Does anybody NOT sanitize their juice before fermentation?

[u/nevernotmad]

I make one batch of 4 gallons of cider annually. I buy freshly pressed, unpasteurized juice from a local farm stand, pour it into a plastic fermenter, add yeast, ferment around 65F for about 10 days, and rack to a corny keg that has been purged with CO2. Then, the keg goes into the basement intil last year’s keg is empty. I like my cider dry so I let it ferment out. I serve it from the kegerator.

I’m seeing all these ‘is this a pellicle’ questions and I’m wondering if my method is unsound.

FwIW, I’ve fermented using a cider yeast, Nottingham, and once on a yeast cake if Kviek.

Does anybody else neither hear their cider, nor use campden tablets?

[u/Big-Ad-9242]

Only sanitize my equipment.

No campden, no pasteurization, no cultured yeast, no problems.

[u/Fun_Journalist4199 → u/Big-Ad-9242]

You just let it ferment wild?

[u/WeatherMonster → u/Fun_Journalist4199]

Pitch a bunch of healthy yeast (maybe from an active starter) and in theory it should outcompete what's in there. I've made a few ciders from fresh pressed apples, and pitched the day of pressing, and they turn out amazing.

[u/Abstract__Nonsense → u/WeatherMonster]

Fermenting wild is a perfectly valid and common technique as well.

[u/Fun_Journalist4199 → u/WeatherMonster]

That’s how I always do it but I’m thinking about just letting what’s on the apples do their thing

[u/jrobpierce]

I’ve never sanitized my juice or used any stabilizers. Never had any problems

[u/lifes_a_lemon]

Just started my first batch, but i didn't heat the juice or use any tablets. I washed the apples in just water and cold juiced them, then put in the carboy with the rehydrated yeast and shook the whole thing. We'll see how it turns out...

[u/nevernotmad]

Thanks for the answers. I do sanitize my equipment and try to avoid oxidation. I’ve been home brewing for years so I assume that my sanitation practices will carry me through.

[u/trekktrekk]

My Yeastie Bois are strong, I've never bothered with kmeta on juice {like apple for cider}.

Usually if you pitch enough, yours will easily outpace any wild stuff that could be present.

[u/primeweevil]

Never did either. I also go right to a 1 or 5 gal keg and figure as long as my keg fridge doesn't die, while I'm out of town, with cider in it I'm fine.

[u/ModlrMike]

Nope. Like the others: wash, crush, ferment with nutrient additions.

[u/thejadsel]

I don't have as much experience yet working with unpasteurized fresh cider. (Adding in some peels/scraps or just finely chopped then generally frozen apples for the extra flavor? Sure.)

But, with anything involving fresh/frozen fruit or juice, I don't bother with any kind of sanitization beyond giving it a good wash where needed and sanitizing the equipment. Actually turn out more fruit wines than cider, per se, and that approach has yet to cause an issue.

I do add commercial strains of yeast, and reckon that usually has quite an advantage at competing with whatever else might want to grow in there. One of these days, it may be different, and I might reconsider my approach then. I do suspect that some of the caution around this comes from the beer homebrewing world, where incidental infections do seem to be a bigger issue. Though that could be offbase.

[u/MicahsKitchen]

I washed and froze crab apples last fall. Been thawing and juicing them all year. No added chemicals or anything. I find they juice a lot easier after thawing, plus it gives me time to space things out. Not too concerned about anything growing that can survive the cleaning, freezing, thawing and fermentation... I star san my equipment religiously though.

[u/Fun_Journalist4199]

I have never sanitized. I just pitch commercial yeast, it outcompetes, and by the time fermentation is done nothing else can live in there.

This year I might do a wild fermentation just for giggles

[u/Ashmeads_Kernel]

Your system is different because you keg. You can put the juice in the keg and not have to worry if it is done fermenting or not. With no keg you have to keep it in the carboy until it is done fermenting. Every time you rack it or check it for gravity or flavor you introduce oxygen which can easily form a pellicle. Aging cider in a regular carboy is a test of how good your oxygen control is.

[u/Buckscience]

Hell, wild fermentation can be awesome! i have a bunch of feral apple trees around my house and I've had great success just putting the raw cider in carboys and letting them go. I don't think i've had anything unpalatable from that process yet.

[u/Chronobotanist]

Yeast contributes so much flavor to the final product, I get why purists would want wild yeasts and bacteria but for myself I want more flavor and attenuation control than wild yeasts can provide.

[u/goinupthegranby]

I just pressed a bunch of juice and put it into a fermenter that I cleaned with water and that's all I'll do, legitimately don't use anything

[u/neurapathy]

Im not really a fan of the flavors wild ferments produce, so I sulfite my cider after I press it.  I tend to use Lalvin D47 for primary fermentation and bottle conditioning and have been very happy with the results.  I have thought about doing an experiment sized batch using malolactic fermentation.

[u/darktideDay1]

I never pasteurize or use campden. I rinse the apples in a idophor solution to get off debris and do a little sanitize. Then press and ferment. I always have a yeast starter going a week or so beforehand so as to have a really strong pitch. And I sanitize the crap out of all of my equipment. Use a primary fermenter until the krausen falls and rack into a secondary. I use polyethylene glycol in my fermentation lockers because it doesn't evaporate.