1st time cider, some questions

[staggerlee]

Wish I had staggered into this place sooner; I might not have to ask some of these questions then. Nonetheless, here goes:

I made a first time batch of apple cider last weekend with apples scrumped from neighbours and friends. A friend experienced in beer brewing (but not in cider) helped me out with the milling and pressing (mash & squash) & with the lend of some fermenting equipment.

The yeast was recommended by the local homebrew supplier - they were out of cider yeast but suggested Lalvin D47. My friend picked up some airlocks and some Lalvin V1116 (his homebrew shop suggested V1118 but they were out, & suggested 1116 as a close substitute). Rather than choose, we did two batches.

On Sunday we made one 23L batch with 2 packets D47 and one 8L batch with 1 packet V1116, plus a 3L "control" batch with wild yeast only. I added a K-meta solution, one of yeast nutrient, and we pitched about an hour afterward.

So the next morning I'm all "Argh! We've killed the yeast with the K-meta!" but such was not the case; vigorous fermentation had begun by Monday afternoon in both the inoculated batches. The 23L batch had bigtime krausen and lots of fizz (it's in an unsealed bucket, so I can peek in and see). The 8L batch had lots of airlock action (sealed bucket, I haven't looked in). Both have settled down considerably by today (Thursday). The 3L batch has nothing happening except (as of yesterday) a little mold beginning to form on the top.

Now, the questions:

1) Obviously we overpitched the yeast. Is this likely to cause off flavours, or what is the effect going to be? Does a massive overpitch result in a fast-n-dirty fermentation, or is the end time about the same?

2) I didn't know about pectic enzyme at the time. It doesn't really work in alcoholic environments, apparently - is there an unintrusive way to clarify after fermentation, or is it going to be cloud city?

3) The fermentation was begun at about 21ºC - too warm! We're now down in the 16-17ºC range. Is the first few days of vigorous fermentation likely to have a big effect on the flavour, or if I keep it cooler from now on will it come out pretty OK?

4) The wild "control" batch: is it just being very slow to start, or is it going to be taken over by mold? (The moldy bits are bigger today, still no smell besides that of fresh apple juice.) Any way to kick-start a wild fermentation without pitching cultured yeast?

Thanks for your input.

 

[CvilleKevin]

1) Overpitching wont be a problem. Yeast choice could be. The D47 will give you a crisp but very dry white wine finish, which (as Correnty would put it) will be sippable, but not quaffable. Maybe thats OK. I've had nothing but crap results from the 1116 tho. I'd recommend an ale yeast next time if you want to drink it by the pint.

2) Cold crashing will work to clear up the D47, especially since you are starting with unpasteruized juice (use forum search tool for more info on cold crashing)

3) 21 C wont be a problem, but the cooler you can keep it without freezing, the better

4) Wild yeast ferments can be pretty finicky. I've had them start in as little as 24 hours and as long as 7 days. However, they are prone to infections. If you are getting mold on the top (and not a big brett fan), I'd recommend syphoning the juice into a 3L container with an airlock on the top so that CO2 can get out but nothing else gets in. If your brewing friend has a C02 tank, you can put the wild batch in a gallon jug and blow some CO2 on top to fill the head space so that there is nothing on top of the cider but CO2, then put the airlock on