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Dasher

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Hi Guys,

I have recently attempted a home brew cider a few months ago and failed to put campden tablets in. There was a bacteria or wild yeast about and it turned into ethel acetate (Nail polish remover)

I'm slightly more aware of cider production and i plan on giving it another go this weekend. I will be using campden this time but was unaware of how much i will need. I'm doing several 2 litre batches so i'm gathering i won't need much.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
The nail polish remover smell is usually caused by acetaldehyde, the main product of oxidation of alcohol, so you may have allowed too much O2 into your cider. I usually use 1 tab per 5 litres.
 
The nail polish remover smell is usually caused by acetaldehyde, the main product of oxidation of alcohol, so you may have allowed too much O2 into your cider. I usually use 1 tab per 5 litres.

Thanks mate my fermenter was only half full so i'm sure that did contribute the end result.

On another note is it possible to achieve an 'off dry' or slightly sweet cider without adding anything. I've had a good browse here and their are many people adding all sorts of sugar products which honestly doesn't sound very good at all.

Although my first batch was faulty it fermented right out to 1000 gravity reading and was beyond dry. Rather than adding sugar that would probably ferment out anyway, if you stopped the ferment short at say 1006 gravity would you achieve this? And how would you do it?

I thought maybe chilling it down may achieve this, but i thought secondary fermentation may tamper with this. In my last batch i added a small quantity of unfermented juice (30ml per 750ml bottle) which gave it a light fizz. If i managed to stop the ferment short at 1006 gravity, would secondary fermentation eat up the extra sugar and make it bone dry again?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Another method mentioned recently is to backsweeten, bottle into stubbies then when the required amount of carbonation has developed, pasteurize in the dishwasher for 10 or 20 min to kill the yeast. I haven't used it but it sounds pretty simple for small amounts. may cook the flavour a little.
 
No - if the press used good sanitation practices and juice was fresh you dont need campden

QFT. As long as the yeast can take off and produce before the bacteria you will be just fine.

If the bacteria wins, you'll know it. It won't kill you, but you'll wish you were dead if you taste it. :)

Dasher, campden tabs will have instructions right on the label. I use 2 tabs for a 5 gallon batch 1-2 days before pitching.
 
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