Alternate signs for cider fermentation?

[thisissami]

Other than bubbles in the air lock & changes in the SG - are there any signs for fermentation? Specifically - I had a thick layer of foam (maybe 1-2 inches) at the top of my cider when I opened my bucket to take a look today. Could that be linked to fermentation?

I've effectively restarted my cider batch process, as my space was far too cold to get the yeast going when I initially pitched it. I just took my new initial SG reading (since I added honey + cane sugar + water since my first SG reading), so tomorrow I can test to see if things have changed or not. I'm curious in the meantime if there are any other signs I can look for (no bubbling yet, in case that wasn't clear).

 

[thisissami]

Awwwww yisssss bubbling has begun!!! I have not felt this giddy in a long time!!

 

[RPh_Guy]

The foam is called "krausen" KROY-ZEN and is a sign of fermentation.
There must have been a leak somewhere; your airlock should have been showing plenty of activity at that point.

 

[thisissami]

My airlock wasn't engaged yet at that point. I left a towel on my bucket for the first 24 hours to encourage yeast growth. It also took a while for the bubbling to get going once the airlock went on because there's a large gap of air in my bucket (2.5 gallons of juice in a 5 gallon bucket - I thought 80 apples would get me more juice than they did! )

Thanks for the tip. Time to read up on krausen now!!

 

[dmtaylor]

Cider does not always have krausen. However you'll know it's still fermenting if you can see it fizzing. Put on your reading glasses if you need to, the fizz bubbles are almost microscopic.

 

[MarkKF]

What is it when you see bubbles on the surface? Kinda like soap suds. No thick foam or yeast. It’s happened with whole berries in the primary and most recently with just apple juice.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Looks like a typical krausen for my ciders.

Definitely yeast in there, but you can't see single-cell organisms

Cheers