Blueberry cider - fermenting concerns

Ok so I am brand new to making cider, but have been doing beer for over a year now. Anyways, I decided to give cider a try and am doing some experiments with 1 gallon batches. Right now I have batches of the following:
1 gal - Apple cider - no preservatives
1.5 lbs - blueberry puree
Yeast - 1/2 packet of Danstar Nottingham, or
- 1/2 packet of Lalvin EC-1118
Additives - 1 tsp of SuperFerment

My problem is that while I hear some bubbling inside of the buckets, I have yet to see any activity in the airlock and it has been well over 24 hrs. Any suggestions?

Also, should I put in more puree or possibly a bunch of frozen blueberries into the secondary?

Finally, how long should I leave the cider in the primary and then in the secondary before bottling?

Any advice is appreciated!

~ CIB

Are you fermenting 1 gallon batches in 5 gallon buckets? Or are they 1 gallon buckets? If it's in a 5 gallon bucket, it will take some time to fill up with CO2 and then start coming out of the airlock. If it's in a 1 gallon bucket, then you might have a small leak on the lid or around the airlock that is allow it to escape without coming through the airlock.

If it's only been 24 hours...then it might just not be cranked up yet. Give it another 24 hours.

Give it a taste when racking to secondary, if it doesn't give you enough blueberry taste, you could add more to secondary. Secondary would be my recommendation for adding any fruit or other ingredients.

There's different school's of thought about primary fermentation and when to rack to secondary. I subscribe to the method of letting it ferment in primary for about 2 weeks and then rack to secondary before it's completely done. This will allow some CO2 production in secondary to give you a nice comfy blanket on top that theoretically will cut down on oxidation. Others will say just leave it in primary for a month or more. It's really up to you on which method you choose and what works best for you.

Thanks for the input!

Each of the batches are in about 1 1/2 gallon buckets. I'll have to check on the seal around the airlock. I also noticed the cider smell pretty strong around the buckets, which maybe indicates that there is some sort of leak?

Yeah I have seen so many opinions on the primary vs secondary that it almost makes my head hurt reading them all. I think I'll just try the 2 weeks primary, couple in secondary and then let it age in the bottles from there.

Thanks again!

Sounds like a good plan. Make sure to come back and let us know how each batch tastes from the 1118 to the nottingham.

celticinnbrewery said:

Thanks for the input!

Each of the batches are in about 1 1/2 gallon buckets. I'll have to check on the seal around the airlock. I also noticed the cider smell pretty strong around the buckets, which maybe indicates that there is some sort of leak?

Yeah I have seen so many opinions on the primary vs secondary that it almost makes my head hurt reading them all. I think I'll just try the 2 weeks primary, couple in secondary and then let it age in the bottles from there.

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

I've had this problem with the two gallon buckets. My only solution was to use about 12 small clamps from my wood shop to seal the blasted thing. It took only a few seconds after the final clip was in place for the bubbles to start.

Good idea on the wood clamps. I tried it out on mine and it worked for a bit. Only problem was that the dang buckets bent in. Guess we'll see how its going this weekend as I'll be transferring it to the secondary

Well this follow up post is a bit delayed, but I just wanted to update everyone on the progress of the cider. I transferred into the secondary over the weekend. Both yeasts seem to be doing their thing as there was a solid amount of yeast growth in both buckets. Both of the ciders taste decent and have a great color to them. I added an additional 1/4 lb of frozen blueberries to each of the gallon carboys to help add some more flavor.

One thing I did notice is that the one cider really smells bad! I was really hesitant to try it, but it ends up it is probably the better tasting of the two so far. I believe it was the Lalvin yeast one. Not sure what is driving the bad smell, but hopefully that dissipates over the next couple of weeks! The only thing that I think could be doing it is that I used an apple cider from the grocery store instead of straight apple juice. Any other thoughts out there?

I'll add another update in a couple of weeks when it comes to bottling time.
~ CIB