So, the total batch size is a little shy of 4 gallons. My cheapo water bottle fermentor is 4 gallons.
That was 3.5 gallons of cider at a gravity of 1.042 + granulated sugar until I got a gravity of 1.110. Slightly higher then I was aiming for, but still fine. 4 teaspoons of yeast nutrient, 2 teaspoons pectin enzyme, and some yeast I harvested from my last batch of cider.
2 days later, no foam, no airlock activity. Checked the gravity, 1.110... hmm. That's when I checked the bottles of cider and noticed they contain potassium sorbate...oops.
I've had a couple ideas bouncing around my head for dealing with potassium sorbate for a little while. So, I thought I'd try a few of them and see what happens.
I split the must into 5 containers. 4 of which contain about .85 of a gallon. The jugs the cider came in were handy for that. The last one is about .75 of a quart. The larger jugs each got 4 grams of dried distillers yeast. Here's what else was added to each one;
1. 1500mg of calcium carbonate. IE: 2 cherry flavored tums tablets crushed in my mortar and pestle. This is what made me think that might work. Sorbic acid being an acid, maybe an antacid would help.
2. 8 tea bags. This is what made me think this might do something. I'm not really expecting anything from this one. Caffeine might increase the lifespan of the yeast enough that they are able to reproduce, it might not. It might even nail the coffin shut on reproduction, depending on what it actually does with the enzymes involved.
3. 1/2 teaspoon yeast nutrient. If the yeast are in better health they may be able to reproduce in spite of the potassium sorbate. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't.
4. All of the above. What a single change may not accomplish, all of them might.
5. Nothing. This is the control sample.
It will be a few days before I can make any kind of intelligent observations. If the whole thing fails, and the juice doesn't spoil some other way, I'll turn it into apple syrup and use it to backsweeten.
That was 3.5 gallons of cider at a gravity of 1.042 + granulated sugar until I got a gravity of 1.110. Slightly higher then I was aiming for, but still fine. 4 teaspoons of yeast nutrient, 2 teaspoons pectin enzyme, and some yeast I harvested from my last batch of cider.
2 days later, no foam, no airlock activity. Checked the gravity, 1.110... hmm. That's when I checked the bottles of cider and noticed they contain potassium sorbate...oops.
I've had a couple ideas bouncing around my head for dealing with potassium sorbate for a little while. So, I thought I'd try a few of them and see what happens.
I split the must into 5 containers. 4 of which contain about .85 of a gallon. The jugs the cider came in were handy for that. The last one is about .75 of a quart. The larger jugs each got 4 grams of dried distillers yeast. Here's what else was added to each one;
1. 1500mg of calcium carbonate. IE: 2 cherry flavored tums tablets crushed in my mortar and pestle. This is what made me think that might work. Sorbic acid being an acid, maybe an antacid would help.
2. 8 tea bags. This is what made me think this might do something. I'm not really expecting anything from this one. Caffeine might increase the lifespan of the yeast enough that they are able to reproduce, it might not. It might even nail the coffin shut on reproduction, depending on what it actually does with the enzymes involved.
3. 1/2 teaspoon yeast nutrient. If the yeast are in better health they may be able to reproduce in spite of the potassium sorbate. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't.
4. All of the above. What a single change may not accomplish, all of them might.
5. Nothing. This is the control sample.
It will be a few days before I can make any kind of intelligent observations. If the whole thing fails, and the juice doesn't spoil some other way, I'll turn it into apple syrup and use it to backsweeten.
