I am fermenting some cider and I've got a really stubborn stuck fermentation. When I first pitched the yeast, it went mad and fermented down from 1.080 to 1.038 in about 3 days, but then it stopped. I've tried repitching yeast, adding nutrient, shaking it, racking it (for O2) and I've even added the trub from other batches of cider (don't worry, it was fresh), but it's still stuck! At first I was fermenting it pretty cold, I brought the temperature up to 18oC a week ago. I'm using Nottingham ale yeast. Over the past week, the gravity has actually gone up from 1.038 to 1.045. I don't know how this has happened or whether this is relevant. I'm completely stumped here. Does anyone have any advice?
Cider fermentation stuck
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mdabbles
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Need more info, any other ingredients added to your cider? What was your original ferment temp. ? Are you adjusting hydrometer readings for temperature variations. Have you checked PH, if you've added other ingredients... Your cider - does it have preservatives or other additives? checking your gravity sample, make sure it is still, no bubbles, etc. Read it at proper line of site. Just a few things I thought of. At 1.08, Nottingham should go much further.
The only ingredients are apple juice (that I concentrated with freezing a la Quebec), DAP and yeast. I don't generally adjust hydrometer readings for temperature, but as the juice gets warmer, if anything, the reading should go down, not up. The juice does not have any preservatives. I was very careful about that. I've made cider from this juice many times before. There are no bubbles on the surface of the cider. It's a bit difficult to do exact reading in a carboy, however I can tell you that before, the 40 on my hydrometer was a bit below the surface, and now I am beginning to see the 50. Any advice?
mdabbles
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Man, I don't have a clue, it's the strangest thing I've seen. I don't know why your SG would be increasing, and not stabilizing, over time. If you can't get a restart at that gravity, I have to assume it's a contamination of some sorts, or there are some chemicals (which you say there are not) in there. Good Luck,,,
This looks like exactly the same problem you had last year at this time... just diff gravity readings. What's up with that? Did you figure out what happened back then?
At this point, how does it taste? Is it overly sweet.. like there is still a lot of sugar? It may have completed.
At this point, how does it taste? Is it overly sweet.. like there is still a lot of sugar? It may have completed.
It's similar to last year, except last year I was able to get it going again (I think, but I may have turned what was supposed to be a 10% dry cider into a 5% sweet).
Quick note: I make many different types of cider for myself and the other members of my co-op. Some types only differ by final gravity. In theory I could easily turn this one into a 5% sweet, but I already filtered and bottled the 5% sweet, so I kind of need to get this one going. It is still very sweet. It certainly hasn't completed.
When I came home today after work, there was a little bit of foam starting to form on the top. The gravity was still high, but we'll see where it goes in the next two days.
...and I also pitched a pack of US-05.
