Never fermented

[Xanadu]

hi Guys can anyone help me. This is the first t8me I ever tried to make cider and it has all gone wrong.

I made 2 gallons, used 2 tsp of nutrient, 2g of champagne yeast, OG was 1.06 3 weeks ago, but nothing happened. After 10 days I added a few raisins to see if that would help but still nothing, after 12 days I added 1 g of yeast again , and waited but still noth8ng. I opened it to day to throw it away but it looked ok and smells of alcohol, what when wrong can I save it??

 

[Amadeo38]

How do you know nothing happened? Were you just looking for airlock activity or did you check with hydrometer ? What type of juice was it? Any chance it had other ingredients or preservatives in it that would prevent fermentation (e.g. Sorbate)?

 

[bracconiere]

if it had preservatives, a big enough yeast pitch will overcome it, i think? 2g's doesn't sound like much...nor does 1g later...but i just got schooled on sorbate, just say'in when i fermented apple juice that had sorbate, if i pitched enough yeast it would ferment....in case that's what's going on...

as just a 'duh' thing on my part, you say it started at 1.06. you did take another gravity reading? and it's still at 1.060?

 

[Xanadu]

Hi Guys, it was fresh apples so no preservatives and there has been no activity in the airlock, I did check the OG and it was 1.01 so that has changed a bit

 

[bracconiere]

if the Final Gravity changed that much it sounds like it's done....DRINK UP! you made alcohol!

or you could wait longer and see if it finishes dry....

 

[TwistedGray]

1060 - 1010 = 6.5% Hard Cider

Fermenting cider is not the same as fermenting beer; you will not have krausen on your cider. Other than seeing the Co2 escaping during fermentation you won't see much else going on.

 

[Iseneye]

1.06 to 1.01 is more than a bit. It would help if you provided the gravity to two decimal places. Three weeks means it is likely fermented and finished.

 

[bucketnative]

I'm not sure that I would call it finished, though. Most of my ciders have finished closer to 1.000 or even 0.990. Are you sure that you're hydrometer is accurate? Check it in water (distilled or tap will be fine), and it should read 1.000.

If your hydrometer is accurate, and your cider is at 1.010... then it has the potential to ferment quite a bit more. Each gravity point is worth about 0.5 vol CO2. So you are looking at the potential to have >5.0 vol CO2 in cider. That's bottle bomb territory... very dangerous. If it is 1.010, I would let it stay in the primary fermenter a while longer to finish up or rack it into a secondary vessel, with very little headspace and an airlock to allow for it to finish up and further clarify.

If you're kegging and don't mind a sweeter, cloudier cider, with some yeast in suspension, then go for it.

Even if it was 1.000, I would recommend the secondary vessel to allow it to clarify.

 

[TwistedGray]

Or just take a hydro reading in a few days to see if there has been any change. If not, you're safe.

 

[bracconiere]

bottle bombs would be a concern, i've never fermented fresh pressed apple juice. wasn't sure if it should ferment dry or not , like tree top does...

 

[TwistedGray]

bottle bombs would be a concern, i've never fermented fresh pressed apple juice. wasn't sure if it should ferment dry or not , like tree top does...

It depends on the yeast, and OP used champagne yeast. It will ferment dry.

 

[Xanadu]

Hi, checked it again to day and it was 1.000, so I racked it, seems to smell OK and even tastes a bit like cider to my surprise. It still looks a bit cloudy, would it be ok to rack again in a couple of weeks? Also how much ho eye would I need to add to carbonate before bottling please?

I need to get some bottles, do you mostly get beer bottles or champagne, caps or corks.....it’s a bit confusing

 

[Gameface]

Hi, checked it again to day and it was 1.000, so I racked it, seems to smell OK and even tastes a bit like cider to my surprise. It still looks a bit cloudy, would it be ok to rack again in a couple of weeks? Also how much ho eye would I need to add to carbonate before bottling please?

I need to get some bottles, do you mostly get beer bottles or champagne, caps or corks.....it’s a bit confusing

It all depends on how much ho eye you typically like in your cider... But really, there should be some online calculators to help you figure out what you need to add for carbonation.

You can bottle it any way you'd like, really. Whatever would be easiest for you.

I'm just curious, what made you originally feel like nothing had happened?

You could rack again, but racking doesn't equal clarity. You might consider using a fining agent like gelatin or bioclear. Those should really help clarity pretty quickly. In general leaving it undisturbed will clear most things over time, racking will leave a little gunk that's already on the bottom behind but mix everything in suspension back up and actually cause clearing to take longer.

 

[Xanadu]

It all depends on how much ho eye you typically like in your cider... But really, there should be some online calculators to help you figure out what you need to add for carbonation.

You can bottle it any way you'd like, really. Whatever would be easiest for you.

I'm just curious, what made you originally feel like nothing had happened?

You could rack again, but racking doesn't equal clarity. You might consider using a fining agent like gelatin or bioclear. Those should really help clarity pretty quickly. In general leaving it undisturbed will clear most things over time, racking will leave a little gunk that's already on the bottom behind but mix everything in suspension back up and actually cause clearing to take longer.

There were no bubbles in the air lock so I didn’t think it was fermenting

 

[Gameface]

There were no bubbles in the air lock so I didn’t think it was fermenting

Ahh, yeah. I have some aging fermenters that no longer send gas through my blow-off tube reliably. It is concerning when you're expecting bubbles and not getting them, but as you now know, not a completely reliable indicator of fermentation or lack thereof.

On the flip-side, I've read accounts where people assumed fermentation picked back up when it was likely just a change of pressure inside the fermenter based on a temp change or something else.