Help needed for a beginner before I loose it

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Yasser

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Hi to everyone, i'm a new member and found this forum while searching for help so I'll apologise in advance for jumping straight in with a question. We had a load of apples and decided to have a go at cider. The amount of youtube videos i've watched is unreal. We haven't a clue to the apples types we've got so we tried to keep them in there own little brew until we find their flavours. What we've done so far....Pressed 3 x 5 gallon lots. The first we left it just as it came out, when at the right temp we added yeast(apparently the cider yeast i bought had nutrient included) but no extra Nutrient. Overnight it started to bubble and its going strong. Second lot we pressed, the juice was a great pink colour and we wanted to try and keep the colour so added 1 campden tablet for the 5 gallon just to stop the juice oxidising, added same yeast at right temp and that took an extra day to start bubbling but going well now. The 3 lot i'm having problems with. We wanted to try and get a light colour so 2 campden tabs were used at pressing. Same yeast added at right temp and put with others (all 3 done together). But its not bubbling, there's no leak as its got a screw cap, liquid temp is 23c, there is a froth on top and the sg has not altered at all. So the question is.....Do i need to give it a little kick by adding a bit more yeast and extra nutrient in a solution and mix or have i lost this batch altogether. Thanks for reading, i hope it make sense.
 
I am not a cider maker - but really pleased that you have reached out for help

I have been brewing beer for 25 years and still have to ask for help from others often

I imagine others with more experience in cider making will respond - but generally I would say - don't rush it

With beer - generally stirring it if it's stuck will help, I suspect more yeast will not help. The yeast is well able to reproduce itself
 
I am not a cider maker - but really pleased that you have reached out for help

I have been brewing beer for 25 years and still have to ask for help from others often

I imagine others with more experience in cider making will respond - but generally I would say - don't rush it

With beer - generally stirring it if it's stuck will help, I suspect more yeast will not help. The yeast is well able to reproduce itself
I'll second that. Just had a beer do nothing for three days, but is now bubbling away after a good stir with a sterilised paddle.
 
so 2 campden tabs were used at pressing
Well, Campden tablets suppress yeast but don't kill it, so that may explain the slow start. On the other hand, if you've split the batches on apple type then it could be that the batch has too much or not enough acid for the yeast. Get hold of some ph papers, 3.2-3.8 is what you should be aiming for.
 
Hi yasser and welcome to the forum.
Yes stick more yeast and nutrient in those that aren't bubbling yet. Stop using Campden tablets and let the fermentation take its course. While there are more than a few single varietal ciders, the best cider is often made from a good mix of different types of apples. They tend to balance each other out and complement each other unless you've got a specific West Country apple like Kingston Black or Yarlington Mill, for example, and even then, I think they're better mixed.
 
One thing not to worry about is the colour. I've had some very brown juice yield some delightfully clear and pale cider. The answer is usually just patience and wait for it to clear naturally, then siphon carefully. Or use finings if you have to and are impatient!
 
It's best to wait 24 hours after adding campden tablets before adding any additional yeast, and campden tabs don't affect colour. This website is possibly the best cider resource online, best that I have found so far anyway! It has more detail on how many campden tabs to add.

I'm fermenting 3 ciders and one perry right now, 2 ciders took about 3 weeks to ferment and one cider is still actively fermenting. A long ferment does have some benefits.
 
Thank you everyone for the replies. I'm glad to report my baby is alive! I mixed up a bit of yeast and nutrient and a bit of a stir. The first signs of pressure in the bubble this morning and i know it has bubbled this afternoon, its slow but at least its started. Now it can take as long as it likes.

Thank you @Scrattajack, unfortunately the ph papers were not an option for at least a few days so I went with the other option. But to be honest i had never thought about this side of things and although i've got got the Malic acid and precipitated chalk i wouldn't have known which way to go unless it was blindingly obvious by taste at pressing time. So ph papers are next on my shopping list.
 
One more quick question on the above. As i've added a little more yeast would this have an adverse affect on the taste of the finished cider?
 
One more quick question on the above. As i've added a little more yeast would this have an adverse affect on the taste of the finished cider?
I don't think so. With beer, more yeast = cleaner taste, it's probably the same with cider. From experience it's quite hard to add enough yeast to make any adverse effects. With TC I've racked one batch off the yeast bed and poured another straight on, this is massively "overpitching" but it came out fine.
 
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