Perry not starting?

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

I managed to get about half a bushel of pears from a family tree that had all fallen from a strong windstorm. They were pretty hard but very juicy and sweet. Some had a few dings and bruises but were excellent for (in my mind) perry! On monday I blended about 18lbs and got ~1 1/2 gallons of juice. I also added a bottle of santa fe white grape juice (no preservatives) to add a little body since I've read a few places that fermented pears lack body. I let the juice and flesh macerate in the bucket with some kmeta and pectic enzyme for 24 hours, then pressed the juice from the bag, aerated, and pitched ~1g of S-04, approximate temp was 60F, S.G. of the juice was 1.059.

After two days there was absolutely no activity at all, so I opened it up and actually had perfectly clear juice with a little layer of sediment at the bottom. I aerated again and waited another day, still nothing. I added another gram of S-04 thinking maybe there was still enough Kmeta in solution to kill off the initial inoculation and aerated again. Today! still no sign of any activity whatsoever. I aerated again, said **** it, and tossed the rest of the yeast in. I dug the bottle of grape juice out of the trash and as I knew when I bought it, no preservatives. The fruit did not have any pesticides used, just some diatomaceous earth early in the season. I'm really at a loss. Anyone have something like this happen? 96+ hour lag phase doesn't seem right to me

 

[Yooper]

You're using S04? Why only a gram at a time? When I use wine yeast, as an example, I use the whole package (6 grams) for a one gallon batch. You can't overpitch, especially since this isn't taking off, so it's good that you've added more yeast.

How much k-meta did you add? I'm not sure how tolerant S04 is of sulfites, but I used 50 ppm (approximately 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon), and mine fermented just fine and started the next day.

Is the temperature still 60? That might be at the low end of S04's range. Warming it up a bit if you can may really help.

Edit- I did assume that you took an SG reading after the 96 hours. But if you didn't, that is the very first thing to check. That way you know if it started and stalled, didn't start, etc.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

used 1 1/2 campden tablets. Haven't checked gravity after the initial check because there hasn't even been any hint of krausen, just clear yellow juice and a thin layer of stuff at the bottom. Temperature probably varies between 60-62 degrees. I'll move it to another room to bring it up a few degrees, but it's pretty weird, I've never really experienced anything like it.

 

[Yooper]

used 1 1/2 campden tablets. Haven't checked gravity after the initial check because there hasn't even been any hint of krausen, just clear yellow juice and a thin layer of stuff at the bottom. Temperature probably varies between 60-62 degrees. I'll move it to another room to bring it up a few degrees, but it's pretty weird, I've never really experienced anything like it.

Yeah, but often cider and perry don't form any sort of krausen at all.