First time Cider maker. Bit green, Go easy!

[lastplumber]

Hello there!

New here so if this is not in the right place, please could a mod move it to where it's meant to be?

I pressed my apples on Saturday (1st time i've done this). There are about 12.5 litres of juice in a fermenting barrel. lid on, bung in.

I put 3 Campden tabs in and left it. My Cider yeast has not arrived as yet and now I'm worrying that the apple juice may go off?

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[boland]

Would you be able to chill it? As it's fresh juice, probably good idea to keep it as chilled as possible.

 

[lastplumber]

Would you be able to chill it? As it's fresh juice, probably good idea to keep it as chilled as possible.

It's in the Garage. 16 degrees ish !

It has been in there 3 days now. smells fine tastes fine, yeast should arrive today. I read that you can leave it open to air with a cloth over (to stop invaders), and it may start with natural airborne yeasts (bit like sourdough bread), is that true? If it is, I think it will be OK. The thing that bothered me was that the fermenting keg is only half full. It has been sealed straight after putting the Campden tabs in.

 

[dmtaylor]

It will begin spontaneous fermentation in the next day or two, if it hasn't already. Just add any commercial yeast that you have on hand. ANY yeast. They all turn out fine.

 

[Electrake]

There's no reason spontaneous fermentation would occur after adding campden tabs unless your sterile practices are in question. Also, the problem with trying to do a wild fermentation like you are mentioning is that there are way more "bugs" in than the air than just yeast, and way more yeast in the air than just saccharomyces. If you dont want to risk your cider, than just rely on yeast you're pitching, or drop the pH below 4.5!

 

[lastplumber]

Yeast is in. M02. Mangrove Jacks.
Thank you.
How long should it take?
Is that like asking how long is a piece of string?

 

[boland]

Yeast is in. M02. Mangrove Jacks.
Thank you.
How long should it take?
Is that like asking how long is a piece of string?

1-2 weeks usually. Just test SG, when it's stable and below 1.010 you're good.

 

[madscientist451]

How long it takes depends on temperature, available nutrients, yeast viability and other factors. I like to ferment my cider on the cool side, like 55-60F and go slow, but go with whatever temps you have (write everything down, including ferment temps).
Then next time you can make some changes if you want to.

 

[Scrumpy!]

Still lots of fear and loathing out there about spontaneous fermentation. Embrace the wild then ferment slow and cold.

Yes there is yeast in the air but all apples contain apiculate yeast which is the first wild bug to chow down on all that sugar. These wee beasties lock in a full bodied apple flavor if treated well. The sachros kick in when the apiculates can't survive in their own waste alcohol (~5%). It is not clear where the sachros actually come from but you can count on them to appear even in well sanitized containers that have a fermentation lock on them.

Treating with campden tablets or a sulfite solution does not kill yeast!!!!! It kills bacteria both good and bad. It does prevent the yeast from reproducing for a few tens of hours to a a couple of days which is desirable if you plan to pitch commercial yeast. If you go to the wild side, you will only add a 25 ppm shot of sulfite instead of 50 ppm. This kills spoilage and other bacteria but allows the apiculate yeast to loaf around for a day or two before digging into your sugar rich environment.

As to adding any yeast, take that with a grain of salt. Do not add bread yeast because it was developed to digest starch and complex sugars. I avoid beer and ale yeasts for more or less the same reason though they do work. If I were to add a commercial yeast, I would be looking toward varieties that are specifically developed for cider or wine.