Cider molding not fermenting

[porterfordessert]

Hello cider forum!

I'm struggling with my first cider and hoping you can help me troubleshoot and save 30 gallons from being dumped.

On thanksgiving we pressed ~100 gallons of cider and I took home 35. 5 went directly into the kegerator and the rest went into 4 fermenters:

F1: campden, 48 hours later pitched lager yeast
F2: campden, 24 hours later pitched ale yeast
F3: no campden, pitched champagne yeast
F4: campden, 24 hours later pitched champagne yeast

The campden was crushed before added to the fermenters.

After three weeks in my garage fermentation closet at 45-50ish degrees, the results are ugly:

https://picasaweb.google.com/porterfordessert/Cider?authuser=0&feat=directlink

F1: some bubbling, no drop in gravity
F2: visible mold, didn't check gravity, some bubbling
F3: drop from 1.047 to 1.040, significant bubbling
F4: lots of mold. Cider looks "hairy" from the growth on top. Did not take gravity.

So, questions:
-Is my cider salvageable, and how?
-What did I do wrong? My guesses: pitching too soon after adding campden and/or fermentation room too cold (despite reading 40-60 degrees is ideal)

Thanks for your help, fingers crossed...

 

[nukinfuts29]

I'm confused (maybe its my cider i'm drinking), why are you pitching so much yeast?

First thing I would do is rack from under the mold into a secondary taking extra care to sanitize everything.

 

[bottlebomber]

I'm confused (maybe its my cider i'm drinking), why are you pitching so much yeast?

Note there are 4 different fermenters being used, so he is evidently experimenting.

OP, why would you conclude that you could get away with fermenting ale yeast in the 40's? That's on the lower end of a lager yeast. Also, how much campden did you add. One tablet adds 50 ppm to a gallon, 50 is a good safe amount for non-pasturized juice so 5 tablets for each bucket.

Pictures would help as well.

 

[nukinfuts29]

ahhhh F1, F2, etc.

Where are these things located in your house? Multiple infections seems to me like you have a mold problem, and thats very unhealthy.

 

[UpstateMike]

1: I saw the pictures. Ick!

2: Way too cold. I wouldn't be fermenting anywhere below 60, but I'm not sure that has anything to do with the mold problem. Read up on the info for each yeast to see what their ideal ferment temps are.

3. How did you sanitize the buckets and lids? Are the seals good?

4. Did your airlock run out of liquid at any point?

 

[divi2323]

My opinion... its too cold and the yeast are dormant or dead by now. Once the yeast didn't take over the natural nasties decided to move in.

As for salvageable, I don't know. With maybe a pencil sized bit of mold I'd warm it up and add a good healthy yeast starter. The yeast would likely drive off any of the baddies. But that's a pretty big infection. Not sure if you can rack from under it and give it a go or not.

Next time don't wait three weeks check it daily. Not going to hurt to peek at it.

 

[LeBreton]

My opinion... its too cold and the yeast are dormant. Once the yeast didn't take over the natural nasties decided to move in.

Agreed.

Rack out from under the nastyness into clean carboys. Bring up the temp for a few days to let the yeasts get going. Once you get a healthy fermentation put them back outside and let them slowly ferment to delicious.

 

[bottlebomber]

I would rack it from under the yeast, add new campden, and start all over again. New yeast, everything.

 

[Joe_in_CT]

I would also rack into carboys.

Eliminate the air space.

I'm new to this, but I wouldn't add Campden to kill everything. I would rub a broken Campden tablet together to powder the surface of the liquid in the necks of the carboys.

BottleBomber could be offering the most certain cure...

I have some carboys of keeved juice ( wild yeast fermentation ) out in my garage. Some are pretty active but two might come inside to warm up to 60 or 65°F. In spite of the cold, I'll need to rack a few jugs to slow them down.

 

[porterfordessert]

Folks,

Thanks so much for all the replies. Since my post I did rack the two moldy fermenters into new ones from under the mold. I turned the heater on and got the fermenters up to ~60 degrees which seems to be in range for all of the yeasts. I pitched new champagne yeast in the fermenter that was very moldy in case I'd killed off the existing yeast.

Now ~5 days later, all fermenters are bubbling away healthily! I'm not holding my breath for drinkable cider at this point, but hoping that the alcohol will kill off any dangerous mold/spores. My guess is that the campden didn't/doesn't kill absolutely everything nasty and given enough time the mold was able to grow, despite sanitized fermenters and airlocks.

So--hopefully we all learn some lessons from this. Check your fermenters often and follow your yeast specs!

Thanks again--I'll post back with progress.

 

[Joe_in_CT]

"Check your fermenters"

And ask Santa for carboys... all that you think you need,
...plus one!

 

[gardnert]

I'm sorry to hijack this thread, but it is just so dang relevant to me right now.
I've brewed cider in small batches before, but always with store bought cider (already in glass jugs, made sanitizing easier). These results were ok (I'm still new to this). This past week a coworker of mine got me a gallon of fresh pressed cider from a farm near her. So I sanitized my glass jug, screw top and airlock assembly (all using Star San). I transferred the cider to the jug (which had a little foam from the sanitizing), and added one campden tablet. Shook it up, capped it and went to bed. I get up this morning to what looks like fermentation :-/ Smells a little sharp, so I added another tablet, just to be sure. Would one/two tablets not kill what was living in this one gallon of cider? Is it salvageable? Can i just heat it up to something like 180ºF and try again?

 

[notjustgc]

I'm sorry to hijack this thread, but it is just so dang relevant to me right now.
I've brewed cider in small batches before, but always with store bought cider (already in glass jugs, made sanitizing easier). These results were ok (I'm still new to this). This past week a coworker of mine got me a gallon of fresh pressed cider from a farm near her. So I sanitized my glass jug, screw top and airlock assembly (all using Star San). I transferred the cider to the jug (which had a little foam from the sanitizing), and added one campden tablet. Shook it up, capped it and went to bed. I get up this morning to what looks like fermentation :-/ Smells a little sharp, so I added another tablet, just to be sure. Would one/two tablets not kill what was living in this one gallon of cider? Is it salvageable? Can i just heat it up to something like 180ºF and try again?

Take a walk on the wild side! Get a gravity reading, let it go for a few days and see if you like the result. My $0.02.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I'm sorry to hijack this thread, but it is just so dang relevant to me right now.
I've brewed cider in small batches before, but always with store bought cider (already in glass jugs, made sanitizing easier). These results were ok (I'm still new to this). This past week a coworker of mine got me a gallon of fresh pressed cider from a farm near her. So I sanitized my glass jug, screw top and airlock assembly (all using Star San). I transferred the cider to the jug (which had a little foam from the sanitizing), and added one campden tablet. Shook it up, capped it and went to bed. I get up this morning to what looks like fermentation :-/ Smells a little sharp, so I added another tablet, just to be sure. Would one/two tablets not kill what was living in this one gallon of cider? Is it salvageable? Can i just heat it up to something like 180ºF and try again?

If it doesnt go away, just let it ride as a wild yeast strain fermentation and see how it comes out? As long as its fermenting and not molding...

 

[LeBreton]

Any wild yeast that can survive 2 campden tablets in quick succession should result in a drinkable finished product. Rather than pasteurizing it yourself at home try pitching an aggressive commercial yeast strain like a champagne yeast, this should out compete any wild ferment you have going.