What to do when no wine/cider yeast available and must won't take

[AnAppleADay]

Hi folks, took a chance with a small batch of freshly pressed apple+pear cider and decided to let it ferment naturally. Acidity and sugar levels good, but 4 days later and no fermentation has begun.

Even worse, mould has started to form on the top. If I had more time, patience and apples I would ditch the whole batch and start again, but I've only had a chance to make two small batches this year and I'd like to save this one if possible.

This morning I removed the mould, poured the must through a fine sieve into another vessel and added meta.

Unfortunately I'm all out of wine and cider yeast, and the place in town I thought was a brew store is in fact a coffee store!!

Rather than drive two hours to the nearest brew shop, I was thinking perhaps I could pitch a small volume of cider from my previous batch circa 2 months ago into this must - perhaps that will help to kick things off? That previous batch I fermented to dry and bottled - no pastuerisation or meta added at bottling.

Any other ideas? Am I dreaming to think that I can even save this batch in the first place?

 

[Yooper]

Hi folks, took a chance with a small batch of freshly pressed apple+pear cider and decided to let it ferment naturally. Acidity and sugar levels good, but 4 days later and no fermentation has begun.

Even worse, mould has started to form on the top. If I had more time, patience and apples I would ditch the whole batch and start again, but I've only had a chance to make two small batches this year and I'd like to save this one if possible.

This morning I removed the mould, poured the must through a fine sieve into another vessel and added meta.

Unfortunately I'm all out of wine and cider yeast, and the place in town I thought was a brew store is in fact a coffee store!!

Rather than drive two hours to the nearest brew shop, I was thinking perhaps I could pitch a small volume of cider from my previous batch circa 2 months ago into this must - perhaps that will help to kick things off? That previous batch I fermented to dry and bottled - no pastuerisation or meta added at bottling.

Any other ideas? Am I dreaming to think that I can even save this batch in the first place?

Rather than cider that is likely pretty clear, I'd suggest bread yeast if you can't get ale or wine yeast.

 

[Chalkyt]

My nearest brewing shop is over two hours drive away (i.e. a half day mission there and back), so for small items like yeast I buy on-line... usually only takes two or three days by mail.

In the meanwhile, can you freeze or refrigerate your small batch. Any natural ferments I have tried usually take a week or so to show any signs of action.

Good luck1

 

[fluketamer]

i second yoopers suggestion of bread yeast.it may take more time but it will settle out and make decent cider.

bread yeast is almost always available everywhere

i have seen it at supermarkets, bodegas, and even large chain pharmacies.

its all over

 

[AnAppleADay]

Thanks guys, bread yeast is a good suggestion - didn't think of that! Even had some in the pantry.

Luckily I managed to find some very old but apparently still viable red wine yeast. Ferment chugging along nicely now, hopefully enough to save the batch!

To avoid this happening in future, does anyone have any recommendations for how to approach a natural ferment? i.e. how do you avoid mould getting the upper hand on the natural yeasts? Worth noting that I had the carboy in a relatively cool spot, probably around 12 degrees C

 

[JAReeves]

When I have bought juice from our local cidery, I have always let it ferment naturally (they do the same, just 600 barrels at a time, give or take). It's odd for you to not have any natural yeasts/bacteria taking control immediately.

As you already know, if you hit it immediately with k-meta, it'll stun whatever is living in it, then after 24 hours, you can add your choice of yeast without complications.

If you want a truly natural ferment, you have to just take your chances with whatever grows and hope for the best. Sometimes it isn't pretty looking (and you might get nervous), but it's usually tasty after 3-4 months. Once I had what looked like a morel mushroom rising from the pellicle on top. That was from a bottle of Panil I brought back from Italy. Still the best commercial sour culture I have ever had.

So now I keep a jar of what has become our House Sour Culture (a mix of the wild stuff from our homegrown grapes, the raw apple cider, and sour cultures from around the world) on hand so I can seed the new batch with the old, and hopefully balance the new bugs with the old. It's taken us close to 7 years to get our culture to where it is today, so having patience can really pay off.