First time brew question

seez · Jan 5, 2015

Good evening all,

I am very new to brewing and have decided to start off my adventure with Cider as myself and the misses both like it.

2 days ago I kicked off 4 demijohns with varying recipes, all have 4 litres of juice and have 1 tsp of Wine yeast.

After one day, one of them seemed to be bubbling nicely in the air lock and then had stopped by day 2 (today), I havent seen any of the others produce any bubbles in the airlock at all.

All of the demi johns have quite a lot of froth on top now, a couple of them getting quite close to the top of the bottle.

My method was to sterilize the DJs, I then added the juices, gave them a shake up and then took the hydrometer reading. I then added the yeast, gave them another shake and the put the bung and airlock on.

Could somebody give me any advice, are they all brewing OK if they have the froth but no bubbles in the airlock after 2 days or have I done something wrong ?

Any help much appreciated. Thank you all in advance

Chippy_Tea · Jan 5, 2015

At what temperature did you pitch the yeast?

What temperature is it where the DJ's are now?

Did you use yeast nutrient?

engineer · Jan 5, 2015

If they are all frothing up then you appear to have fermentation underway so its likely you have a bad seal around the bung or the airlock.

I use 5 litre water bottles as demijons and use petroleum jelly to seal around the airlock bung, you may want to give that a try.

seez · Jan 5, 2015

Not sure what the temp was when I pitched the yeast, however, all of the juices used were at room temperature. Am waiting on my temperature strips to be delivered but couldnt wait to get started :) Have also ordered some nutrient in the same order so havent put any of this in the brews.

The DJs are stored in a cupboard in the house that used to be an airing cupboard (there is no longer a boiler in there), it is carpetted and the door is shut so it should be fairly warm in there.

I hope it is just a bad seal on the bungs/airlocks then, will go and give them a shove to make sure they are in tight enough.

Chippy_Tea · Jan 5, 2015

Take the bungs out cover the neck with a clean hand and give the DJ's a good shake, have some boiling water ready in the kettle and pour some over the airlock bungs before replacing them, do the same again when the nutrient arrives after adding the correct measure.

seez · Jan 5, 2015

Just gave them all a shove and 3 out of the 4 of them have started bubbling :)

How long after the brew has been going for is good to still add the nutrient ?

Chippy_Tea · Jan 5, 2015

If you haven't got it now there isn't a lot of point in adding it as you are going to have to stabilise it on Wednesday if you want it clear for Friday to bottle.