RIptidedylan
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2018
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 4
Hi everyone, long time lurker first time poster here.
I pressed about four gallons of cider and prepared it following http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm which I read about on here. Per their instructions I used 3 campden tabs (150 ppm) per gallon--which translated into 2.5 tabs as I am using 1 gallon jugs w/airlocks that are topped maybe to 80%. Now, I'm really worried because most other places recommend 1 tab per gallon MAYBE 2, but cider.org.uk has a chart that shows how many based on Ph--my starting Ph was 3.7 and SG was 1.050 on the money. So according to their chart I needed 3 campden tabs per gallon.
I waited 24 hours (more like 27 to be safe), and pitched two types of yeast --in two of the four gallons White labs enlglish cider yeast that I had started with simple cider juice on a stir plate with aluminum cover for a day before (it was super yeasty and great smelling--clearly ready to go). The other two I used a wild yeast starter I had cultured and selected from a series of mason jars with cider + apple peels from the local orchard --one of the 4 smelled AMAZING and so I made a starter and used that on the other two gallons.
ANYHOW --it has been 2 full days (maybe 2 and a half now?) and none of the cider that I used campden with has shown any signs of fermentation. I opened and re-aerated yesterday but still nothing.AS a control of sorts, I just processed the other 24 gallons from the store without campden (my thinking was they have been uv treated already and campden treatment may have killed my other tests), and now all 6 of these batches that make the 24 gallon --with 4 types of yeast (including the white labs and my wild yeast, and the two cyzers I'm trying) are ALL fermenting within 6 hours.
So does anyone have advice for my poor 4 small batch ciders? I aerated well 26 hrs after sulphiting so scientifically it seems it shouldn't have hurt my new culture--and if anything it should only slow it down a bit as I've read commercial strains are pretty sulphite resistant. Should I add yeast nutrient, wait and then repitch with new yeast? Or is it just considerably slower because of the sulphiting and now the absence of wild yeast ? Cider.org says it should take 2-3 days and I'm right there now with no signs of fermentation. Again as another control of sorts fermentation happened within 2 days or not at all in my wild yeast culture tests. I also read on here that sometimes cider fermentation are slower and less obvious, but again my airlocks in all 6 other non-sulphited batches are already bubbling in under a day.
Please help! I'm pretty devastated, I put sooo much time into these small batches, getting the right varieties to balance everything (crab apples were hard to find!!!) , and I'm really upset that following these directions I may have killed my cider. I'm very interested in what you all might suggest, thanks for your help!
I pressed about four gallons of cider and prepared it following http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm which I read about on here. Per their instructions I used 3 campden tabs (150 ppm) per gallon--which translated into 2.5 tabs as I am using 1 gallon jugs w/airlocks that are topped maybe to 80%. Now, I'm really worried because most other places recommend 1 tab per gallon MAYBE 2, but cider.org.uk has a chart that shows how many based on Ph--my starting Ph was 3.7 and SG was 1.050 on the money. So according to their chart I needed 3 campden tabs per gallon.
I waited 24 hours (more like 27 to be safe), and pitched two types of yeast --in two of the four gallons White labs enlglish cider yeast that I had started with simple cider juice on a stir plate with aluminum cover for a day before (it was super yeasty and great smelling--clearly ready to go). The other two I used a wild yeast starter I had cultured and selected from a series of mason jars with cider + apple peels from the local orchard --one of the 4 smelled AMAZING and so I made a starter and used that on the other two gallons.
ANYHOW --it has been 2 full days (maybe 2 and a half now?) and none of the cider that I used campden with has shown any signs of fermentation. I opened and re-aerated yesterday but still nothing.AS a control of sorts, I just processed the other 24 gallons from the store without campden (my thinking was they have been uv treated already and campden treatment may have killed my other tests), and now all 6 of these batches that make the 24 gallon --with 4 types of yeast (including the white labs and my wild yeast, and the two cyzers I'm trying) are ALL fermenting within 6 hours.
So does anyone have advice for my poor 4 small batch ciders? I aerated well 26 hrs after sulphiting so scientifically it seems it shouldn't have hurt my new culture--and if anything it should only slow it down a bit as I've read commercial strains are pretty sulphite resistant. Should I add yeast nutrient, wait and then repitch with new yeast? Or is it just considerably slower because of the sulphiting and now the absence of wild yeast ? Cider.org says it should take 2-3 days and I'm right there now with no signs of fermentation. Again as another control of sorts fermentation happened within 2 days or not at all in my wild yeast culture tests. I also read on here that sometimes cider fermentation are slower and less obvious, but again my airlocks in all 6 other non-sulphited batches are already bubbling in under a day.
Please help! I'm pretty devastated, I put sooo much time into these small batches, getting the right varieties to balance everything (crab apples were hard to find!!!) , and I'm really upset that following these directions I may have killed my cider. I'm very interested in what you all might suggest, thanks for your help!