HELP! Cider not fermenting after nearly 2 weeks

[adamc123]

Hi,

Please can someone help.

This is my first time making cider and something hasn't worked.

I juiced the apples and put the juice into a large fermenting barrel with an airlock.

I added one crushed up campden tablet to the juice (about 10 litres).

After 48hrs I added champagne yeast....Nothing...

Any ideas of what I can do?

 

[Hello]

Was there any sugars added to the juice? Did the juice have preservatives? How do you know there is no fermentation? Did you take a gravity reading?

 

[SEABrewer]

I'm new to cider making myself, but the first question I'd have is "are you positive that no sorbates or other wild yeast killers were introduced to the juice"? Since it sounds like you crushed the apples yourself, I'd doubt that anything like sorbate was added to kill wild yeasts, but it's something you need to be sure about. If sorbate was added (not uncommon for store bought apply juice), you're pretty much out of luck. It's added to stop wild yeast from fermenting apple juice, but it'll do the same thing with any yeast you add on purpose.

Other than that, the standard set of "why isn't my beer fermenting?" questions and answers also apply to cider. What's your OG? What's your fermentation temperature? What's your pitching rate? Are you sure it's not fermenting?

If everything looks in order on those fronts, you may just have a bum batch of yeast. They may eventually wake enough to do their thing, but I'd probably just pitch another package of yeast (possibly making a starter first to make sure they're viable).

 

[adamc123]

Hi,

The apples were juiced myself, not from a carton and the yeast was from a brew shop and in date. I didn't add any sugar to the mix.

I know it hasn't starting fermenting as there haven't been any bubbles.

Any ideas of what I can do to try and save it?

 

[Brewskii]

Hi,

The apples were juiced myself, not from a carton and the yeast was from a brew shop and in date. I didn't add any sugar to the mix.

I know it hasn't starting fermenting as there haven't been any bubbles.

Any ideas of what I can do to try and save it?

If you haven't; I would take a gravity reading on it. I bet you missed your fermentation all together.

The ciders I have done have all fermented very quickly at ambient temps and with little to no surface activity. They do not produce krausen like a beer will.

 

[adamc123]

I checked it daily and there was never any sign of fermentation.

 

[hunter_le five]

Did you hydrate the yeast before pitching, or just dump it straight in? Did you aerate the must?

Also, you still haven't mentioned anything about your gravity readings. That is the only surefire way to monitor fermentation.

Lack of bubbles in the airlock is not necessarily a sign of lack of fermentation.

 

[Brewskii]

Gravity readings or it didn't happen!

 

[Yooper]

I checked it daily and there was never any sign of fermentation.

Sometimes cider doesn't get foamy or bubbly, but still ferments.

You need a hydrometer to check and see if it's started, stalled, or finished.

Take a reading, and we'll see from there where to go next.

 

[Hello]

I checked it daily and there was never any sign of fermentation.

First, checking it daily can cause it to oxidize. By opening your FV you're disturbing the carbon dioxide. You may have not given your cider a chance but I could be very wrong. If you have home-pressed cider and you're taking daily readings and not seeing anything then I'm not sure what you can do other than just drink it as is and try again.

 

[CliffMongoloid]

It is funny i came across this thread today...

I brewed up a graff last night... went to wegmans and bought their brand cider... it states it has potassium sorbate

I thought awhile and said why not try and see if i can get this to ferment... i like a challenge.

I rehydrated some washed us-05 and pitched it. After this i made a starter to pitch in a few days if need be. I will build this up once.

Awhile back i made some cider with fresh pressed apples from my GFs fathers farm. I used crushed camden tablets, let go for one day then pitched yeast without racking off the campden... Ferement from 1.060 to 1.002 with Us 05 even.... im not sure of the difference between potassium sorbate and campden tablets. i think campden is potasium metlbisulfite... Sorbate dosent essentailly kill the yeast it does make it tough for them to reproduce tho and ive read if you pitch enough healthy yeast you can bust on through and get ferementing... i will report back tho with how i make out

 

[adamc123]

I don't have a hydrometer. I added a sachet of cider yeast and will see what happens...

 

[Yooper]

I don't have a hydrometer. I added a sachet of cider yeast and will see what happens...

You need a hydrometer. That's the only tool that can tell you if the cider is finished when you're ready to bottle. They are like $5, but necessary.