First try here making some hard cider from apples I picked and pressed from a local orchard. I started with two gallons of my own pressing, and one additional gallon of raw juice that I purchased from the orchard just to compare some different apples. I am working with three 1-gallon carboys (one containing orchard juice, the other two containing my juice. I've been meticulously following instructions from Drew Beechum's Everything Hard Cider book.
Here are the steps I've taken, unfortunately with no fermentation to show for it...
Thanks for any suggestions!
Stretch
Here are the steps I've taken, unfortunately with no fermentation to show for it...
- Adjusted juice pH with malic acid to 3.6
- Added 0.75 tsp potassium metabisulfite (to each gallon)
- Allowed to sit 24h at 68 degrees F
- Checked starting specific gravity = 1.050
- Boiled 1/3 cup water and cooled to 105 degrees F
- Added one packet Red Star Premium Cuvee yeast and 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
- Allowed to sit for 1h, then divided yeast mixture into thirds and pitched into carboys
- Placed in 61 degree F basement
- After 36h, no appreciable ferment, so increased basement temp which brought juice temp to 65.1 F
- After another 24h, no appreciable ferment, so pitched again with another packet yeast and nutrient (same as previous)
- 14h later, still nothing (now 4 days from first pitch). Checked specific gravity = unchanged at 1.050
- Concerned that perhaps the yeast packets that I got from my cider kit were dead, I went to a local brewery and got advice from the brewer and he gave me a packet of Fermentis Safbrew s-33 Belgian Dry Brewing Yeast (I'm at a cabin in the mtns so no homebrew stores around).
- I pulled 1.5 cups of juice from one carboy and pitched the yeast and 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient into this starter solution and allowed to rest for 1h.
- I thirded the starter juice and added back to the three carboys
- I'm now 24h later and still don't see a damn thing going on in the carboys.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Stretch