Cider Fermentation started with a bang! then just stopped

[Justin1983]

Hi everyone

New cider maker here.

I have a batch of cider that I started making last weekend. Its a mixture of Bramley and Royal Gala apples, and nothing else. I crushed and pressed myself. The juice tasted beautiful. I added 1 tablet and a half of campden right at the beginning to kill any possible bacteria. I waited 12 hours and then added a teaspon of pectic enzyme, aiming for a clearer appearance. I then waited another 12+ hours and finally added half a sachet of Mangrove Jacks yeast nutrient and a full sachet of Mangrove Jacks M02 cider yeast.

The following day I noticed some slow action happening in the airlock, a bubble every few minutes or so. Following day, a bubbling occurence every second or so, to a perfect rhythm.

Next morning, no action, completely stagnant.

Is this normal? Should I be worried.

Appreciate any insights

 

[mashdar]

My cider experience is limited. Why wait 24+ hours to pitch yeast? Aiming for some wild character?

By no action, do you mean in an airlock?

 

[Justin1983]

My cider experience is limited. Why wait 24+ hours to pitch yeast? Aiming for some wild character?

By no action, do you mean in an airlock?

Hi thanks for your reply. From what I've read online, you should wait 24 hours after adding the campden, to allow the campden to wear off otherwise it will kill the yeast that I add.

By no action, yes, no bubbling in the airlock.

 

[mashdar]

Ah, I missed the campden. Poor reading skills on my part.

One day would be pretty fast. My ciders took a couple days, IIRC, but it's been a while.

Is it possible you have a small leak and gas is escaping? A small leak can still allow a little airlock activity when things are really active.

Are you using a bucket?

 

[Maylar]

Is it possible you have a small leak and gas is escaping? A small leak can still allow a little airlock activity when things are really active.

I agree.

 

[Chalkyt]

Obvious questions... what was the starting SG and what is the SG now? How big is the batch? With your own pressed juice you should initially expect a scungy foam to build up comprising pulp particles etc brought to the surface by C02 bubbles. Shine a torch into the cider and see if bubbles are rising which means that fermentation is taking place.

Your process seems O.K. except that if you added nutrient at the start the yeast is likely to go into a frenzy, gobble up the sugar quickly then settle down. The concern is that you might have super dosed with the nutrient as Mangrove Jacks nutrient (DAP) here in Oz is a 14g pack. Is that what you used? Typically with DAP about 1:4 ratio of DAP to yeast is more than enough to ensure fermentation even with nutrient poor apples. Fermentation requires about 40ppm of DAP which is something like 10ppm of YAN (Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen) nutrient for every 0.010 of fermentation. Apples typically have 50 - 100 ppm of YAN so don't really need any extra nutrient. Half of a 14g pack may have made it "party time".

I have had fermentation finish in less than a week under such circumstances, but not just a couple of days. As suggested above, make sure there are no airlock leaks then get back to us... lots of good advice around here once we know what is going on.

 

[Yooper]

Apple juice may not be high in sugar, so it's definitely possible it's done fermenting. It sounds like you didn't take any gravity readings? If you have the ability, you can do it now and see where it's at. If not, wait a few days and then take a look at it, and then taste test it. It could be done, but it might not be.

 

[Justin1983]

Ah, I missed the campden. Poor reading skills on my part.

One day would be pretty fast. My ciders took a couple days, IIRC, but it's been a while.

Is it possible you have a small leak and gas is escaping? A small leak can still allow a little airlock activity when things are really active.

Are you using a bucket?

I mean I guess its possible, but I'm really not seeing/hearing much activity in the mixture anyway. I took the lids off to give them a stir, hoping that would get things going again.

Yea i'm using 5liter buckets, with grommet and an airlock. I don't think they are 100% airtight to be honest, but pretty close.

 

[Justin1983]

Apple juice may not be high in sugar, so it's definitely possible it's done fermenting. It sounds like you didn't take any gravity readings? If you have the ability, you can do it now and see where it's at. If not, wait a few days and then take a look at it, and then taste test it. It could be done, but it might not be.

I did take readings, was around 1.054. Might give it another day and take another reading. Am I right in thinking the campden won't kill the sugar? just the original wild yeast?

 

[Justin1983]

Obvious questions... what was the starting SG and what is the SG now? How big is the batch? With your own pressed juice you should initially expect a scungy foam to build up comprising pulp particles etc brought to the surface by C02 bubbles. Shine a torch into the cider and see if bubbles are rising which means that fermentation is taking place.

Your process seems O.K. except that if you added nutrient at the start the yeast is likely to go into a frenzy, gobble up the sugar quickly then settle down. The concern is that you might have super dosed with the nutrient as Mangrove Jacks nutrient (DAP) here in Oz is a 14g pack. Is that what you used? Typically with DAP about 1:4 ratio of DAP to yeast is more than enough to ensure fermentation even with nutrient poor apples. Fermentation requires about 40ppm of DAP which is something like 10ppm of YAN (Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen) nutrient for every 0.010 of fermentation. Apples typically have 50 - 100 ppm of YAN so don't really need any extra nutrient. Half of a 14g pack may have made it "party time".

I have had fermentation finish in less than a week under such circumstances, but not just a couple of days. As suggested above, make sure there are no airlock leaks then get back to us... lots of good advice around here once we know what is going on.

what you are saying about the nutrient is interesting. And yes, I used half a 14g pack in each 5L bucket. I'm not seeing any scungy foam building on the surface which is really surprising me. Could the pectic enzyme or the Campden have something to do with it?

My SG was 1.054

I havent taken another reading yet but might do tomorrow as I don't want to open the lids too much. The liquid is very dormant, not much going on at all.

I'm using buckets with a grommet and airlock plugged into the grommet. I have noticed a little liquid, well more like a bit of moisture sprinkled out, around the base of the grommet, so I suspect its not 100% airtight, but should be fairly sealed. I was getting amazing bubbling only yesterday, and then nothing today.

 

[mashdar]

If there's a small leak, that would explain lack of airlock activity - even an inch of water pressure is pretty significant when it comes to slow CO2 flow.

It's normal to have a vigorous fermentation that slows down at the end. And a lower brix juice could be almost done in a day, depending on the yeast.

Are you going to prime + bottle?

 

[Zadkiel]

Do you have any silicon sealant lying around? run a bead around the base of the grommet to seal it to the bucket, and see if the airlock starts bubbling again. Harmless experiment as you can easily just pick the silicon back off if it doesn't work.

 

[Yooper]

I did take readings, was around 1.054. Might give it another day and take another reading. Am I right in thinking the campden won't kill the sugar? just the original wild yeast?

Campden is used to kill wild yeast and bacteria. Brewer's yeast and wine yeast are very tolerant of sulfites, that's why winemakers use them. Campden is also great at every other racking and at bottling- to help deter microbes you don't want in your wine/cider but also used as the sulfites bind to wine (well, some of it does, but we won't go into free S02, etc now), so that oxygen can't. In that way, it helps to prevent oxidant and is an important tool for winemakers (and brewers).

Your cider may stop as low as .990, so do give it more time but you can always check to ensure it's not stalled.