Wild fermentation after campden tablets?

[OffbeatBrew]

So on saturday I pressed a little over 2 gallons of my prettiest, cleanest, and blemish free apples that I picked around town and let it sit for 36 hours by itself to hopefully get the good wild yeasts going. At the same time, I pressed some more questionable (but not moldy, rotting, or gross) apples for a little more than 4 gallons in a different container. pH was pretty low on that (if my new / cheapish pH meter is useful at all, in the range of 3.2?) and I also added 6 campden tablets. After the 36 hours, I racked the sulfited cider into the "wild" 2 gallons.

I had been under the impression that after 24 or so hours, the sulfur dioxide is "gased" off, but after reading some more credible sources, it seems that it stays in solution, either free or bound. So I essentially mixed some crushed Campden tablets into what I was hoping for an awesome spontaneously fermented cider.

The question is, will I still be able to get a healthy wild yeast population fermenting the cider? did those 36 hours separate allow for the wild yeasts to get to an adequate population, and for enough of the sulfite to get bound for this to be a wild cider?

 

[TandemTails]

It's usually advised to put in 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon, so you did a little more than that.

Did you take any gravity readings in your 'wild' cider? If it had already started to drop after 36 hours then chances are you'd probably be ok. I know that 24 hours with commercial yeasts is just fine and I do that all the time with my ciders and have never had a problem. Maybe wild yeasts are a little less tolerant of any residual SO2?

 

[Maylar]

I haven't done any wild yeast ferments, but my understanding is that they are very sensitive to sulfites. That's why we use K-Meta in the first place, to kill the wild stuff off. But I've also read on this forum that people have had spontaneous ferments even after having sulfited, so.... I dunno. I'd say that if you don't see any activity in a couple days, throw some commercial yeast in there and be done with it.

 

[OffbeatBrew]

TandemTails, I did take an initial gravity with a refractometer: 13.6 Brix. I did not think to take a new reading after only 36 hours.

I have read that Saccharomyces species of yeast (even the wild ones) are more tolerant to SO2, non-Saccharomyces species are less tolerant, but still more tolerant than microbes. So hypothetically I may have help select the ones I want, but I guess time will tell.

Regarding lag time, even the cider I used commercial yeast in the other week had a very long lag time after i used 1 campden tab / gallon... I imagine a wild yeast strain will take quite a while to show major signs of fermentation (airlock bubbles, etc..)

 

[gregbathurst]

It is advised when doing a wild ferment to sulfite the juice. As you say, it selects for the more desirable yeasts.

 

[OffbeatBrew]

Well I guess I would have had my answer if I waited another 24 hours. This is the rather active fermentation that I've going going on right now. I guess that 36 hour window was enough!

 

[TandemTails]

Looks like a healthy fermentation!

 

[MarkKF]

Looks like a healthy fermentation!

That looks better than the usual pitched commercial yeast I have done!

I'm gonna try something similar this week. Gonna pull off a 1/2 gal. to not sulfate and aggitate as a starter then add back in 36 hrs after sulfiting the rest.

 

[Scrumpy!]

The dose recommended for an intentional spontaneous fermentation is 25 ppm, about half the dose you would use before pitching a commercial yeast. In any case, thanks for running your accidental experiment and showing us the pictures that prove even at high doses, sulfite does not kill wild yeast.

I'm lazy so I don't generally pick my apples. I wait for them to drop or the damn squirrels and deer to knock them off my trees. Bruises? Wasp holes? Animal bites? Half rotten? They have to be moldy before I won't press them. This damage probably speeds up the start of natural fermentation and my drinkers and I have yet to get sick. Hung over, well that comes with the territory sometimes doesn't it?