Question about my batch

Hello everyone. Just started my first batch of hard cider. Just had a few question now that it should be four days into ferment. I made just under a gallon for my first batch just because I wasn't sure what to expect. I went through all the steps of cleaning and preparing for ferment. I added my cider and pitched in the yeast from a "smack pack".

Now my question is should my air lock be actively bubbling yet? There are small bubbles trapped in the water but there is no active movement. I gave my bucket a good swirl and this caused the air lock to bubble furiously for about 7-10 seconds.

Is this normal? Or should my airlock constantly be bubbling. Will swirling the contents do anything to harm the product? Or will it just have to sit longer for all the sediment to fall out?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice. I am really enjoying this new hobby so far and love this website.

Shaede~

It should probably be fermenting after 4 days, but a lack of bubbles doesn't really indicate much besides that the airlock isn't bubbling. It could be that you have a bad seal on the bucket, resulting in the CO2 is escaping via other routes than the airlock. Time to take a hydrometer reading and see what's going on, it's the only way to be sure.

Other possible issues:
What juice did you use? Did you check for any preservatives if you didn't press it yourself?
What temperature is it fermenting at? What temperature was it at when you pitched the yeast?

What size is your bucket? If you have less than a gallon in a 5 gallon bucket, it might still be filling up with CO2 and hasn't built up enough to push it out of the airlock. I've also heard those smaller fermentation buckets are notorious for not sealing 100%.

In the future, I'd go ahead and just add another gallon or so of juice. If you are using a $7 smack pack (I assume a Wyeast pack) then you might as well get your money's worth out of it and dump in another $4 or so of juice.

Thanks for the replies. I'm using a five gallon brew bucket. Temperatures

Thanks for the replies. I'm using a five gallon brew bucket. Temperatures would roughly 69-74 F. I used a concentrate juice with no preservatives only the vitamin C.

I think next time I'll just use the glass carboys and a primary I have a few gallon sized ones.

I prefer buckets for my primary, a lot easier than soaking a 5 gallon carboy in oxyclean for a few days to clean krausen crud!

Those one gallon jugs are perfect for small batch testing. I use those universal drilled stoppers so they work for my 6.5, 5, 3 and 1 gallon carboys.

You can convert regular carpenter's buckets/painter's buckets, right? That might be another solution if you don't want to spare the glass carboys. They have those buckets in multiple sizes with good seals as far as I can remember.

Should I add some yeast nutrient? I shook the bucket a bit again and it was the same story. Start bubbling good for about 10 seconds and then was done. Is it possible that I need to add some yeast nutrient?

ShaedesBrew said:

Should I add some yeast nutrient? I shook the bucket a bit again and it was the same story. Start bubbling good for about 10 seconds and then was done. Is it possible that I need to add some yeast nutrient?

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No, it's probably done fermenting. Stop shaking it!

If you have a hydrometer, check and see if it's done fermenting and then rack (siphon) it to a small carboy/jug with no headspace and an airlock.

Yooper said:

No, it's probably done fermenting. Stop shaking it!

If you have a hydrometer, check and see if it's done fermenting and then rack (siphon) it to a small carboy/jug with no headspace and an airlock.

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That would be a pretty fast ferment. Only four days?

And if I'm not mistaken the Hydrometer should read around 1.00 when it is finished?

Thanks again for the help

ShaedesBrew said:

And if I'm not mistaken the Hydrometer should read around 1.00 when it is finished?

Thanks again for the help

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Maybe- it might go as low as .990 or so depending on how the OG was.

Thanks. I'll test it when I get home and post results.

Tested the cider. Still has about .7 till it is ready to be racked off to the secondary. Took a small taste taste. I think this batch is going to be really really good fr a first try