Is this salvageable?

[ChrisinVermont]

So, took a couple of gallons of fresh pressed cider and had added the appropriate amount of metabisulfite and them without thinking, sealed the container...let it set for two days and then went oh no...I sealed it! Took the lid off for another day with a towel over it not before transferring it to a couple of little one gallon carboys, added yeast an nutrient, attached an air lock and lo and behold, no signs of life.

It's been 3 days since it was transferred to the little one gallon carboys.


Did I create a situation by sealing it for those two days where now, yeast will not survive?


Suggestions?

-Chris in Vermont

 

[Pratzie]

Shouldn't have but did u take a gravity reading?

Also, at what point did you at the yeast? After you transferred to the smaller carboys? You didn't specify and that might help.

Also for what its worth, cider usually has nowhere near the amount of vigorous fermentation that beer will. You should notice some action but you normally won't see a thick krausen.

 

[Maylar]

Sealing it won't matter. What yeast are you using and what is the temperature?

 

[ChrisinVermont]

Didn't do a reading...added the yeast after it was transferred to the little carboys.

It's at my mother-in-laws house (about ten minutes away) and she reports no activity... however, she just informed me that it's 'scummy' at the top.

-Chris in Vermont

 

[ChrisinVermont]

Used Lavlin EC-1118...it's at about 66-68 degrees.

 

[Maylar]

This is odd then. EC-1118 usually takes off within 12 hrs. How much K-Meta did you use?

 

[ChrisinVermont]

It was P-Meta and I added about 1/12th of a teaspoon...about a third of a quarter teaspoon. I did seal the lid on after adding it though and it stayed on for two days and I'm wondering if that might be the problem? It occurred to me that I had done that and took the lid off for 24 hours before adding the EC-1118 but wonder if that two days created a problem in that it didn't allow the gasses to escape?

-Chris in Vermont

 

[Maylar]

No. Sealing before pitching doesn't matter.
Did you split the whole packet of yeast between the 2 gallons? And was the yeast at room temp when you pitched it? Something's very odd here.

... and Potassium's chemical symbol is K, that's why we call it K-Meta. Your dosage seems appropriate.

 

[ChrisinVermont]

Ah, gotcha...It was in fact K-Meta then.

Whole packet used...added to some cider prior to adding to the carboys and basically divided between the two. Everything was at room temperature. Yeast nutrient also added.

My fear has been that with the lid sealed those two days, the K-Meta gasses didn't get a chance to escape and are still present thus when I pitched my yeast, it killed them too.

I do have the update as of a bit ago from the Mother-in-law though that the top is 'scummy'...perhaps, the yeast is happening and it's just so slow that she's not noticing the air lock letting out a bubble here and there.

I'll take a spin over later today to verify that it is truly stalled...with her now saying it's 'scummy' on top, it sounds like something is going on.

-Chris in Vermont

 

[Maylar]

I had a cider appear to be not fermenting and it turned out that I had not pushed the airlock firmly into the rubber bung, so the CO2 was escaping without making bubbles.

EC-1118 is a very powerful yeast, a bit of sulfite won't hold it back and sealing the lid did nothing. If you're brave, put a carboy in the sink and drop a pinch of nutrient in there. If the yeast are alive and well you'll get an immediate reaction. [Danger - any more than a pinch could erupt into lots of foam and bubble over]

 

[ChrisinVermont]

Okay, just got back from the Mother-in-Laws...bad seal! These darn little 1 gallon jugs have hard plastic screw on caps with the hole in the middle and they really need to be cranked on tight and the plastic air lock going through the middle does not exactly seal well with them both being hard plastic. I pour a little water around the stem and sure enough, it started bubbling. It was clear by looking at the jug that plenty of action was happening...it's bubbling like mad in fact...air was just leaking out the stem of the airlocks...both jugs.

Lesson Learned. Thank you all for your patience.
-Chris in Vermont