did a gallon recipe and used a 5th of the packet. My concern is less about the cost of the yeast than it is about over yeasting it.

homebrew93 said:

I just did a gallon recipe and used a 5th of the packet. My concern is less about the cost of the yeast than it is about over yeasting it.

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Don't worry about using too much yeast- it's almost impossible at this scale to use too much and it will only fall out if it's not utilized. It's much more risky to underpitch the yeast.