1st TC, will it be ok?

[dionferguson]

had a go at making my 1st TC last night

Here's what i used 2l of apple juice, 2l of grape juice, sliced pears in grape juice 500ml, honey 100ml, a conference pear, allinsons bread yeast

i rehydrated the yeast, blended the sliced pears, added half a cup of hot water to the honey to loosen it up a bit then put them all in the DJ, then added the yeast and honey, i then peeled and blended the pear and added that, ended up with too much in the DJ so pured a little out after i'd give it a good mix, i was still left with some grape juice left over

think i got it pretty much right other than forgetting to leave a litre of one of the juices out to add later when it had calmed down! as when i checked it this morning there was crud everywhere! lesson learnt for next time, my only concearn is whether will this affect it much as it wasn't bubbling like mad like i expected to!?

just wondering if the crud that had bubbled out was all the yeast and natural fruit juice and whether this will affect it?

i put it on a heat mat this morning before i left for work which should give it a boost and i'll see how it's doing when i get in

[FlourPower]

Well if it's bubbling through the airlock then the yeast should be working. It did worry me that you put the yeast in a mixture of warm water and honey. It's easy to denature yeast so it doesn't work properly. So for next time I'd suggest making sure it's cool enough maybe by adding extra juice.

The crud at the top coming out it unlikely to effect the ferment as there will be yeast in solution and it sounds like you've done a damn fine job. Keep me posted on how it goes because that sounds very tastey indeed.

[dionferguson]

Well i boiled the water then waited until it cooled before adding the yeast to rehydrate it and waited about 20 mins before adding the yeast to my mix as this was the recommend way and after i'd added the yeast i added the the honey to the same jug i used for the yeast and added half a cup of hot water to that to help soften the honey up so it wopuld disolve and mix in better

It was bubbling slowly which is why istuck it on the heat pad to help it along, so as long as there will be enough yeast in the solution then i'd imagine it'll be fine, more worried that all the pear taste will have bubbled out now as that ultimately what i was trying to make, we'll see how it goes and i'll let you know

[DREADSKIN]

sounds like a good mixture. as for the crud, its just what happens when the dj is to full. i know, im sitting below splatter marks all over my ceiling...
let us know how it tastes.

[dionferguson]

got home last night and it was bubbling away like a good un! very cloudy though however and will have to wait a good week now until it settles to see what i'm left with, added bentonite and pectolose at the start so hopefully it should clear up ok enough to get a good few clear litres out of it

[Mitchamitri]

remember fermentation should generally be cooler than beer otherwise theres risk of "pear drop spoilage"

[dionferguson]

Bugger! had it up to 24 degrees all day yesterday to give the yeast a boost, was sat at about 22 degrees last night n probly the same today, will move it into the garage tonight tocooldown, do you think it will still be ok?