UV treated cider fermenting

[squegeeboo]

Hey guys, I bought 6 gallons of fresh pressed, UV treated cider from a local apple farm.

It took me 4 days from purchase to finally start my cider. At which point each of the 1/2 gallon jugs had sediment at the bottom. I put 5 gallons worth in a carboy along with my first attempt at a nottingham starter from my last cider. That was two days ago. Last night, I noticed my 2 extra half gallons (for back sweetening) were about to burst at the seams. I cracked their lids, and have them in the back of a closet. So apparently the UV treated wasn't treated enough. As of last night, my air lock was barely bubbling.

Do you think I should pitch more nottingham yeast, or should I just stick with the mix of wild/starter yeast that is in my carboy? And are there any other concerns I should have from it having wild yeast?

Thanks!

 

[LeBreton]

I'd just go with it at this point. Wild yeast can range from great to terrible with no real way of knowing ahead of time. Personally when doing a wild fermentation ill add some sulfites to knock out the already unhealthy yeasts so only the strong survive.

If it helps ease you mind I got great results from a Rochester based wild ferm two years ago. From Schutts Apple Mill.

 

[squegeeboo]

I'd just go with it at this point. Wild yeast can range from great to terrible with no real way of knowing ahead of time. Personally when doing a wild fermentation ill add some sulfites to knock out the already unhealthy yeasts so only the strong survive.

If it helps ease you mind I got great results from a Rochester based wild ferm two years ago. From Schutts Apple Mill.

Thanks! I started looking into campden tablets after posting this as a potential solution, but it sounds like it really adds to the ageing at the end before it mellows. I'll just roll the dice.

 

[LeBreton]

Thanks! I started looking into campden tablets after posting this as a potential solution, but it sounds like it really adds to the ageing at the end before it mellows. I'll just roll the dice.

Huh? Not sure where you read that but it's incorrect. Either way, it's still a gamble. Hope it works out for you!

 

[squegeeboo]

Huh? Not sure where you read that but it's incorrect. Either way, it's still a gamble. Hope it works out for you!

Other threads had people talking about letting it age 2-3 months for some kind of off flavor to dissipate when they use campden. But I was prob. going to stay away from it anyways, so I could carbonate. I'm testing out dishwasher settings over the next day or two to find out if it can be used for pasteurization.

 

[LeBreton]

Other threads had people talking about letting it age 2-3 months for some kind of off flavor to dissipate when they use campden. But I was prob. going to stay away from it anyways, so I could carbonate.

There's so much misinformation about campden tablets that it's become a personal mission to make things right. For example, fallacy that if you use campden you can't carbonate.

There are very valid reasons not to use campden tablets, like if you want to make an organic cider from organic juice for example

 

[squegeeboo]

There's so much misinformation about campden tablets that it's become a personal mission to make things right. For example, fallacy that if you use campden you can't carbonate.

There are very valid reasons not to use campden tablets, like if you want to make an organic cider from organic juice for example

Right, you can wait a day or two, and then re-pitch yeast to carbonate. But at that point, the yeast will just eat up all the sugar and I'm back to either having a dry cider, bottle bombs, or having to pasteurize aren't I?

 

[Tnels977]

Last night, I noticed my 2 extra half gallons (for back sweetening) were about to burst at the seams. I cracked their lids, and have them in the back of a closet. So apparently the UV treated wasn't treated enough.

I had the same thing happen to me about a month ago. If you haven't added them or pitched another yeast, slap an airlock on those suckers and see what happens. I had 4 gallons and 3 of the 4 turned out excellent and are aging in my closet. The fourth tasted like salad dressing (yum vinegar), but I tossed it anyway. Best mistake I've ever made.