BTW, I used Lalvin 71B-1122 in the 6-gallon batch rather than the Champagne. It was much less bitterly raw out of the primary than the Champagne, so I am interested to compare finished tastes.

Thanks for your help.

I added 1/4 tsp k met PER GALLON to my 5 gallon batch

It sucks to lose a batch like that. I guess the silver lining is you’ll never make that mistake again!

Erroll

Now, the Motts apple juice said Pasteurized on the label and listed ONLY apple juice from concentrate, water and ascorbic acid (Vit. C) on the ingredients. It did NOT specifically say no preservatives. I believe it did contain a large dose of unlisted preservative, possibly carried into it through the concentrate mix. That’s just my belief.

I have bought 4 gallons of Indian Summer filtered apple cider (“100 Percent Apple Juice” — not from concentrate — and “Pasteurized”) which I have been assured does ferment by hard cider and wine makers. I am going to try your recipe again in a gallon batch first. If it works, I would like to put up 5-6 gallons of this beginning now for use as a refreshing summer wine. My fingers are crossed!

I am assuming you can see my email addy, and so if you wish to take this conversation to email, that would be fine with me. I hate to clutter up your blog. Thanks for the encouragement again.

Oh, one more question: Will your Bailout Blanc recipe also work with Welch’s frozen concord?

I’ve had to pour batches down the drain, and it always hurts. I hope you don’t get discouraged – you can make good wine this way.

To see if your yeast is ok, rehydrate with just water first, then make a yeast starter. I’ve seen activity in hours when I follow this procedure. If you pitch an active starter into a must and nothing happens, then you know it wasn’t the yeast. But if the juice you used said “No Preservatives” on the label, then I don’t know what else it could have been. Any other additions to the must (like a lot of acid)?

Erroll

I could try this with a filtered cider, rather than an apple juice. There is a brand here that others tell me they have successfully used. I may do a small batch of that, as my primary fermenter is about to move on to a Welch’s concord recipe. I don’t think I’ll try Motts again.

I bought 5 packets of yeast, and used 2 in trying to start the apple juice. The packet instructs to rehydrate in a cup of warm water first, but I pitched it directly both times. Is there a way to know if the yeast is active in the rehydration stage, or must it be nourished with sugar and a day allowed to elapse in order to gauge activity?

My grandpa used to make excellent wines using only natural fermentation and zero chemicals so I keep telling myself this can’t be that difficult! Thanks for the encouragement.

Usually, you can sprinkle dry yeast on your must and it will ferment out just fine. There is a small risk that your yeast is bad, and that’s why some people rehydrate (careful when you do this, too-hot water or additives like sugar and you’ll do more harm than good) and make a starter. That’s what I would recommend now, but it sounds like you’re one step ahead of me. Good luck with this batch – let me know how things turn out.

Erroll

By way of trying to figure out what happened, I think I will take about 3/4 gallon of apple juice I still have refrigerated and add sugar, then first rehydrate and then add the yeast, just to see if fermentation will start in it without any pot met. It may be that I was too high with SO2 by using 1/4 tsp pot met per gallon in the big batch, even though I waited ~24 hours before adding yeast. This will test the yeast and sulfite level at the same time.

I’d like to get some answers about why the must is barren before I invest in my next endeavor. I’d hate to have two bad batches in a row.

Everything was and is meticuluously cleaned and sanitized. The must is in a room that is 70 degrees, in a food grade bucket covered with a clean towel held by a large rubber band.

I am using Lalvin 71B-1122, purchased from a reputable online supplier. Made must Saturday that read SG 1.100 and around 14% potential alcohol, and smelled delightful, but waited until Sunday to pitch the yeast directly onto the must, as many advise waiting up to 24 hrs after dosing with pot meta. Stirred Monday.

By Tuesday, no foam at all nor any sign of C02 conversion I could see. There were some smallish bubbles on the side of the bucket. Stirred again and then added yeast nutrient (1 teaspoon/gallon; not called for in your recipe) and a second packet of 71B-1122 to try to establish fermentation.

Checked this morning (Wednesday) and must looks the same. No foam. I am not completely disheartened about it, as it would take a couple days for a new culuture to establish from my latest efforts to start one. Stirred again. There is a thin sediment coming up from the bottom now when stirred, but it could be the yeast nutrient falling out of suspension. Must still smells great.

I have read that the 71B-1122 is a low-foaming yeast. My only other fermentation experience came with Hi-C fruit juice and baker’s yeast in a science experiment as a teen a long time ago, and as you can guess, that was quite vigorous. Any chance it could be fermenting without me actually seeing it? I have not taken another SG reading to see if it is indeed falling. Should I?

Do you have other suggestions? I’m willing to pitch $40 worth of must as the cost of education and try again if I need to, but can this be saved? Or am I just over-thinking it all and I need to be more patient with my yeasties?

Thanks!
Jim