Cyser, dry pitched yeast.

[iskra092]

Hey guys,

So im a bit of a newb at all of this, but I decided to try my hand at a cyser last night. I made the unfortunate mistake of dry pitching the yeast, saw a small amount of airlock activity this morning. Below is what I used

1 Gallon Apple Juice (No preservatives)

2.5# of honey

Safale US-05 Yeast (Full Pack) - I used an ale yeast because I did not want a very dry cyser, please let me know if this was also wrong.

1/2 tsp yeast nutrient.

I put a small amount of apple juice and the honey in a pot, and heated it on the lowest setting possible, just enough to dissolve all the honey in. I then added the honey with the rest of the juice in my carboy, and shaked vigorously (good amount of foam after this). Dry pitched the yeast and put on the airlock.

I have a few questions, most around my choice of yeast, and regarding aeration and adding more yeast nutrient. Should I be airaiting during primary, and adding yeast nutrient per other mead instructions? Or is this different because its a cyser? How often should I be doing this?

Did adding the yeast dry mess up my primary fermentation? Will I need to re-pitch more yeast? How should I hydrate the yeast prior to adding? I see many instructions say to use tap water, but thats not sanitary right?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[dmtaylor]

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/t/cyser-dry-pitched-yeast/22817/5

 

[mredge73]

Never aerate after pitching yeast, let it sit and it will be fine.
Choice of yeast should be fine depending on your OG? 2.5# of honey per gallon sounds like a lot.
Ale yeast will not likely ferment to completion if your OG is in the wine range of 1.10-1.08
No need to add more nutrient; apple juice should give it enough nutrients.
Dry pitching in a high gravity must will reduce viability; but you should be fine since you started with 5x as much as you needed.
When hydrating yeast use warm water 100-110F, tap is fine as the yeast will easily out compete whatever is lurking in the water. Use bottled spring water if you are worried.

How long has it been with no activity?
With such a small batch and large amount of yeast you may have missed all the airlock activity and it may be finished, what is the FG?

 

[bmwr75]

Read the last two articles at this link and you will be well on your way to making great mead: https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/articles/

Aerating mead until the SG reaches 1.030 is a common practice.

 

[fossilcat]

I aerate with the drill to the midpoint, then stir with a long handled perforated spoon to de-gass until about 1.030. Then I swoosh the bucket gently every couple of days until it hits 1.000 or so and I'm ready to rack.