Cider not fermenting

[strongarm]

I mixed 4.5g of organic apple juice and 4.5lbs of organic white sugar and part sugar in the raw. I put in glass carboy and mixed as good as I could. I added 1 packed of dry s-04 (think that was the label) after 36 hours no bubble. Temp is about 67. There is alot of sugar at the bottom of the carboy. I wish I would have mixed it better and maybe had done a yeast starter. Any ideas on what to try or should I wait it out?

 

[Bookem15]

assuming you purchased apple juice without any additives then I would just give it another shake and wait it out if nothing in another 36 hrs then you might try to repitch yeast

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Signs of fermentation can take as long as 72 hrs, longer if you just toss in dry yeast without rehydrating it 1st. I'd give it a stir with a sanitized spoon/dowel (I use a long handled spoon turned backwards) then wait for it to take off.
Regards, GF.

 

[strongarm]

Ok, I will stir it up...I didn't have a long enough spoon/stick to reach the bottom so I will get one. And there were no additives/preservatives in the juice. Thanks.

 

[Daze]

remember too that bubbles are not the best indicator of an active fermentation in the first few days after you pitch the yeast. The liquid clouding up is a far better indicator of activity. the reason for this is you will not see bubbles until the liquid has become co2 saturated. perfect example I pitched part of a wild yeast and apple juice starter in a gallon of cider yesterday. The starter was bubbling away and you would think that the already active yeast would immediately create bubbles in the cider. however because there is a full gallon of cider just weighting to absorb CO2, as of this morning there were no bubbles, however the cider has clouded so I know the starter is growing AND I imagine visible bubbles will start to form any time.

I think some times people have the idea that each bubble is created by one yeast, but yeast are so small and the amount of co2 that each one is excreting is so minimal that one little bubble is the product of 1000s of yeast. When you are dealing with such small quantities of CO2 it easily dissolves directly in to the liquid until saturation is reached.

 

[kramer]

I just did a cider, and posted the same question. Mine took about 2 or 3 full days to really start going. Then, it was non-stop for 6 more. Just give it time. Also, the cider I used had preservatives....but that didn't affect anything, in the end.

Mine turned out really, really good......even though I used "turbo yeast". It ended up ~15% abv and just a hint of sweet apple. One tall glass of that and you're I'm doing one now with regular bakers yeast. It's been bubbling for 3 days now; and the SG is still 1.075. Looks like this is going to take a while.

 

[strongarm]

Got home from work today to see activity in the airlock...took 72 hours. Next question. Can someone help me on calculating the OG. My reading was 1.060 but since most of the sugar was sitting on the bottom I don't think the reading was right. Ingredients were 4.75 g apple juice, 3lbs organic cane sugar, 2 lbs sugar in the raw.

 

[Daze]

I would say you are some where in the neighborhood of 1.075. I prefer to think of it in terms of PA or potential alcohol. 1 pound per gallon is about 5% PA apple juice on its own is also about 5% PA so that would be 10 % which would make you estimated OG some where around 1.075

 

[strongarm]

Thank you, that makes it easy for me to estimate. I am curious on the math. Is anyone able to show me the math. My juice says 24grams of sugar in 8oz so 384 grams of sugar in 1 gallon of my juice. That's a total of 1824 grams of sugar in my 4.75lbs of juice. Kind of stuck here.

 

[Daze]

those specifics get us a lot closer. I am a math guy too. approximately 450 grams of sugar per gallon will give you 5% PA so 9.2% pa or an OG of about 1.070

 

[strongarm]

So, 3 weeks later I test the SG and get 1.064. I don't understand because the airlock has been very active the last few weeks. Should I get more yeast and make a starter this time to drop in?

 

[Daze]

be patient. if you have activity more yeast will not make it ferment any faster. I have been weighting over 2 months on some apricot I am making. did you add any nutrient?? that will speed things up a bit

 

[strongarm]

No nutrient, what would I use as a nutrient? First cider so I was just surprised with all that activity it wasn't further along.

 

[Daze]

yeast nutrient is something you can get at any bear and wine making supply place. Also the OG I calculated may have been a little on the low side. some info I recent got may have put it closer to 1.085 so 20 points in 3 weeks is not to bad.

 

[strongarm]

Slow but steady. She is at .054

 

[theck]

OG was 1.068 for my juice... added 2lbs of brown sugar. Anyhow, added a starter, DME 1/2 cup and 2 cups water with reused ale yeast and yeast nutrient (which was looking good in the jar). The last time I did that it took off in 12 hours, now after 48 I get nothing. I have 1 more jar of yeast left over should I try and do another starter to pitch? Or just wait another day?

 

[Yooper]

OG was 1.068 for my juice... added 2lbs of brown sugar. Anyhow, added a starter, DME 1/2 cup and 2 cups water with reused ale yeast and yeast nutrient (which was looking good in the jar). The last time I did that it took off in 12 hours, now after 48 I get nothing. I have 1 more jar of yeast left over should I try and do another starter to pitch? Or just wait another day?

No preservatives in the juice at all? That's usually what keeps them from fermenting, so look for sorbate or benzoate on the label to make sure there isn't any reason for the yeast to not start first.

 

[theck]

No preservatives in the juice at all? That's usually what keeps them from fermenting, so look for sorbate or benzoate on the label to make sure there isn't any reason for the yeast to not start first.

Ya got the no preservatives juice... 100%. I used the same stuff on another batch which turned out great. Might pitch some more yeast it was a reused batch so who knows.

 

[mickey87123]

those specifics get us a lot closer. I am a math guy too. approximately 450 grams of sugar per gallon will give you 5% PA so 9.2% pa or an OG of about 1.070

Wow sorry to crash your chat but I just made my fist batch and I used apple juice from the shop that contained 120 grams of sugar per ltr ( I used 15 ltrs ) and added 800 grams of brown sugar which gives me about 700 grams per gallon !!

So first question is will the yeast nutrients I added make it even stronger ?

And if not am I correct in working out that my cider will be about 7.5% alc ?

 

[theck]

Wow sorry to crash your chat but I just made my fist batch and I used apple juice from the shop that contained 120 grams of sugar per ltr ( I used 15 ltrs ) and added 800 grams of brown sugar which gives me about 700 grams per gallon !!

So first question is will the yeast nutrients I added make it even stronger ?

And if not am I correct in working out that my cider will be about 7.5% alc ?

No worries, my cider finally started... I shook the bucket a bit and it just started? Hm... odd.

The nutrients just make it healthy I think, not make it higher percentage.

I think you might want to take a gravity reading to get the correct %, at least that's how I do it.

 

[CiderRules]

No worries, my cider finally started... I shook the bucket a bit and it just started? Hm... odd.

The nutrients just make it healthy I think, not make it higher percentage.

I think you might want to take a gravity reading to get the correct %, at least that's how I do it.

Sounds like it was probably going already, shaking it just made the dissolved co2 leave the solution. If you've ever added powdered nutrient to something after fermenting a bit the same thing happens.

 

[theck]

Sounds like it was probably going already, shaking it just made the dissolved co2 leave the solution. If you've ever added powdered nutrient to something after fermenting a bit the same thing happens.

Ya I think it was... I peaked inside as well and saw the fuzz on top like last time. I did add nutrient as well to the starter I made, that was my first time doing so. I've been saving yeast from various ales and reusing on these apple batches so I figured I'd use some nutrients. I hear good and bad about nutrients so never used it in my stuff previous.