It's been a week... Advice

[user 44889]

There's a new thread on here, 2022 Apple Harvest Cider Thread - Drought
Think it would be worth you asking on there as they are all brewing real Cider. And seem to know their stuff, I'm sure they will be glad to help you.
Noticed most of the SG 1.040 to 1.050 so as i already said 1.140 is excessively high... maybe yeast could not cope with so much sugar
Are you sure it was that high or could have been 1.040 which is normal range..

 

[AnthonyDB]

There's a new thread on here, 2022 Apple Harvest Cider Thread - Drought
Think it would be worth you asking on there as they are all brewing real Cider. And seem to know their stuff, I'm sure they will be glad to help you.
Noticed most of the SG 1.040 to 1.050 so as i already said 1.140 is excessively high... maybe yeast could not cope with so much sugar
Are you sure it was that high or could have been 1.040 which is normal range..

It was in the red when we did the first test,now its below the 50 bit.

 

[user 44889]

As it was in the red that would make it about 1.040 and you say its 1.055 now. That's a good starting Gravity. I would pitch some new yeast. Make up a yeast starter and when active pitch it. 1.040 is a bit low but if it's reading 1.055 now that's good. Should give you an ABV of between 7 to 8%... a bit strong... but what the heck lol
Hope it works out for you.

 

[AnthonyDB]

As it was in the red that would make it about 1.040 and you say its 1.055 now. That's a good starting Gravity. I would pitch some new yeast. Make up a yeast starter and when active pitch it. 1.040 is a bit low but if it's reading 1.055 now that's good. Should give you an ABV of between 7 to 8%... a bit strong... but what the heck lol
Hope it works out for you.

Thanks yes today we poured some out and added some warm water and another Teaspoon of Yeast, left it 15 mins for it to start then added it back in

 

[user 44889]

Just worked out ABV for you. SG 1.055 to FG 1.000 you would be at 7.2%
Keep us posted how you do.
Thanks

 

[AnthonyDB]

Just worked out ABV for you. SG 1.055 to FG 1.000 you would be at 7.2%
Keep us posted how you do.
Thanks

Thank you good job we didn't add anymore sugar .

 

[user 44889]

Don't drink to much in one session. Lol

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It was in the red when we did the first test,now its below the 50 bit.

Are you saying it was 1040 (red area) and its now 1050 (blue area) after fermenting?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------How to read a hydrometer -

.

 

[AnthonyDB]

Are you saying it was 1040 (red area) and its now 1050 (blue area) after fermenting?

How to read a hydrometer -

View attachment 74389. View attachment 74388

Yes I think so my dad didn't want to bother doing a reading so it was pritty rushed and I hope I'm remembering it correctly

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I edited my post after you replied so i have re-posted it.

The hydrometer drops as it ferments so it should end up below 1000 for wine.

If you are saying it was 1040 (red area) and its now 1050 (blue area) after fermenting its going the wrong way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------How to read a hydrometer -

 

[AnthonyDB]

I edited my post after you replied so i have re-posted it.

The hydrometer drops as it ferments so it should end up below 1000 for wine.



Are you saying it was 1040 (red area) and its now 1050 (blue area) after fermenting if so its going the wrong way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------How to read a hydrometer -


View attachment 74390 View attachment 74391

Yes as long as I'm remembering the first reading correctly.

I wouldn't say fermentation has even started but I'm going by what I've seen with the previous rhubard & apple wine we've done & which is still bubbling away.

 

[user 44889]

I don't think it's fermented at all. The only thing i can think of is the juice was not mixed enough and the first reading was wrong. Time will tell if it ferments now after adding yeast starter and goes to 1.000 or less. Never heard of juice going higher on Hydrometer without the addition of fermentables. Think it's a waiting game now.

Other bit of advice which i have found very useful is keep a brewing diary..

 

[AnthonyDB]

So this morning one of the new batch has started to ferment, think we overfilled it

The others still nothing

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Most of us have had this happen especially when we start out in this hobby the best advice is fill to the beginning of the shoulder (see picture below) and top up as fermentation dies down or after racking to clear etc.

 

[user 44889]

Was the yeast start active when you pitched it yesterday,? if it doesn't kick off soon take a sample from the one that's blown it's top and add to first one.

 

[AnthonyDB]

Was the yeast start active when you pitched it yesterday,? if it doesn't kick off soon take a sample from the one that's blown it's top and add to first one.

The demijohn ones bubbling away nicely the other 3 still nothing we don't understand .

It's approaching 2 weeks tomorrow for our 1st batch and after adding multiple teaspoons of Yeast it's done nothing what else can we do?

My dad's stirred it daily

I was thinking of racking it out and putting it into a new vessel but taking 1 demijohns worth and adding more Yeast whilst sitting it in warm water for an hour or so if we can get that started I'd then add it back in to the bigger vessel.

 

[user 44889]

I'm a bit worried about adding even more yeast... not sure how to much yeast would affect it. If it was me i would take some from your fermenting one and add to the static one. Really don't know what's happened here. It's important at the beginning to take an accurate SG reading then you know where you are. It's all a learning curve. I've had a few disasters and so have most people on here, but we learn from them. Don't let it put you off, it's a great pastime.

 

[Stevieboy]

Can you show us pics of all your fermenting vessels in a row?

 

[AnthonyDB]

Right so we've been doing more reading and we're wondering if it's because we put the Campden tablets it then sealed rather than letting it air for 24hrs??? So we keep adding Yeast and the Campden tablets are just killing it.

So we've racked all the cider into new jars and left them to air we will then add the Yeast tomorrow.

If that fails we will give up and never attempt anything like this again

 

[Polcho]

Campden tablets won’t stop the fermentation altogether. How many did you use per demijohn?