True newbie here as I'm sure you'll pick up on. I'll run through exactly what I did on each step and would appreciate comments on anything, good/bad/ugly. Thanks in advance for your patience and for any insight you can offer.
I figured it it might be a good idea to try a small batch of hard cider for my wife. My intent was to let it fully ferment in the primary, then add some juice from the blackberries I had in the freezer into the secondary. After reaching my desired S.G. (can't remember what that was off the top of my head), I was going to bottle it using plastic bottles (scared of making glass bottle bombs).
I started with 1 gallon of pure Spartan brand Apple Juice, no additives other than vitamin C.
Poured that into my 6 gal Ale Pail and pitched a ful packet of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast.
S.G. was 1.040 with just the juice. I stirred in 1/2 cup of light brown sugar which raised it to 1.050 (maybe slightly higher as the sugar may not have all been fully dissolved).
Put the lid on the bucket and added my 3 pc airlock filled with vodka.
24 hours in - no noticeable activity. Gave it a vigorous shaking.
48 hours in - bubbling every 3-5 seconds.
7 days in - bubbling every 12-15 seconds
10 days in - stopped bubbling
I left on a trip and got back to it on the 16th day, so it sat for 6 days past fermentation. SG was .996. Taste was like weak watered down juice with a hint of alchohol, I racked it into a clean 1 gallon carboy while I washed/sanitized the Ale Pail.
After boiling down the blackberries I was left with about 1 quart of potent but tart juice. I wasn't sure I was going to like the taste so I picked up a can of blueberry/pomegranate frozen concentrate. I put half the hard cider into the Ale Pail and added warmed liquid concentrate. I ended up taking 1 cup of the blackberry juice, added 1/2 of sugar, and added that to the 1/2 gallon remaining in the carboy. I stirred each each and tasted. Both were quite good and when I mixed the samples it was great. I capped the pail and the carboy and added the airlocks.
I'm now 48 hours in and no activity, not even raising the center of the airlock. Did I wait too long and kill all the yeast?
My wife definitely wants it sparkling, so what are my options from here?
Thanks again,
Steve
I figured it it might be a good idea to try a small batch of hard cider for my wife. My intent was to let it fully ferment in the primary, then add some juice from the blackberries I had in the freezer into the secondary. After reaching my desired S.G. (can't remember what that was off the top of my head), I was going to bottle it using plastic bottles (scared of making glass bottle bombs).
I started with 1 gallon of pure Spartan brand Apple Juice, no additives other than vitamin C.
Poured that into my 6 gal Ale Pail and pitched a ful packet of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast.
S.G. was 1.040 with just the juice. I stirred in 1/2 cup of light brown sugar which raised it to 1.050 (maybe slightly higher as the sugar may not have all been fully dissolved).
Put the lid on the bucket and added my 3 pc airlock filled with vodka.
24 hours in - no noticeable activity. Gave it a vigorous shaking.
48 hours in - bubbling every 3-5 seconds.
7 days in - bubbling every 12-15 seconds
10 days in - stopped bubbling
I left on a trip and got back to it on the 16th day, so it sat for 6 days past fermentation. SG was .996. Taste was like weak watered down juice with a hint of alchohol, I racked it into a clean 1 gallon carboy while I washed/sanitized the Ale Pail.
After boiling down the blackberries I was left with about 1 quart of potent but tart juice. I wasn't sure I was going to like the taste so I picked up a can of blueberry/pomegranate frozen concentrate. I put half the hard cider into the Ale Pail and added warmed liquid concentrate. I ended up taking 1 cup of the blackberry juice, added 1/2 of sugar, and added that to the 1/2 gallon remaining in the carboy. I stirred each each and tasted. Both were quite good and when I mixed the samples it was great. I capped the pail and the carboy and added the airlocks.
I'm now 48 hours in and no activity, not even raising the center of the airlock. Did I wait too long and kill all the yeast?
My wife definitely wants it sparkling, so what are my options from here?
Thanks again,
Steve
