Noob question… I pitched 2 packs EC 1118 dry yeast into my cider, OG 1.071, 2 weeks ago and it is still bubbling every few seconds. I’ve never had beer go this long. Is this normal?
Thanks
Scott
Yes, very normal. Cider takes a good 5-6 weeks.
Good, thanks!
I watched the brew tv video and he said primary ended in 1 week… so I panicked a bit.
Especially after picking and crushing my own apples. Lot of work.
Scott
Don’t listen to humans. Don’t even listen to me. Listen to your yeast. Let them do all the talking, and you’ll be fine.
How long it will go depends on lots of factors, the biggest of which is temperature, yeast nutrient additions and pitch rates. The higher all of these are (within limits), the faster the fermentation will finish - but fast finish does not equal good cider. In particular, you want to keep the temperature fairly low, but not so low the yeast will stall. For EC 1118 a good target would be 50-60F. You don’t really need nutrients with cider, but a small addition of DAP will speed things up with no penalty.
My temps are a bit high, which is one reason I’m not brewing right now, about 68 - 70 F.
I did not add yeast nutrient in the beginning, but just a bit today. I’ve done that with big stouts that seem to be working longer than normal and it seems to work.
Time is on my side, I’ll let it go another week or so and then secondary it.
Thanks,
Scott
Great quote Dave. You should use it as a tag line :lol:
