Cider not bubbling even after re-pitching yeast

[__matt__]

Well I’m stumped. I’ve brewed lots of cider and never had any issues but this time…

I juiced (not pressed) 4 gallons of apple juice and strained through cheese cloth. It still had between 1 and 2 inches of pulp settle out at the bottom of each 1 galling jug in my fridge. I put two campden tabs per bottle and let it sit in the fridge uncapped for 48 hours.

Then I warmed to ~80F, and dissolved ~2.5 cups of brown sugar in the whole 4 gallons. I added two packets of red star premium blanc yeast to ~1 cup of 100F water, let sit for 20 min, pitched into the juice, and divided in 4 gallon jugs with ab air lock on each. 3 days later the liquid in the locks hadn’t moved. So I made another cup of proofed yeast and pitched a bit in each jug. Now it’s been two days and I still see nothing! I’m sooooo bummed. All this juice came from my apple tree. I really wanted some nice cider this year. HALP! Should I pitch again? Maybe the campden never dissolved and bubbled out because of the pulp? Should I pull the air locks and put in the fridge for another day or two? I’m worried it would get infected if I do.

 

[Kickass]

You could be worrying for nothing. Have you taken gravity readings?

Air locks can be poor indicators of fermentation, especially if there’s a leaky seal.

 

[__matt__]

@Kickass I used to obsess over gravity readings. Take an OG and then SG many times including before and after adding other fruits/juices in a second ferment and then an FG and figure out the ABV as accurately as possible. Now I’m more on the side of “it’s fun not to know!” So I did not get an OG. Doh!

Anyways, I think the rubber stoppers are well sealed . Also there are no visible bubbles rising to the surface in the cider. Usually when I brew, I add twice the sugar I added here, but I wanted to see less adulterated cider from my home tree taste like . With past brews, admittedly with more sugar, I see lots of bubbling within ~24-48 hours, and by day 3, it’s like a rolling boil in the air lock. Maybe I’m just not used to the lower activity with less sugar?

 

[Kickass]

I don’t typically see very much activity with my ciders, which is why I asked about hydrometer readings. Low to no krausen, very few bubbles and a very small leak provide little visual indication of active fermentation. A hydrometer reading will be your only sure indication of fermentation status.

 

[__matt__]

I don’t typically see very much activity with my ciders, which is why I asked about hydrometer readings. Low to no krausen, very few bubbles and a very small leak provide little visual indication of active fermentation. A hydrometer reading will be your only sure indication of fermentation status.

Well I got it to go with the brute force method — adding more sugar, yeast nutrient, pectin enzyme and another pitch of yeast. This time I got hydro reading, but now I don’t need any reassurance that fermentation is happening. The air locks are bubbling quite a bit now. I’m a little bummed I had to add so much sugar. Next time maybe I’ll just get an OG reading and use SG to confirm fermentation. So much for my cavalier “who cares how boozy it is” approach. Thanks for reminding me why why we use a hydrometer.

 

[ThePrisoner]

You can also give it a warm water bath. 30 degrees or so. 1 gallon in the kitchen sink. 5 gallon in the bath.

 

[__matt__]

You can also give it a warm water bath. 30 degrees or so. 1 gallon in the kitchen sink. 5 gallon in the bath.

That’s a great idea if this ever happens again. I got it going by pitching again and adding more sugar. Thanks!

 

[DBhomebrew]

Or, maybe just time did it all by itself and your efforts were extraneous. One will never know.