Hi HBT!
I started two new fermentations on 3/5/2017, a 1-gallon apple/pear cider (75%/25%, respectively), and a 6-gallon high-gravity cider. My question pertains to the latter.
I started the perry (can I call it perry when it's only 25% pear juice?) first and rehydrated a 5g pack of Red Star Premier Blanc Champagne Yeast in 1/4 cup of boiled/purified water. I meant to retain some of the rehydrated yeast and add a second pack of yeast for the larger batch, but in my excitement, I added the entire rehydrated single pack to the 1-gallon batch. Not an issue, except I only had one pack of yeast left.
The must for the high-gravity batch was already in the bucket - the O.G. measured 1.072 after adding 4lbs of brown sugar to 6 gallons of apple juice, so I rehydrated the remaining single 5g pack of Champagne Yeast, added 2.5 tsp of yeast nutrient (DAP) and ran with it. Both batches were bubbling away within 24 hours.
After reading more about high-gravity fermentation on this forum and other places, I'm concerned about the amount of yeast in the high-gravity batch being too little. I don't want the fermentation to stall, but I also don't want to open the bucket and risk contamination if it's going to be fine. 1 pack of yeast is recommended for 1-5 gallons, so it's already over at 6 gallons. From my reading, I've learned that higher-gravity fermentations also require more yeast from the start.
Should I pick up more yeast on my way home, rehydrate and add it to the currently active fermentation? Wait to see what happens/if it stalls? Or does the strong fermentation currently going on mean there is little risk, even though the initial yeast count was low?
Any insight or recommendations would be appreciated!
-Kyle
I started two new fermentations on 3/5/2017, a 1-gallon apple/pear cider (75%/25%, respectively), and a 6-gallon high-gravity cider. My question pertains to the latter.
I started the perry (can I call it perry when it's only 25% pear juice?) first and rehydrated a 5g pack of Red Star Premier Blanc Champagne Yeast in 1/4 cup of boiled/purified water. I meant to retain some of the rehydrated yeast and add a second pack of yeast for the larger batch, but in my excitement, I added the entire rehydrated single pack to the 1-gallon batch. Not an issue, except I only had one pack of yeast left.
The must for the high-gravity batch was already in the bucket - the O.G. measured 1.072 after adding 4lbs of brown sugar to 6 gallons of apple juice, so I rehydrated the remaining single 5g pack of Champagne Yeast, added 2.5 tsp of yeast nutrient (DAP) and ran with it. Both batches were bubbling away within 24 hours.
After reading more about high-gravity fermentation on this forum and other places, I'm concerned about the amount of yeast in the high-gravity batch being too little. I don't want the fermentation to stall, but I also don't want to open the bucket and risk contamination if it's going to be fine. 1 pack of yeast is recommended for 1-5 gallons, so it's already over at 6 gallons. From my reading, I've learned that higher-gravity fermentations also require more yeast from the start.
Should I pick up more yeast on my way home, rehydrate and add it to the currently active fermentation? Wait to see what happens/if it stalls? Or does the strong fermentation currently going on mean there is little risk, even though the initial yeast count was low?
Any insight or recommendations would be appreciated!
-Kyle