First hard cider questions and concerns

[Carbbrew]

This is my first hard cider brew and first brew in general.

I was just wondering if a thick foam at the top before fermentation has begun is normal. It’s had the foam since I shook the fermenter vigorously when adding honey and yeast.

I made sure to really remove any soap before washing in diluted star San but I’m worried I might not have done a good enough job.

I’ve attached a photo of my brew about 2 hours after mixing it all together. Could anyone tell me if this is normal or if it could be due to not washing away the soap well enough?

If anyone is curious or it matters I used apple cider (without any additives), honey, pectic enzyme, fermaid o, and ec-1118 yeast.

 

[JohnSand]

It looks good to me.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Sammy86]

I agree, looks great! Good luck and remember patience is a virtue!

 

[Chalkyt]

Yep, it just looks like the start of a robust fermentation. EC1118 is a very enthusiastic yeast and Fermaid will certainly help kick things along so that plus the honey has probably resulted in a quick start.
Happy New Year from 1 Jan down here in Oz!

 

[Graham H]

Other than the vessel (I’m using a 5L jug) this looks exactly like the apricot cider I started two days ago (and similar to many batches before that). I think most of my foam starts as a byproduct of the StarSan rinse and the foam from aerated apple juice. Sometimes fermentation is too energetic and I get foam in the airlock, but I just swap it with another sanitize airlock if that happens.

Congrats on the first brew and welcome to the obsession!