Stinky Cider

Did my first cider a couple weeks ago. I racked to keg when fermentation was complete. Approx. 5 days ago. Used unpasteurized cider and white wine yeast. When cleaning the carboy the smell of the yeast sludge was awful. Somewhat sourish/eggish? Anyway I tried the cider today and it tastes pretty darn good although a bit bland but the smell is very sour like the yeast was. I can drink it as long as I down breath in when my nose is in the glass...LOL
Any thoughts on this? As I said it tastes nothing like its smell. It is pretty good. I know it's young so will any of that odor dissipate? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Yes, the smell will go away.

When you ferment next time, keep the temp below 72F. For my ciders, that seems to the be the magic temperature where H2S is formed. As Tripp said, yes, the smell will age out of it.

that happened to my first batch of cider, im pretty sure i bottled it too early, my current batch has been in for 3 weeks so far and last time i got a bubble out of the airlock, it smelled much much better.

My first batch has been in bottles for about a month now and is still somewhat stinky but it is getting better, I really wish I wasnt low on beer so i could stay away from it for a while longer

GNBrews said:

When you ferment next time, keep the temp below 72F. For my ciders, that seems to the be the magic temperature where H2S is formed. As Tripp said, yes, the smell will age out of it.

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I actually kept it in my basement which held a steady 65 for the entire fermentation. I typically do my ales there as well without any issues of ester or phenolics. I didn't think that was really an issue with cider. Although there are no signs of either just the sour smell. Unless that is what happens when cider ferments warm? But again at 65 I wouldn't think that would be too warm for wine yeast. It actually recommended 70 but my beer instincts made me keep it in the cellar.

65-68 should be fine. Some yeast strains are just more prone to H2S formation than others. It can also depend on the juice/cider you start with as well. For me, 72F seemed to be the magic temperature where the infamous "rhino farts" started to become an issue. I've since starting using Lalvin 1122, and if I keep the fermentation temperature ~65-68, I've not had issues with the smell.

Now that I've kegged I'll let it age for a few months. Any idea how long I can keep it kegged? Do I have t do any preserving or anything?

cwhill said:

Now that I've kegged I'll let it age for a few months. Any idea how long I can keep it kegged? Do I have t do any preserving or anything?

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A guy I work with said he had some he made 7 years ago and it was delicious with more developed flavors or something.

Im not sure how different a keg is compared to bottles for aging, but lots of people suggest aging for a long time, greater than a few months, so I would imaging you would be fine