Whats gone wrong with my recipe?

[eca06ljc]

hi everyone, im new to homebrew and after the success of my first time making cider, i thought id experiment with something. i used the following ingredients:

cider making kit (just concentrated apple juice)
strawberry wine making kit (ingredients just said concentrated grape, strawberry and elderberry juices)
1kg of sugar
3 cartons of five alive juice to give it a bit more fruitiness

i followed the instructions to the letter but when i went to check on it after making up the mixture after about 5 hours, all the yeast if floating on the top of the liquid, is this normal? if it isnt normal whats gone wrong and how do i fix it? should i stir it again?

thanks for any help you can give!

 

[tubby_shaw]

Firstly, give the yeast time :thumb:
It can take a while to rehydrate the yeast and for it to get used to it's new enviroment
Second, did you make it all up into one brew? and if so what volume?
Take a hydrometer reading and let us know the gravity :thumb:

 

[eca06ljc]

i dont have a hydrometer unfortunately so cant tell you that. i made it all up in one fermentation bucket and it was 23 litres

 

[Moley]

It's quite normal for yeasts to take a few hours to get going, but you should certainly be seeing signs of activity by now. Anything doing?

Do you still have the empty cartons of the 5 alive juices?
Are they 100% juice or are they “juice drinks”, and is there any mention of preservatives in the ingredients listing?

BTW, a hydrometer should only be around £2.49 in Wilkinson's or your LHBS. Get one, they really aren't an optional extra.

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

be patien, 24 hours and you`ll have it bubbling, however i`m sure like everyone else, it will be interesting to see what this one comes out like.

either way though it will have alcohol in it

 

[Chris]

i followed the instructions to the letter but when i went to check on it after making up the mixture after about 5 hours, all the yeast if floating on the top of the liquid,

Have a look at my topic here on turbo cider. I was worried it wasn't doing anything. The guys on this forum will guide you in the right direction, just give the yeast time to wake up & it'll do it's thing. :thumb: