Have I just screwed up my cider?

[sam132]

Hey Guys,

I just put in my Campden tablet, Pectolase and Cider yeast into my juice one after the other - have I messed it up?

Also the juice was kinda thick when it came out of the juicer, will it seperate in the demijohn, or will I be drinking a dodgy milkshake?

Sam

 

[Mark1964]

i did that yesterday making wine and its fermenting like mad now

 

[alphacento]

Hello Sam,

did you put the yeast into you brew right after the Campden tablet? If that is the case than I doubt that it will ferment. Once I put the yeast in 18 or so hours after the tablets and it did not work. I would suggest to wait another day or so and if nothing has happened than add more yeast. It is not messed up yet.

How did you produce the juice? Did you mashed the apples and then pressed them?

Take care
Alphacento

 

[tonyhibbett]

In my limited experience, the juicer produces brown scum on the top and greenish juice which seperates into clearish liquid and a layer of solids on the bottom. The scum is fairly easy to skim and contains very little juice. The sediment contains plenty of juice, but you need to siphon off the clear juice to end up with a clear brew. You can drink the sediment. Rather lumpy, but tastes nice. Another tip is to squeeze the ejected pulp through muslin and get lots more clear juice, usually enough to make up for the sediment you have removed.

 

[alphacento]

the juicer produces brown scum on the top and greenish juice which seperates into clearish liquid and a layer of solids on the bottom. The scum is fairly easy to skim and contains very little juice.

I never came across one. I tend to use a Kitchenaid Blender to mash the apples and then I press them with a small apple press. This method sounda also interesting. Is a muslin like a straining bag?

 

[sam132]

Hello Sam,

did you put the yeast into you brew right after the Campden tablet? If that is the case than I doubt that it will ferment. Once I put the yeast in 18 or so hours after the tablets and it did not work. I would suggest to wait another day or so and if nothing has happened than add more yeast. It is not messed up yet.

How did you produce the juice? Did you mashed the apples and then pressed them?

Take care
Alphacento

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies, it's been and day and nothings happened, should I add more yeast?

Yes, I mashed the apples and then ran them through a juicer (which had a pulp filter but didn't work very well) then ran it through a siv. Next time I'd get some muslin/just buy some non concentrated juice and save a lot of time!

Sam

 

[alphacento]

it's been and day and nothings happened, should I add more yeast?

I would suggest so. Maybe try an yeast starter just to be safe!

 

[RobWalker]

Give it a few days, cider is a slow fermenter. If nothing happens in 72hours, repitch yeast as the Campden should have wore off by then.

Be patient. The number one cause of bad brews is fiddling too much!

 

[shocker]

Hi Sam ,after what Rob says ,to wait ,I would second the above about making a starter . What yeast do you have to hand and in what form is it ? If you can get a yeast started in a seperate container and then add some of the cider to it , that way you can see if it is going to take .Also the yeast will get to work faster this way when pitched to whole .

re : Pulp - I have found pulp to be a real pain in the arse....it tends to stay suspended in the liquid and not settle down to a cake at the bottom of the FV ,holding a load of the the used yeast cells with it and so making it very hard to seperate out the clear cider from the trub when you come to syphon .I found that forcing it through a sieve made the problem even worse ! I ended up having to bin a couple of gallons that I just could not get to settle - a real shame after all the time and work .Hence I would be looking at chopping or grating the apples and pressing in future ,like I have always done in the past .I am not a big fan of domestic juicers as they seem to be designed with looks rather than function in mind with stupid shaped ,little recievers for the juice that just beg to be knocked over .Well ,thats my opinion .The theory of the centrifugal seperator is sound ,just the bloody silly designs at fault .

 

[tonyhibbett]

Yes cider is a slow starter. Yeast nutrient helps.
Clearly juicers vary in performance. My Breville is pretty good. You get a thick layer or brown 'scum' containing very little juice, while the solids seperate out from the juice within an hour. If the ejected pulp is pressed, you get at least another 20% clear juice, with no sediment. Total raw juice is 75% of the apples, less the sediment, at least 55% clear juice. It's tempting to load more than one apple at a time (up to 3) but this causes problems, so stick to one at a time. It's quicker in the long run. Mess is inevitable with a large batch, but if the whole thing is placed in a tray, the mess is contained.

 

[sam132]

Cheers guy,

I will follow advice and wait another day at least.

If nothing happens how do I get the yeast started in a separate container?

This is the yeast I used - http://www.dorsethomebrew.co.uk/shop/nu ... 43317.html

Definitely agree about the juicers, this one was pretty cruddy alright - plus I had to spoon feed in mashed apple so it took me over an hour to juice the 36 apples.

Next time, I'm gonna just use unconcentrated juice!

Sam

 

[alphacento]

Definitely agree about the juicers, this one was pretty cruddy alright - plus I had to spoon feed in mashed apple so it took me over an hour to juice the 36 apples.

Next time, I'm gonna just use unconcentrated juice!

Creating juice from apples is very hard, even with the proper equipment. The big bonus with that, if the cider comes out good, is the feeling of satisfaction for having created everything on you own!

 

[sam132]

You can say that again!

Still no movement, so I'll add some more yeast now.

Sam