Need some quick advice on what to do about sulfur smell

I have a couple gallons going of a recipe I got here - the 5 Day Sweet Country Cider. I'm about 5 days into it and decided to check an SG and found the carboy to have a definite sulfur smell to it. A quick bit of research leads me to believe this is a sign of stressed yeast but is potentially fixable.

I'm using Nottingham yeast in Whole Foods 365 Juice with some turbinado sugar added to bring the OG up to 1.08. The recipe calls for bottling at 1.04 and pasteurization after about 24 hours which is what I was planning on doing.

Should I just add some yeast nutrient and hope it helps in time for bottling? I had been fermenting at 65 degrees but had to move it to a spot that is around 55-58 degrees for a couple days (maybe part of the stress?) I would move it back but my wife would probably have something to say about the sulfur smell being in our closet. The SG is 1.055 right now so I don't have too much time until I wanted to bottle. Would it be best to just change gears and let it go as long as it needs to rid the sulfur smell at the cost of ending up with a different end product than I was planning?

Still new to this so any advice is welcome. Thanks.

Let it ride. It isn't close to done yet. While you're waiting (and hopefully RDWHAHB) read this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/my-cider-smells-like-rotten-eggs-312099/

Wolfbayte said:

Let it ride. It isn't close to done yet. While you're waiting (and hopefully RDWHAHB) read this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/my-cider-smells-like-rotten-eggs-312099/

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Yeah, normally I would be happy to just let it ride but I feel like with my goal of bottling at 1.04 that it doesn't really give me much time - maybe a couple days. Are you saying that I should bottle it even if it has the sulfur smell and it will mellow after bottling or that I should let it ferment out all the way instead of sticking with my goal recipe? Thanks for the reply.

I think you are 2-3 days away, at least. If you have to bottle at 1.040, try to add some yeast nutrient (or make your own: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/sulfur-smell-379044/) and it should clear up in 3-4 days. I'd rather drop a few fg points than risk bottling rhino farts. I bottle my cider at 1.008, so 1.040 seems a bit sweet to me, but I understand you are going for something specific. I think even if you dropped to 1.035 or less you'd still be fine.

I forgot nutrient once and got a strong sulfur smell. Have added nutrient every other time with no smell. You can still add nutrient if it is at 1.055.

Wolfbayte said:

I think you are 2-3 days away, at least. If you have to bottle at 1.040, try to add some yeast nutrient (or make your own: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/sulfur-smell-379044/) and it should clear up in 3-4 days. I'd rather drop a few fg points than risk bottling rhino farts. I bottle my cider at 1.008, so 1.040 seems a bit sweet to me, but I understand you are going for something specific. I think even if you dropped to 1.035 or less you'd still be fine.

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Hey, thanks for commenting again. Yeah, I'm kinda experimenting to see what I like. Just seeing if a really sweet cider is for me or not. You're right, 1.035 or there about will probably tell me what I need to know. I'll toss in a tsp of yeast nutrient to each gallon and see how it does. Anything else?

Please let us know how it turns out.

MPKnWA said:

Hey, thanks for commenting again. Yeah, I'm kinda experimenting to see what I like. Just seeing if a really sweet cider is for me or not. You're right, 1.035 or there about will probably tell me what I need to know. I'll toss in a tsp of yeast nutrient to each gallon and see how it does. Anything else?

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Stir well to get rid of h2s and co2, as 'sulfur' smell may be common I guess but it's not normal or ok! It's a sign usually of stress and can ruin the cider.

Ok, I added the nutrient first thing this morning and have been gently shaking the bottles every few hours since this afternoon to degas with some pretty good bubbling - right up to the airlock. Just checked the smell again at about 7pm and I think it has improved. I'll update again in a day or two. Thanks for the help!

Yooper said:

Stir well to get rid of h2s and co2, as 'sulfur' smell may be common I guess but it's not normal or ok! It's a sign usually of stress and can ruin the cider.

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Thanks Yooper!

if you keg, it's pretty easy to get rid of Hydrogen Sulfide... I chuck in a small, sanatized copper fitting then carb it to 4 volumes/3 days then leave it at room temp a while and bleed off all the Carbon Dioxide. Repeat a few times. Scrubs it away. Granted if you've got some real volitile and delicate aromas like varietal honey in there, ya might lose them too.... but in the few brews I've had to employ this method, it never failed to work and produced high quality results.

I bottled up my cider yesterday and the strong sulfur smell was completely gone. I had a taste of it after letting it carb up and it was pretty good (if a bit young tasting). No sulfur taste at all. I think adding the yeast nutrient did the trick. Thanks for all the advice!