Fermenting Timeline Question

[BeeDeeEff]

How long after you pitch should you see activity in the airlock?

I've done several 1gallon batches of cider and each time the airlock was bubbling away within hours of pitching yeast. However in my first attempt at a 5 gallon batch the airlock didn't start bubbling for a solid 3 days after pitching (though I did see a slowly growing krausen when I peeked under the lid on day 2).

The look and smell of the batch make it seem healthy, I was just wondering what the time difference was about. Same cider in both 1gal case and 5 gal case (from a local orchard ~1.05 SG), same nutrients, same peptic enzyme, same aerating process.

Only thing I can think is that I used one packet of Notty yeast in both, so it just took longer to multiply and use up the oxygen in the 5 gal batch than it did in the 1 gallon. Should I expect that to be the case? or should I keep an eye out for infections or something else wrong in my 5 gallon batch?

 

[SilverZero]

As the old saying goes, airlock activity is not a reliable indicator of yeast activity. The larger batch size could lead to a longer lag phase for the yeast, especially if you used the same pitch amount for both small and large batches. One packet in 1 gallon is 5 times the pitching rate of one packet in 5 gallons, so it's going to take the same number of yeast a lot longer to get rolling. It sounds like you understand the overall yeast cycle.

If it's going now, I'd say don't worry about it.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Tks for the reply, just a little nervous since the time and $$$ investment in this batch is a bit larger. Time to wait and see.

 

[thelema5]

Only thing I can think is that I used one packet of Notty yeast in both, so it just took longer to multiply and use up the oxygen in the 5 gal batch than it did in the 1 gallon. Should I expect that to be the case? or should I keep an eye out for infections or something else wrong in my 5 gallon batch?

This is probably your answer. While some yeasts start more quickly than others, you're dealing with a much greater volume of air in the fermenter this time around, so it will take longer for it to be noticeably displaced by the CO2 being produced by the yeast.

If you're using the same juice and the same yeast that you've had success with before, there's no reason to suspect anything has gone wrong. I'd give it another few days to get up to speed.