Stuck Cider?

[saynomore10]

I made my first hard cider about six weeks ago. Recipe was 4 Gal. apple juice, 1 Gal cran-blueberry juice and two cans of apple juice concentrate for some extra kick. Made sure there were no preservatives or weird additives in the juice. OG was 1.056. Fermented with Wyeast 3068 and added some yeast nutrient too.

Here's the deal. It's been sitting at 1.008 for a few weeks now. From what I hear, ciders should finish much lower than that. Do I have a stuck fermentation?

It's been a bit cold for L.A. lately, so my fermenter has dropped down to 60 at times. I warmed it up to 68-70 a week ago and have kept it there since, also giving it a swirl, but my FG is still at 1.008.

Any ideas what's up? Could the yeast have anything to do with it? It's still pretty cloudy from the hefe yeast. Could all that yeast in suspension raise the cider's gravity higher than it actually is?

 

[david_42]

It certainly sounds stuck, which is odd for a 1.056 cider. Since it's 80% done, I'd pitch a packet of wine yeast to finish it.

Suspended yeast won't impact the gravity reading.

 

[saynomore10]

Yep, I'll probably head to my LHBS this weekend and pick up some yeast. Thanks for the info!

 

[JonGoku]

Anything wrong with tasting it first? You might like how it tastes at 1.008. Of course I'm not sure if stuck = safe to bottle without bombs.

 

[saynomore10]

Anything wrong with tasting it first? You might like how it tastes at 1.008. Of course I'm not sure if stuck = safe to bottle without bombs.

It tastes pretty sour and yeasty from 3068 right now, but i know it needs months of conditioning to drop those yeasts and smooth out the flavor. I plan on bottle carbing this, so I'd like to ferment it all out first before bottling to avoid those bombs!

 

[JonGoku]

Well let us know what you end up doing and how it works out.

 

[david_42]

Of course I'm not sure if stuck = safe to bottle without bombs.

Definitely not for a cider, they finish below 1.000; so, 1.008 is double carbonation. I can predict with 100% certainly that the fermentation would resume if bottled. Nature is perverse.

 

[saynomore10]

Okay. Pitched a package of Lalvin EC-1118 today. I'll check the gravity in a few days or so to see if fermentation has resumed.

 

[saynomore10]

So I checked the gravity last night, four days after pitching the Lavlin. Still at 1.008. I'm wondering now if my hydrometer is off. I checked it with regular tap water (didn't have any distilled in the house) and it also read 1.008. Might go pick some distilled up and make sure it's accurate.