OK, so yesterday I was messing around and I'm trying a batch of 1 gallon apple juice and 1 packet of bread making "highly active" yeast.

Well, 4 hours in (when I got back home) it was rocking and rolling.
Today, it's even faster!!! Here's a video of the neck of the gallon jug. Just look at how many bubbles there are!



Also, today I did some maintenance on most of my batches. I added gelatin to my 3 batches in secondary (apfelwein, cider and cream ale). I had also gotten some oak cubes to try to get my cider to age quickly and smooth out. Well, it never even occurred to me that sanitation might be an issue (bonehead, right?), so I just tossed the cubes in. I'm wondering now whether I might have an infection. Here are a couple of pictures.





What I can't figure out is this:
1. This layer of stuff at the top popped up VERY quickly (like in less than an hour)
2. It has the appearance of re-hydrated yeast
3. Airlock activity has resumed. This batch had only gotten down to about 1.010, but it should be down to about 1.000. So, is this simply an inadvertent re-activation of the yeast? Did the addition of the gelatin do this? Too many variables.

So far, the smell from the airlock isn't off or weird.