Aeration

Cider
1

I’m assuming I should aerate my apple juice before pitching yeast, just like beer?

Thanks,
Ron

2

I never have when using dry yeast, but I don’t know what you were planning on using? Batch size and gravity, etc.?

3

Sorry. Forgot the details.

5 gallons apple juice (no added preservatives, sugars, etc.)

OG 1.050

wyeast 4766 cider yeast

I did some more searching after I posted and did find a few places where aeration was encouraged–I figured it couldn’t hurt–so I went ahead and mixed the bejeebies out of it with the mix-stir.

Activated the smack pack and let it swell for about 4 1/2 hours. Didn’t tightly swell but there was noticeable activity- so I direct pitched at 60*, gonna keep it at +/-65* for at least the first week or so.
(unless someone tells me that’s not a good temp-just going by wyeast recs-my first batch of cider obviously)

Thanks,

Ron

4

That was a good call with the liquid yeast. Should be some tasty cider in your future! :smiley:

5

Thanks for the affirmation, Hans. Looking forward to the results.

:cheers:

Ron

6

You really don’t need to oxygenate cider unless you heat treated it which would tend to drive oxygen out of it. Otherwise, without heat, cider will naturally contain sufficient oxygen on its own to get the yeast rolling. Still, it certainly doesn’t hurt if you want to ensure the fastest startup possible and minimize odds for contamination. So you’ve done good.