I had apples coming out my ears this year from my orchard with about a dozen trees near Champaign IL so I decided to try to make my first batch of hard cider from juice that I had pressed myself. Fortunately there is a liquor store nearby (Friar Tuck) that has all the needed supplies so I got a couple of 5 gal buckets and filled them up. I used champagne yeast with a starter and put campden tablets in one bucket but not the other.
Nothing had happened after a few days and I went away for the Thanksgiving holiday thinking that there would be some action upon my return, but still no luck. Finally I went to the store and relayed my plight to the resident expert who asked me if I had sealed the lid tightly. Duh. Somehow I had overlooked this very basic concept. Silly me.
Now it's about two weeks after having started this process and two days after tightening the lids. There is a lot of foam on top of the cider and I'm only getting about 2-4 gurgles per minute in the airlocks (the bucket with the campden is producing less).
So my question is: Do you think that the cider has become contaminated and it's time to throw it out or should I be more patient and see what develops? At the moment I'm keeping it in a cellar that is running a bit cool (45-50 degrees) due to the current cold snap.
Nothing had happened after a few days and I went away for the Thanksgiving holiday thinking that there would be some action upon my return, but still no luck. Finally I went to the store and relayed my plight to the resident expert who asked me if I had sealed the lid tightly. Duh. Somehow I had overlooked this very basic concept. Silly me.
Now it's about two weeks after having started this process and two days after tightening the lids. There is a lot of foam on top of the cider and I'm only getting about 2-4 gurgles per minute in the airlocks (the bucket with the campden is producing less).
So my question is: Do you think that the cider has become contaminated and it's time to throw it out or should I be more patient and see what develops? At the moment I'm keeping it in a cellar that is running a bit cool (45-50 degrees) due to the current cold snap.