Restarting Cider...

So, a while back I picked up a rogue film yeast infection. I treated my then 5 month old cider with Campden tablets, and it has been sitting now for about 6 weeks or so.

However, upon tasting, it seems kind of boring.

If I pitched more yeast in there, would the campden tablets kill the new yeast?

Ideally, I'd like to add some sugar, to get my % up just a notch.

Or should I just bottle it quickly and drink it fast so my bottles are free for a new batch? Heheh...

Drink it and start over. Once you added Camden, I think it's game over for yeast.

Do whatever you want.

Campden tablets are an easy-to-use form of potassium metabisulphite (K-meta) which produces sulphur dioxide (SO2) gas when added to must or wine. The SO2 kills most bacteria and provides a hostile environment for yeasts; however, commercial yeast strains generally have a higher SO2 tolerance than wild yeast, so it won't necessarily kill a strong fermentation unless the yeast are already stressed by high alcohol levels.

The level of free SO2 present diminishes rapidly as it reacts with aldehydes in the wine. If you really want to, it should be perfectly possible to add additional sugars and repitch. Note that K-meta is used by some winemakers to treat the must prior to fermentation to kill bacteria and discourage wild yeast.

I must agree with flowerysong. It sounds like there was nasties in there that destroyed the yeast anyway. If you treated with Campden and have waited a bit, like 24 to 48 hours, the Campden should not be as harmful to the new yeast.

Make sure you make a strong starter and let it get good and foamy before pitching it, at least 2/3 cider to water mixture with a bit of Nutrients and a bit of Energizer to get it kickin. I don't know what the ABV of the cider is now but if it goes above about 9% then it is getting into the wine category.

Or just drink heavly and quickly!!
If it isn't getting your attention enough you might want to try mulling it. You could also boil a pinch of nutmeg and some Cinnamon sticks then infuse the cider with the cooled liquid! Sorry Ed lol!! Still love the Apfelwein!!

mgayer said:

If you treated with Campden and have waited a bit, like 24 to 48 hours, the Campden should not be as harmful to the new yeast.

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Cool! I learn something new every day!

EdWort said:

Cool! I learn something new every day!

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The reason I said this is because it will stop refermentation, it has bad effects of the cell walls of the yeast making them get hard or leathery thus they cannot pass their food in or out. But with the time frame all the metabisulphite should be completely gone. With the addition of new yeast that has been properly treated with some nuit. and eneg. in a starter it should start the fermentation with the new yeast. That's why I said make a strong starter.