Happy New Year to everyone! I'm very new to cider brewing but have been enjoying the journey immensely. In mid- November, I pressed a few bushels of Mountain Pippins and Stayman Winesaps (a whole ordeal for a newbie with questionable equipment) and started 4 1-gallon ferments, 1) pippins w/commercial yeast; 2) winesaps w/commercial yeast, 3) blend w/commercial yeast; and 4) blend for wild ferment (no sulfite added). Just FYI, the commercial yeast I used was Mangrove Jacks M02. The 3 ferments with the added yeast took a few days to get started but then did great, going for about 5 weeks. The last one with no added yeast never started. I had a heater set at 61 but i had the fan at too low a setting, so the temperature actually ranged from 53-62 over the course of 5 weeks (I left them unattended at my lake house in NC but could monitor the ferments via security cam and could track the temperature as well). I assume the wild ferment never started because it was too cool...now that i'm back at the lake house, i've tried warming that batch up to 70, then 72, and now 74. Still no action...is it too late for this batch?
Attempt at wild ferment never started...so what to do?
- Thread starter bodamane
- Start date
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Wild yeast like the cold. I've had cider spontaneously ferment in the fridge at 40°F. Maybe try adding a teaspoon of DAP to it?
