Beer Forum

I've made ciders with raw apple juice from an orchard before, but I wanted to see what a cider made from store-bought apple juice was like. I read numerous threads with information on the topic. From what I read, as long as the ingredients didn't include any preservative, it could be used. So I picked up 5 gallons of Target's store brand which has 3 ingredients:

• Filtered Water
• Apple Juice Concentrate
• Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

Roughly 50 hours ago, I added 6 oz of honey, 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient, and Mangrove Jack Cider yeast. It's been sitting in a room that is roughly 70 degrees and I'm not seeing any krausen or fermentation activity.

Any ideas why it's not fermenting? FWIW, I was planning on finishing with Brett B so if nothing happens, I'll pitch that, but I was hoping to use that for a secondary fermentation.

I don't do any cider, but how long has it been sitting like that? From how I read it, you waited 50hr and then added the yeast, then there was some indeterminate time until now. If it has been more than a couple days, then that would seem suspect.

PhillyBrewer wrote:I've made ciders with raw apple juice from an orchard before, but I wanted to see what a cider made from store-bought apple juice was like. I read numerous threads with information on the topic. From what I read, as long as the ingredients didn't include any preservative, it could be used. So I picked up 5 gallons of Target's store brand which has 3 ingredients:

• Filtered Water
• Apple Juice Concentrate
• Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

Roughly 50 hours ago, I added 6 oz of honey, 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient, and Mangrove Jack Cider yeast. It's been sitting in a room that is roughly 70 degrees and I'm not seeing any krausen or fermentation activity.

Any ideas why it's not fermenting? FWIW, I was planning on finishing with Brett B so if nothing happens, I'll pitch that, but I was hoping to use that for a secondary fermentation.

I ferment cider like this all the time but skip the nutrient step. For me, it is just a fun/cheap/easy way of getting something on tap. I have never had much of a krausen form. At most, there is some bubbling and a very low like circle of krausen in the middle. nothing like a beer fermentation. Take a reading after a few days to really determine if it is fermenting.

It's fermenting just fine I'm sure. You're just not seeing it. Don't expect a krausen, especially not with store-bought juice, there's not any protein in there probably to form a krausen. Look very closely for tiny fizz bubbles popping. Check gravity if you want to see if it's falling yet. I'll bet it's well underway.