Quick primary question

[fancypants]

I've been trolling around this awesome forum for a while on trying to make my first batch of cider but I just wanna make sure of something here...

I put all my sugar, 5 gal fresh apple cider, spices, 1/4 tsp potassium metasulphite, 1 2/3tbsp yeast nutrient, and 1118 yeast together and put on the airlock yesterday. Now I'm wondering will the potassium metasulphite inhibit the 1118 yeast ? I somehow missed the part about waiting to put the yeast in for 12hrs ....after reading a few more thread it seems that you are suppose to just loosely put a towel over the primary and let it get some oxygen for a few days.

Sooo, my plan is to not add anything just cover it with a towel for about 4 days let the champagne yeast start taking over, replace the airlock, let sit for a month, and at some point stop worrying haha does this sound about right?

Sorry if this is redundant, I did a few searches and couldn't find exactly what i was looking for.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

I'm sure your yeasties will probably be fine and will kick in soon, but someone with more experience with potassium metabisulfite might be able to tell you to leave the airlock on or not.

 

[SCOdoubleT]

Sounds about right...
I would, however, toss in some more yeast.
Then, cover it with a towel, let it sit for a week.
Then, add airlock.
Then, stop worrying.

 

[buffalo]

I know nothing about potassium metasulphite but besides that i think you will be fine,if it was me though i would add a bit more yeast just to be sure. I have several batches going right now where i didn't wait to add the yeast and they are all going fine,i did however add a bit of extra yeast to one of them to get it going better. Best of luck to you!!.

 

[fancypants]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I shall
-Throw in an extra half sachet of yeast
-Let sit for a week under a towel.

The yeast nutrient should still be in there, I assume, so I'll skip more of that...fun fun!

 

[Tw0fish]

Lotta wine yeasts (1118 counts) will shrug off sulfites no sweat- they're pretty tolerant In fact, sulfite alone won't stop a wine yeast or even really slow it down.

Instead of buying more yeast and letting it sit under a towel, sterilize something long enough to stir the batch and whip a little air into it if you're concerned. That'll release some of the SO2 (which the sulfite produces to inhibit yeast growth) and introduce some more oxygen to the mix.

 

[fancypants]

Still no fermentation after 4 days with the additional half packet of yeast. Actually my gravity went up haha oops! I guess I'm gonna try making a starter with the other half of the packet. I wonder if this will make it taste too yeasty?

 

[Tw0fish]

birdsboro, eh?

I'm from Havertown, Delaware County. Not to belittle you, but it's been blankety blank blank cold round here of late.. how warm is it where you're brewing?

Y'see, I make a lotta stuff in the basement or the kitchen, but it's pretty much gotta come upstairs to my room in order to actually ferment because it's warmest up there (70's or thereabouts.)

Unless your cider has preservatives in it, that's all I can think of.

 

[fancypants]

Nope no preservatives it's fresh from the orchard. You may be on to something though, maybe I'll give it a stir and sleep with my carboy tonight.

 

[Jacob_Marley]

I'd hold off on the additional yeast. The sulfites only temporarily retard the yeast.
You have this in an bucket primary? ... keep the lid off, the towel on, make sure the room (and the cider "must") temperature is a good 72 to 78 degrees ... and like twofish says to stir it ... I'd give it a harsh, frothy 4 minute stir with a very large sanitized spoon once in the morning and once in the evening. This should get the ec-1118 going.

 

[fancypants]

You guys were right, I stirred the crap out of it last night and put it in my room and this morning I finally after a week got bubbles in the airlock. I took the airlock off (it was only on so I could get a visual in the morning), broke it by accident lol, and then replaced it with a towel. I plan on stirring this stuff 2 times a day for the next week.

It's weird I bought a thermometer for the basement and it was def below 70F I must just be use to the cold from working outside all winter.

Jacob Marley I have in it a a 6ga. carboy. My bucket has a batch of the graff slightly hopped cider. I like apple cider if you were wondering . I'm thinking bucket primary is the way to go for next time though because the graff is almost ready for the secondary.

Thanks again for the replies I was about an hour away from yeasting the **** outta this batch.

 

[fancypants]

You guys were right, I stirred the crap out of it last night and put it in my room and this morning I finally after a week got bubbles in the airlock. I took the airlock off (it was only on so I could get a visual in the morning), broke it by accident lol, and then replaced it with a towel. I plan on stirring this stuff 2 times a day for the next week.

It's weird I bought a thermometer for the basement and it was def below 70F I must just be use to the cold from working outside all winter.

Jacob Marley I have in it a a 6ga. carboy. My bucket has a batch of the graff slightly hopped cider. I like apple cider if you were wondering . I'm thinking bucket primary is the way to go for next time though because the graff is almost ready for the secondary.

Thanks again for the replies I was about an hour away from yeasting the **** outta this batch.

 

[Tw0fish]

HURRAH!

I've busted a few S-type airlocks myself. Three pieces are harder to bust, but easier to get airlock water into your mus if you swirl a batch :-/

I wouldn't stir it, actually, now that it's goin - I really think your problem was the temp. But your cider your rules

 

[Jacob_Marley]

EC-1118 is a high speed yeast and strong fermenter that does not really need any further stirring.
Even with other less vigorous yeasts I would only consider stirring for maybe a day ... and that’s only because you are fermenting in a semi-closed carboy. The exception might be 71B strain yeasts (e.g. 71B-1122) in a difficult ferment, as oxygen is a bigger factor in the happiness of 71B yeasts.
Even though EC-1118 also releases a (comparatively) higher amount of SO2 itself, and so oxygenating is not as dangerous for getting problems as with some other yeasts; on the other hand, now that the ferment is going the yeast will find oxygen in the sugar, and so particularly for this strain, stirring is not really necessary.

 

[fancypants]

Sorry lol I was a little giddy this morning when I posted about stirring before reading some more on it. You guys are def. right again!