2nd Infusion of Yeast Not Working

[sneedbreedley]

I found a cider recipe that works well for me but I added an extra half cup of sugar to make it stronger. After 2 weeks it was still very sweet and barely bubbling. So I added an extra packet of the same yeast that worked 2 weeks earlier and I even tested the yeast and it foamed up perfectly. But now after a week there has been no bubbling. How is this possible?

 

[Maylar]

What apple juice did you use?

 

[sneedbreedley]

Generally speaking, if the yeast ferments perfectly and bubbles consitently for the first two weeks and then trickles down to almost nothing, and the cider is stil VERY sweet, why would a 2nd dose of the same yeast barely bubble at all?

 

[cmac62]

What was the OG? If the original yeast quit at the abv in the cider, it would not likely eat the extra sugar with a new pitch. If you want it to dry out, use something like a wine yeast or high abv tolerant beer yeast. I hope this helps.

 

[sneedbreedley]

Urban Meadow 100% Apple Juice. 1 Gal. 2.25 tsp. Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast (1 package). 3 cups sugar. OG was 1.09. .

 

[DBhomebrew]

What's the current gravity?

 

[cmac62]

When I have used bread yeast it usually will ferment out to 0.00 or lower if warm (80*F). Do you know the current gravity? What I suggest is use some wine yeast.

 

[sneedbreedley]

It's still 1.09. Which is also confusing. I normally follow the same procedure, but with 2.5 cups of sugar and end up with a FG of 1.01. This time I added an extra 1/2 cup of sugar and ended up with no alcohol. And much greater carbonation!

 

[DBhomebrew]

Generally speaking, if the yeast ferments perfectly and bubbles consitently for the first two weeks and then trickles down to almost nothing, and the cider is stil VERY sweet, why would a 2nd dose of the same yeast barely bubble at all?

Well now. OG was 1.09 and it's currently 1.09? That doesn't square with the above.

 

[sneedbreedley]

I thought it might be the extra carbonation adding boyancy to the hydrometer so I poured the cider back and forth between containers to release the fizz but I still got the same reading. Makes no sense but I got the same results multiple times even though the airlock was bubbling furiously for 2 weeks.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Are you sure you're reading your scale correctly? 1.090 and not 0.990?

 

[sneedbreedley]

We're getting off topic. If the liquid is still very sweet, why doesn't the secondary yeast ferment the existing sugar?

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'm not sure why you'd think a fresh pack of the same yeast would do something different th[a]n the first pack.

That's the current gravity? That's not 1.090.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Assuming that pic is a current sample, it's at 1120. Therefore an OG of 1090 isn't possible. Perhaps OG was actually 1.190? That'd make it a currently very sweet ~10%ABV, likely the reason the bread yeast gave up and the second dose didn't take off.

But, that's just a guess since your gravity readings are suspect.

 

[sneedbreedley]

True. This is where the carbonation got confusing. The FG first measured 1.09. Then after a few minutes it measured 1.1. Then 10 minutes later 1.12. After I shook it up for a while it maintained 1.09.

 

[DBhomebrew]

So, what's this pic?

 

[DBhomebrew]

Just to be sure we're reading it the same way...

 

[sneedbreedley]

OK, apparently you can't add yeast later to "finish the job". I'm going to start over. When the weather is cooler.

 

[DBhomebrew]

That's not always true. Depends on original gravity, current gravity, current ABV, a few other things.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'm still curious. What is the pic of? OG? Current?

 

[malchizedec]

Bread yeast is unpredictable, if you want a high abv mash/must/wash to ferment dry then add a wine or champaign yeast. EC-1118 being a very common strong work horse.

In my experiance fresh apple juice provides a potential ABV of 6 to 7%, adding white sugar generally creates off flavours that I would prefer to avoid with other sugars (honey etc) requiring a bit of special handling.

If you want a wine strength apple drink make sure you make a yeast starter, ferment low temp and slow with appropriate nutrient additions (TONSA).

 

[cmac62]

^^ plus I'd add FCAJ as the additional sweetener, it is at least AJ. I recently did something similar. I took Motts AJ from the store and poured out enough for a can of FCAJ and added that to the gallon jug. it raised the OG significantly, can't tell you exactly because I didn't take notes , but it did raise it.

 

[teddyearp]

Bread yeast.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Friends, given the info provided we have no understanding of what the problem is.

As reported:
OG 1.090
Current 1.090
A pic for which we don't know whether the sample is OG, current, some other person's ferment 1.120
Active fermentation for 2wks
Lots of dissolved CO2

So, how do we square no change in gravity with obvious signs of fermentation? Whether wine, beer, or bread yeast, it matters not. What was the true OG? What is the true current gravity? Without confidence in those two numbers, why bother talk about yeast type or nutritional input?

Maybe OP will be game for further exploration.

 

[teddyearp]

You're right. I don't know why I bother at all. Peace out.

 

[JAReeves]

Another factor that may be an issue that wasn't mentioned is whether or not there are preservatives in the FAJC. Good luck!