AJ GB 2016

[Shanna]

Nice message from my daughter tonight

Oh the stink from 15 drums y
Are you fermenting for the entire county of Wicklow there CH? Count yourself lucky re the smell, my youngest thought that the toilet had started to back up Thank god the yeast eventually kicked off so I could move the fermenters to the conservatory.

Shanna

[Leann ull]

Yep some serious moaning this morning, the worst will be over in another week and this isn't even touching the sides

[cruiscinlan]

Not much of a honk off mine so far anyways, with the wild yeast.

[Leann ull]

Are you sure it's fermenting?

[cruiscinlan]

Yup. Never had any issues with smell from the wild yeast, and I used to keep the drums in me bedroom.

[Leann ull]

I better not comment

[Keg]

How long are people waiting until moving off the lees?
The first cider is at 1.000 now, should I wait until closer to .995?

[Leann ull]

Like all things Homebrewing
https://youtu.be/iDVuQi4gdtk

[pob]

How long are people waiting until moving off the lees?
The first cider is at 1.000 now, should I wait until closer to .995?

I'd say leave it there until Jan (or later). Transfer to keg & leave until summer, then bottle or pour.
It'll really only be ready this time next year.

[Leann ull]

Davy reckons you could drink his in April, not sure tbh

[aweisse]

Noticeing some white bloom on the surface of wild yeast fermentation, took a sample and it tastes allright , nice aroma.
i assume this is ok

[mr hoppy]

Not really. Film yeast is an infection and not desirable. Cider is more prone to infection than beer as it's not hopped. The trick is to minimise exposure to air / oxygen by minimising headspace and keeping the FV closed. Also, the longer you leave it the worse it will get.

If there's limited headspace already you can float the film off the top by adding cooled boiled water.

You could also rack the cider out from under neath the infection, being careful to avoid shaking it up and sinking it into the body of the cider. This might be a good option as it should be nearly ready to rack to secondary anyway. For secondary you want something oxygen impermeable. Kegs or carbons are good options. You'll want to purge kegs with CO2 and fill carboys right to the top. No headspace is good. With car boys stored in cold places be careful of suck back through air locks. CH mentioned that some of the pros put a layer of oil on top to block O2 and I've put sanitised tinfoil tied on with string. You do need to keep an eye on carboys as film yeast infection is common in secondary but can be easily floated off if caught in time.

More Campden might also be an idea but overdoing it won't make for a tasty cider either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tipp brewer]

Just wondering when is a good time to rack cider to corny, I did one last week but it was at 1.000 I had added yeast to that batch, my other batch has no yeast added, its down to 1.006 today so definately getting there, should I let it ferment out fully. I can be patient for another week I guess if that's best.

[pob]

  4 posts up ^

'... for another week ...', couple of months to go yet.

Patience Grasshopper

[Keg]

Shed! It's 5-6 degrees out there you want 12-16 min or higher if using beer yeast

Mangrove jack cider yeast is what I'm using

I have two batches from last week (1 balanced, 1 dry) on Bulldog cider yeast and they took off in no time. 

One other batch is with MJ cider yeast and that doesn't seem to have taken off at all, pitched 6 days ago and no bubbling. All in the same room, all with same process.

OK so the two ciders (dry/balanced) that used bulldog yeast turned out fine.  The one with MJ yeast seems to be infected.  I sterilised and sanitised all buckets together, used campden tablets etc but this one seems to have went a bit off track.