Cider not fermenting

My first cider attempt. It's day three and see no activity in the airlock. So this is what I did. I juiced 20kg of apples and got just over 3 gallons of juice. I took a gravity reading of 1.050 at this point.

I wanted to stick to a more organic method so I pasteurised the juice at 180/185°C for 45 minutes, at this point I added 13.5oz of brown sugar as I wanted to raise the specific gravity to 1.060. Then I transferred it into the primary fermenter. (5 gallon capacity)

After letting it cool to 80°C, I added the yeast starter (Lalvin EC-1118, prepared 30 minutes prior as per the instructions on the packet.) I sealed the lid, with airlock in a closest, which has a temperature ranging 15/20°C. Day three, no activity in the airlock.

Does anyone know what might be going on?

Any advice is welcome!

Thanks in advance.

Paul

Topic primary cider homebrew

Category Mac

1
answered at

Dead Yeast check expectation date. When you did your "30 min starter" was there foaming? If not it's likely the yeast was dead. "80°C" will kill yeast. If you added your yeast to 176°F cider, it's dead. Repitch your cider. Providing that was a typo, here's some other possibilities.

Bad Fermentor Seal if there is a bad seal, the air lock won't function properly. This won't change fermentation though.

Maybe Nothing Wrong cider can ferment quickly and generally only leaves small signs it happened. If the bell in the air lock is lifted, chances are good it fermented. An other sign, is a lot more yeasts on the bottom than you pitched. Pull a sample for a taste test, or SG reading.

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