Homebrew Help!!

[HemsbyPie]

Hi all!! 

Picked my apples as usual 2 weeks ago, juiced as usual and poured into demijohn. Added universal wine yeast (which I have read lots of places is perfectly OK). It bubbled away like a trooper creating plenty of gas for the first 3 days but has been dead as a dodo ever since...

Is this normal or should I still be getting bubbles? From memory it carried on creating has for a whole lot longer last year?

is there anyway of saving this year's harvest?

Ang help much appreciated!! 

[riyadhcrew]

Did you add any sugar????

[HemsbyPie]

No, I usually add that when bottling to restart fermentation and add bubbles?

[riyadhcrew]

It's just that I make my own wine here in Saudi and for 17 litres of grape juice, I add 650 grams of sugar for the yeast to work on. The other thing I found is the ambiant temperature. The cooler the area, the slower it worked. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

[HemsbyPie]

No need to apologise, happy for any experience! I will wait to see if anyone has any ideas if not I will try adding some brewing sugar...

[ExUserGone]

31 minutes ago, riyadhcrew said:

It's just that I make my own wine here in Saudi

Yikes! Don't people get locked up and flogged for that sort of thing there?

 

[riyadhcrew]

We're pretty safe here in a compound. Authorities are not allowed inside, unless invited. However, if I travelled outside the compound and was caught with booze, all hell would let loose.

[grendel]

are you trying to make wine or cider? just about to juice my apples and never tried making cider, I have the demijohns from making ginger beer.do you need the fancy airlock doodads on the demijohn?

[Paul]

it was on Radio 4 last week that there has been a bumper crop of apples this year due to the weather, but that the sugar levels are low. Did you measure the gravity when you started fermentation? can you measure a sample now? It may be that the yeast has used all of the available sugars. 

There could be other reasons. Did you sterilise the juice? if so you must leave at least 24 hours before adding the yeast. Did you whisk the juice to get plenty of oxygen into it. If not then the yeast may have used all of the available oxygen up. 

 

[TheQ]

9 hours ago, riyadhcrew said:

We're pretty safe here in a compound. Authorities are not allowed inside, unless invited. However, if I travelled outside the compound and was caught with booze, all hell would let loose.

I'd totally agree with this, keep it on the compound no problem, take it out in bottle or body ( enough to be noticed) and you're in deep trouble!! Mind you when someone blew up their villa when they went out for lunch leaving the "sidiqi still" running it did bring the authorities !!!!! Sidiqi is the neat spirit brewed from sugar or spuds sidiqi roughly means friend in Arabic.

Amazing how some supermarkets have the  fruit juices stacked next to the Sugar next to the yeast ( for bread making of course)

I generally made cider in a plastic water jerry can.

[Hockham Admiral]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

I generally made cider in a plastic water jerry can.

A 5-gallon one, of course, Q?   

[HemsbyPie]

10 hours ago, Paul said:

it was on Radio 4 last week that there has been a bumper crop of apples this year due to the weather, but that the sugar levels are low. Did you measure the gravity when you started fermentation? can you measure a sample now? It may be that the yeast has used all of the available sugars. 

There could be other reasons. Did you sterilise the juice? if so you must leave at least 24 hours before adding the yeast. Did you whisk the juice to get plenty of oxygen into it. If not then the yeast may have used all of the available oxygen up. 

 

I didn't sterilise the juice, but I core my apples, then quatre them, cut out the bad bits then run through a sterilised juicer so I'm fairly happy it's not gone bad. Gave it a smell last, smells exactly the same as my brew last year, not like vinegar at all so don't think it's gone bad.

i think I will give it 200g of brewing sugar tonight and see where it goes, hope that there was just a lack of sugar in the apples (although they tasted fine, golden delicious!!)

[HemsbyPie]

10 hours ago, grendel said:

are you trying to make wine or cider? just about to juice my apples and never tried making cider, I have the demijohns from making ginger beer.do you need the fancy airlock doodads on the demijohn?

You don't HAVE to have one but it makes the process a whole lot easier and they are only a quid from wilkinsons!!

[MauriceMynah]

As I understand it the sweetness of the apple has no relationship to the apples sugar content. (No, I don't understand that either!) Crab-apples have the greatest sugar content, or so I'm told. It does seemto sound like insufficient sugar for the yeast to work on..

[HemsbyPie]

2 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

As I understand it the sweetness of the apple has no relationship to the apples sugar content. (No, I don't understand that either!) Crab-apples have the greatest sugar content, or so I'm told. It does seemto sound like insufficient sugar for the yeast to work on..

I did try something new this year - I left the yeast in a jug of the apple juice for 12 hours to get it going before adding it to the rest of the juice in the demijohn. Read it was the right thing to do on the internet so presumed it must be true! Will update later after sugar has been added!!

[Wildfuzz]

Get some of that "white Lightning" stuff, I am led to believe it is the only cider that does not contain apples, only chemicals.........

 

A Sidiqi still sounds like a project for my workshop.......

[HemsbyPie]

54 minutes ago, Wildfuzz said:

Get some of that "white Lightning" stuff, I am led to believe it is the only cider that does not contain apples, only chemicals........

Drank too much of that as a teen - don't think I could stomach it any more 

[grendel]

4 hours ago, HemsbyPie said:

You don't HAVE to have one but it makes the process a whole lot easier and they are only a quid from wilkinsons!!

Looks like a walk into town to Wilkinsons to get an airlock and some yeast tomorrow then, 2nd time in two weeks. (and probably second time this year) I tend to avoid the town centre as it is usually packed (Grockles)

[TheQ]

10 hours ago, Hockham Admiral said:

A 5-gallon one, of course, Q?   

Yep, second jerry can started well before first one finished

 

[Paul]

I only asked about sterilising as pitching the yeast to soon after adding the Sodium Meta (or whatever sterilising agent you use) can inhibit the yeast. That's  obviously not an issue here. It's not essential to sterilise apple juice for cider, I wouldn't do it. 

If you are heading to Wilko's get a hydrometer as well, they are not expensive but will allow you to see how much unfermented sugar is in your wort. You'll know then if fermentation is complete or if the yeast has stopped prematurely. 

[grendel]

Ok committed now, went out and picked all the apples I could see / reach. ran them through the juicer, and got a demijohn and a half of juice, added some yeast (similar to the one above, but from lakeland) plonked the airlocks on, I had a hydrometer, and it was sitting a bit deep, so I added some sugar (nothing scientific here) I just plonked some in. then just sat the demijohns out of the way to see what happens. I guess if it stops bubbling after a few days I will need to add some more sugar.

 

[grendel]

now - how long do i need to leave it for?

[Timbo]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

now - how long do i need to leave it for?

I've left mine alone since the late 1960's...Mum said it would drop off if I didn't! 

[grendel]

31 minutes ago, Timbo said:

I've left mine alone since the late 1960's...Mum said it would drop off if I didn't! 

She was obviously right (just checking, it hasn't dropped off has it ?????)

[Timbo]

4 hours ago, grendel said:

She was obviously right (just checking, it hasn't dropped off has it ?????)

 The cats gave you away. You're not catching me out that easily Mr Schrödinger!