Grape juice cider experiment

[BorisM]

So the other week I was draining juice from grapes for the wine and it occured to me that I could try and make a cider out of it, since the amount of wine we got from our vineyard vastly exceeds my familly's needs for that beverage. So I did some calculations, pasteurised the juice, added water so the final product should have some 5-5.5 ABV which seemed a lot better than the original 9 or 10 ABV. I rehydrated and added the yeast some three days ago and still have no activity in the airlock.
Could I have done something wrong (and please don't tell me it was all in vain)?

 

[JimRausch]

What yeast strain? Starter? Temperature at pitch and now? How confident are you that you don't have a leaky gasket/stopper? As you know, the only way to be absolutely certain whether fermentation is happening is to take a SG and see if it has decreased. But it may be premature.
But then what do I know? I've never attempted a wine. (Q- if it starts with grape juice is it a wine no matter what the FG? )

 

[Zymomancer]

If you're fermenting in a bucket, they're notorious for being hard to perfectly seal. It's compounded by the fact that you can't actually see if any bubbles are forming inside.

Many bucket-wine recipes suggest you open it and stir the mixture for the first few days, to no ill effect. During this process you'll see if any bubbles have formed, and stirring it around will upset even more of them.

In any case, as mentioned, your best bet is to take an SG reading if you can't verify by other means.

 

[BorisM]

The fermentation has started the next day, and yes, it is in a bucket that is obviously not air tight. I opened the bucket to give it a sneak peek, it is fermenting and has some not so good looking bubbles on top, will see if I contaminated it somehow after the fermentation is over.