First failure ...

G'day,

I've recently brewed a batch of apple cider with juice from the supermarket, so I thought I'd try to experiment with similar juice.

I picked up a 3 litre (0.8 gallon) bottle of Apple and Mango juice, added some SafCider yeast and crossed my fingers ...

The night I pitched it, it was a cold night so I placed it on a heat-pad overnight. Next morning it was fermenting like crazy ... air-lock popping every 2 seconds. I immediately switch off the heat-pad and let it continue at room temperature (usually around 20c / 68f).

That was about a week ago.

This evening I opened the bottle to check the gravity ... it absolutely stank of sulphur ... it was putrid. I ditched the lot of it.

The OG was 1.042 and FG was 1.01.


So ... any ideas what went wrong?

Well the first thing you did wrong was throw it away. Some yeast makes bad smells, some not so much. I've read that yeast nutrient helps prevent the sulphur smell. You could have also racked the cider into a secondary container and let sit for a few weeks and then do a smell test again.

Apple_Jacker said:

Well the first thing you did wrong was throw it away. Some yeast makes bad smells, some not so much. I've read that yeast nutrient helps prevent the sulphur smell. You could have also racked the cider into a secondary container and let sit for a few weeks and then do a smell test again.

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I thought I had created a monster ... (reminded me of the sulphur vents at Mt. Io in Hokkaido, Japan).

Next time I get this smell I'll take your advice and rack it into a secondary.

Thanks for the feedback!

The temporary high temp from the heating pad may have caused some extra sulphur production.

Yeah Sulphur is completely normal. It means your yeast are pissed off. Either from being to hot or not enough nutrients. Add a 1/2 tbsp of nutrient at the start and keep the temp lower.

Some of the cider specific yeasts state that it will produce sulfur but it will dissipate after a couple of weeks. My cider sits at least a month and after six months it's much better.

Ubermensch74 said:

I thought I had created a monster ... (reminded me of the sulphur vents at Mt. Io in Hokkaido, Japan).

Next time I get this smell I'll take your advice and rack it into a secondary.

Thanks for the feedback!

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Hey man, those black eggs were good!

Would stirring with a copper rod have helped him in this case?

CreamyGoodness said:

Would stirring with a copper rod have helped him in this case?

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Yes, but copper is poison. Use only as a last resort.

The H2S smell is at it's worse when fermentation is going. Don't worry too much about it while at his stage, but if you get nervous add some nutrient as mentioned above. Once the reactions stop the smell shouldn't linger too much. If it does, here's some suggestions in rough order of personal preference:

1- Wait.
2- Rack to new carboy, then wait.
3- Degass by stirring or by bubbling with CO2 if you have the equipment.
4- Add sulfites.
5- Use copper