First Time | Too fast primary ferm?

[darkcide]

Hi, I'm posting about my very first time making cider and this is my first post. For my first attempt I used juice that was frozen from a local farm that had pressed it last season. The juice was 60% Piñata, 20% Pink Lady, and 20% Granny Smith. I did an equal mixture in 3 separate 5 gallon buckets for the primary fermentation.

The yeast was pitched on Thursday, July 28. The temp was 68.5 F. SG readings for the three different batches were as follows:
Batch A: 1.056
Batch B: 1.056
Batch C: 1.056

When I checked on the fermentation on August 1, Batch A and C were going at about 20 bubbles per minute but Batch B had no activity. I used Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast for all three batches.

I checked the SG again 8 days after pitching yeast on Friday, August 5. The temp was a steady 68.7 F. But the SG readings were alarmingly fast:
Batch A: 1.016
Batch B: 1.002
Batch C: 1.020

Batch B, for instance is pretty much fully fermented after a week in primary. Is the unexpectedly fast speed of fermentation because they are being stored in too warm a temperature?

Should I go ahead and rack them to secondary fermentation vessels? I guess for Batch A and B there's no reason to keep them in primary fermentation vessels anymore right?

Thanks much!

 

[MindenMan]

The changes in those reading are quite drastic in that small amount of time. Did you temperature correct for your hydrometer? You are using 5 gallon buckets (which is no problem), how did you collect your samples, did you swirl/stir the contents first? EC_1118 is a pretty aggressive yeast and many have the same results you have had time-wise.
I am of the thinking the more you move your wine, cider, beer, etc., from one vessel to another the more opportunity you have to get an infection. I would not "secondary" my ciders if I were you, unless you have to empty those fermenters out for a specific reason. Leaving your cider on the yeast for another week or so will allow the yeast to cleanup any by-products that may have been made during the fast ferment.
I am also of the thinking to ferment as cool as is possible for the particular yeast you are using to help prevent all the yummy aromatics from going out the airlock during a fast ferment.
Your next batch you may want to try a less aggressive yeast to help retain more flavor in your cider; I age all of my cider at least 6 months before I drink it as my experience has shown 6 months is a good starting point. There are many that will say their cider tastes great within weeks of bottling, and to them I am sure it does. I recently found a two year old bottle of some very high ABV cider and it was better than it was at one year, but another year in the bottle will make it even better I am sure. Good luck!

 

[darkcide]

Thanks MindenMan. I did not temperature correct. I guess I should do that. I didn't stir or swirl first, I guess I was afraid of introducing any contaminants, perhaps I should check again and swirl the contents and then temperature correct?

Thanks for the advice on whether to rack or not. I was of the thinking that I'd leave them be for another week at least and this confirms it.

Unfortunately, for the time being, I don't have access to any cooler environment. I plan on doing several batches this apple season and then fermenting them outdoors, which will let me achieve cooler temps. I'm all for as slow a fermentation and bottle aging I can do. I prefer as slow a fermentation as I can achieve. Do you think if I keeved the juice next time that would help slow down the fermentation enough?

 

[MindenMan]

If you have the ability to keeve you can make some great stuff. "Technically speaking" keeving reduces the amount of nutrient available to the yeast so your finished cider will be very flavorful and not bone dry. EC-1118 is a very aggressive yeast and in warmer temperatures it will strip away many of the aromatics you want to save. I have a quantity of Red Star, Pasteur Red Wine Yeast (not champagne) that will leave a lot of fruit flavor behind and is very forgiving about temperature... I have used it to make many gallons of great tasting "European" cider. I lust like to switch things up once in a while. If you would like some of the Pasteur yeast PM me.

 

[darkcide]

That's very kind of you. Is it this yeast? If so I can just pick some up when I'm ready to do my next batch. Would you use this gentler yeast AND keeve?

Temperature is definitely a problem. I plan on doing my next batch outside in the fall and winter so hopefully it will ferment much slower. And I'll experiment with keeving and the yeast you recommended. Thanks much!

 

[MindenMan]

dc, yes it is that exact yeast. As I have said it leaves a lot of fruit flavor, it has a wide temperature range and I never noticed any off flavors fermenting at room temperature. "Organic" juice should be a low nitrogen product and with the right yeast you should be golden.
I have taken a suggestion from Yooper that seemed to work well in my last batch; until the gravity reached 1.030-1.025 I stirred the CO2 out of the must and aerated very well on a daily basis. At that point, I closed up the fermenter and inserted an airlock. I went out of town so the cider got an "extra" 3 days--for a total of 10 days, and fermentation was done.

 

[darkcide]

OK, thanks for the tip. I will try stirring next time on one of the batches and see how it goes. And will definitely try the other yeast as well. Thanks again!

 

[MindenMan]

My current batch has dropped from 1.082 to 1.046 in four days, and my temperature in my fermenter is set @ 65F. Tomorrow when I de-gas it, I will check the gravity and if it is below 1.030, I am going to install an air lock and leave it alone until it is finished.

 

[Yooper]

My wines and ciders generally go pretty fast, usually at FG in 5-10 days or sometimes even less.

I have a photo of a cider that is about 8 days old here, using S04 yeast:


In other words, it's done when it's done. A healthy fermentation doesn't have to take weeks to be finished, and a super slow fermentation is a sign of lack of nutrition for the yeast (stressing them). So if it's been at a good temperature for fermentation, and it's progressing, the speed of fermentation doesn't matter. It's all about the quality of the finished product, so don't worry!

 

[darkcide]

That makes me feel better, thanks for the advice guys. I did rack my three batches off into carboys and gave them a taste and I was surprised to find that they tasted good! So I'm feeling good about it. Thanks again.

 

[MindenMan]

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