First Cider Brew

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GoodNightPunk

New Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2013
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone. My name is Dan and I'm new to HBT. THanks in advance for helping share your experiences.

I started my first cider batch on Wednesday night and thought I went simple to start, but so far I have seen no action in my airlock and I'm wondering if I did something wrong.

I started by sanitizing everything (My primary bucket, plastic spoon, bucket lid, airlock, measuring cups, etc.). I then poured 3 gallons of Spiced Cider (No preservatives) into the bucket. I started by adding 2/3 a pound of brown sugar. After that I put 2 oz of water into the measuring cup at about 104-109 degrees Fahrenheit. I then added Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast into the measuring cup and stirred it. After that I added the yeast into the bucked with the cider and sugar.

Now I had thought beforehand that I just open the yeast and put it into the cider, but looking at the back of the yeast packet it had some pictures of instructions (no worded instructions) to do the water thing that I did. I'm not sure now if that messed something up or I actually did it right.

So my question is, should I be seeing action in the airlock by now. It's been 2 days, but I've read it can take up to 48 hours to begin showing in the airlock and my bucket is from Midwest Brewing and is all white so I can't see inside.

What do you guys think? Any ideas to check? Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan
:mug:
 
It can actually take up to three days and never judge fermentation by airlock activity. Anything settling on the bottom?
 
I'm new to this to. Just put my 4th batch on. Been drinking my first batch and it's great.

I had the same experience as you. 3 days. No bubbles. I put a small heater in the room to bump the temp up and bingo.

My guess is you need to warm it up a little bit. 65 or 70 will get it going
 
Also check for leaks around the airlock and the bucket lid. But I'd be willing to bet price's answer is the best one.
 
put your ear to the bucket, hear any thing? fizzing? if you do make sure your lid is sealed sooner or later it should make your airlock bubble.
 
Should I put tape around the seal to make sure of the seal? I shouldn't smell anything if its not bubbling and it's sealed correctly right? That side of the house is cooler too so I may move it.
 
Didn't mention this before, but also I am brewing 3 gallons in a five gallon bucket. Would that make a difference? I opened it up out of curiosity, and it is fermenting with the bubbles rising from the cider. So I guess it still just needs some time. I added frog tape to the outside of the seal, so hopefully it's good seal wise now.

I guess we'll see.

image-608332336.jpg


image-3159018212.jpg
 
Sounds like your getting some fermentation action! The tape isn't a bad idea to try and help with air leaks. Hopefully you didn't have any to begin with. Good luck!
 
The thing with brewing is patients. Cider is really hard to mess up...do you have glass carboy? I always start my batches in a bucket it saves the clean up. I rack to my carboys around day five...you have a big bucket for a small batch. You can still accomplish a good cider but you have to leave it alone cause you have more oxygen in you bucket with all that head space
 
Back
Top