brilliant experiment, thank you. very intriguing. I used to put in 1/3 of a yeast package (1.67g.) but I'm thinking 1/4 (1.25g.) would do just as well since I keep the apple wine in the fermenter for about a month (I only make 1 gallon carboys, apple wine with around 10.5% ABV)
If you let the yeast set on top awhile and let it do its thing, it will reproduce faster. Cells divide every 90 mins. Dont let it go too long or it will get super yeasty. Its all about balance. It will ferment way quicker. Should be mixed a couple times a day for faster fermentation.
Head space during primary fermentation isn't a concern. The CO2 produced will push out the other air, providing a protective blanket. On the other hand, too little head space can lead to volcanoes.
Exactly. I remember starting a mead with tart cherries and not entirely trusting it wouldn’t blow out the airlock. I was to go to my SO’s house for an overnight stay. Simply decided to take the fermenter with me as I didn’t have enough tubing to rig up a blowoff tube. The next morning I wanted to surprise my love with breakfast in bed and crept downstairs… the airlock was on the floor, the bung a few feet from it and a small puddle beneath the fermenter. Good thing my brew hadn’t hit the ceiling. I quickly cleaned up the mess, de-gassed the brew with a spoon straight from the dishwasher (hot cycle, essentially sterile), replaced everything, made breakfast and headed back upstairs. He still doesn’t know…
When using a carboy (demijohn here in the uk) I always cut down the amount of yeast. I does tend to stop the stopper from blowing off as the initial fermentation does go a bit slower. It's never affected the end product
Great video! The only time I use a full package of yeast is if I’m using ingredients that might make fermentation harder on the yeast, or if I’m not 100% certain the yeast I’m using still is viable. Pitching more yeast will increase the cell count of viable yeast cells, helping fermentation and avoiding the pitfalls of infection, sluggish fermentation, and stressed yeast. The non-viable cells will also act as nutrient. Generally though I don’t need to worry as I prefer not to keep a large store of yeasts and tend to use opened packages first.
So I told my buddy to dump the sugar into the bucket, but he grabbed the bag with about 16lbs in it, it was a rolling bubble for a few days, I added 5 more grams of yeast to help attack the sugar, is it going to recover? I'm half asleep and prolly not making much sense lol
Great job. I suspected that would be your results. If I have a surplus of yeast in my wine refrigerator, I will use a full packet per gallon if it is going to expire within 30 days. Better to use than to loose 🙂
