Opinion as to the benefit of mixing the cider container during active fermentation

[John Fletcher]

I was looking for opinions as to the benefit of stirring an actively fermenting cider container.

Does it help the fermentation and improve the flavour if you stir the tank?

I have always left the fermentation activity alone and allowed lees to settle as the fermentation completes.

Fermentation is clean and moving steadily.

I am looking for opinions and thoughts from other cider maker practices.

Thank you

[Andrew Lea]

If you are a normal small scale cidermaker, there’s absolutely no need to stir an active fermentation. Convection currents will do it all for you. 

There are only three circumstances where I might think otherwise. 

1. Prior to fermentation, especially if using wild not cultured yeast, the juice may benefit  from stirring and aeration. That’s because oxygen is needed by yeast in its non fermentative growth phase to build strong cell walls. 

2. If you have a stuck fermentation that isn’t going to dryness but you want it to. This is to encourage a stressed yeast (see 1) and is usually coupled with thiamin addition. 

3. If you have a very tall tank and you have a low solids juice and the yeast is all settling at the bottom of the tank and not rising to the top on suspended particulates. In those circumstances you may need to rouse the cider simply to get the yeast away from being intoxicated by its own end products (ethanol and CO2). Usually only an issue for people using clarified AJC in very large tall fermenters. 

That’s my sixpenn’orth. 

Andrew 

Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
www.cider.org.uk

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[John Fletcher]

Thank you Andrew, I appreciate your comments.

I wonder if anyone else has a thought or comments.

John Fletcher