Apple Juice not fermenting please advise

GB2014 · Oct 1, 2015

Hello, I have got 2 tubs of apple juice which I collected a few days ago, I have added sodium metabisulphite in the correct proportion to one and a 1/3rd dose to the other, waited 24 hours, added yeast in the correct proportion and nothing happened, I waited another 36 hours and added yeast and yeast supplement, still nothing happening, can anyone help please, thanks a lot.

Edit: I have 2 demijohns as well that are merrily fermenting away, I did everything the same with them except didn't add yeast twice because it worked the first time, from the same batch of juice so I am especially baffled.

Wraeccan · Oct 1, 2015

Hi GB2014.

What are they fermenting in and what makes you think nothing is happening?

Ferments always seem to act in secret if they can get away with it...

chewie · Oct 1, 2015

Is the temp constant and in the right range?

GB2014 · Oct 1, 2015

Hello, it is 5 gallon plastic tubs, sterilised and rinsed, with screw on caps with grommets and in the grommets rubber bungs with airlocks, there are no bubbles in the airlocks or liquid.

Temperature is at the moment 57f / 14c, obviously it will go down at night. I don't have the facilities to keep the temperature constant but I could put them in a warmer place at night to make it more even.

chewie · Oct 1, 2015

Take the tops of the FV's that you don't think are fermenting and look inside, see if there is any bubbling going on, its possible your tubs aren't totally airtight. If your daytime (midday) room temp is 14c your overnight could be as low as 10c which may be to low for your yeast to start, try somewhere warmer if you aren't seeing any bubbling. I'm lucky enough to have a south facing room which gets good light thru the day and seems to hold the temp thru 24 hours of +/- 1 to 2 degrees, i just leave the FV's in there out of direct sunlight.

Chippy_Tea · Oct 1, 2015

Put your ear on the side close to the top and see if you can hear it fizzing.

GB2014 · Oct 2, 2015

Thank you! My wording was ambiguous there, there were no bubbles in the juice or airlocks. There still aren't nor is there any fizzing. I've put the tubs in a warmer place, 63f / 17c close to the middle of the night.

Chippy_Tea · Oct 2, 2015

If you haven't got one get a hydrometer everything else is guesswork .

GB2014 · Oct 2, 2015

I have got a hydrometer, I recorded the SG as 38 when I pressed the juice on the 28th of Sept. I have now got 36 for one FV and 40 for the other. The temperature in their new place seems to be a fairly constant 63f / 17c.

Could it be that I have added too much sodium metabisulphite? And now I need to de gas or add hydrogen peroxide to cancel it out?

Or try a special high power yeast? Or adjust the pH somehow? Or kickstart by taking some juice out and adding sugar and water and start the yeast in a cup there then add that mixture? These are all things I've heard.

I did everything the same as with the glass 1 gallon demijohns this is very puzzling. Thanks.

GB2014 · Oct 2, 2015

I found this thread with the same situation from 2010 and will execute these instructions

www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8775

NOTE: the link doesn't work but it works if you copy and paste it into your browser address box

evanvine said:
Vent your brew to atmosphere, get rid of the excess SO2.
Once the sulphur dioxide comes down to an acceptable level the yeast will begin to work.
Just keep it coverd with a T-towel to prevent dirt and any possible fly.
Once fermentation starts, normal proceedures apply.

Moley said:
If you've got a demijohn or a large mineral water bottle I would suggest you mix a litre of white grape juice, a litre of cheap apple juice, cider yeast and nutrient, shake it vigorously to get plenty of oxygen into it, put that under airlock in a warm place and let it get working well for a couple of days, and then split that starter between your fermenters. Also, try to get them up to 20Ã¯Â¿Â½C.

GB2014 · Oct 9, 2015

Great news! After having left it with the top off and the neck covered with a teatowel one of the FVs had just started to ferment. There were a few flecks of white-green mould on the liquid surface which I scooped out. I topped it up with some yeast and nutrient and it is fermenting moderately now. The FV necks and caps do leak a bit, some CO2 leaks out unnoticeably, unlike with a DJ.

The other FV of apple juice and my DJ of plum wine had also barely just started to ferment. I left the cap off the other FV for a while and covered it with a teatowel, then added some high-power yeast and put the cap back on but it must have been too early. I never left the cap off the DJ but did add some high-power yeast at the same time. I have stirred them up vigorously and left them open covered with teatowels for a bit longer. Maybe it was the metabisulphite needed longer to dissipate.

GB2014 · Oct 10, 2015

It has stopped again.

Edit: having checked again 12 hours later either it has started again since then, or, more probably, the screw top and bung worked loose and after I unscrewed the top to look inside, when I put it back on and tightened everything up now it was tight enough to see bubbles in the airlock.

GB2014 · Oct 13, 2015

Definitely stopped this time.

Chippy_Tea · Oct 13, 2015

Hydrometer reading?

tonyhibbett · Oct 13, 2015

17 c is not enough to kickstart fermentation. 30 is ideal for starters, then drop down to 20.

GB2014 · Oct 15, 2015

The temperature is down to 55f / 13c now at the warmest time of day today. Although fermentation would be faster at a higher temperature I would think it should still take place at that temperature. Anyway I have 2 gallon DJs fermenting in a slightly cooler place in the house.

Here's the situation at the moment

Apple Juice

2 x 1gallon DJ from 10/9 - original SG 33 - fermenting steadily
2 x 1gallon DJ from 10/10 - original SG 54 (I added sugar) - inert

1 x 5 gallon FV from 28/9 - original SG 38
2/10 SG 40
15/10 SG 38
sitting inertly

1 x 5 gallon FV from 28/9 - original SG 38
2/10 SG 40
15/10 SG 24
sitting inertly

Plum Wine

1 x 1 gallon DJ from 23/9 - original SG unknown
15/10 SG 58
inert

I have left the plum wine and FVs with a towel over the neck for ages. When the one started fermenting I put the cap and airlock back on. I have just added a level teaspoon full of yeast nutrient and yeast to them (again) and put the caps and airlocks back on the others. Now I will try the starter that I quoted above. I don't have a warmer place for it. I will use warm water.

Can you recommend a warmer kit or how would I get the FVs warmer Tony?

Thanks everyone for the help so far.

brewmandan · Oct 15, 2015

guess who ull be cuddling up with for warmth tonight!

brewmandan · Oct 15, 2015

fill a bucket up with warm water put the DJ's in there

Chippy_Tea · Oct 15, 2015

My kitchen gets down to 15c when the heating is off so i wrap my FV in a folded beach towel to keep the heat in, remember the temperature inside the FV is always higher than the outside temperature, it takes a little longer to ferment but i have never had one fail.

GB2014 · Oct 19, 2015

I wrapped the FVs and plum wine DJ in duvets. Now I have all 4 DJs and 1 FV of apple juice fermenting, but the other FV and plum wine are still inert. I have just added the kickstart mixture to them. But even that was barely fermenting or stuck.

Apple Juice not fermenting please advise

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