My cider smells like rotten eggs

Hi,
I know this question has been asked here before. But I didn't feel I could get a complete answer from reading other people's questions.
Also most people just casually answered "It'll be fine...." etc... Giving no explaination on what to do.
I am brewing cider from a kit (BrewMaster 40 pint), and it has been bubbling away for much longer than I figured (14 days today)
A bubble comes through the airlock approx every minute and a half.
So I went to bottle it today, and when I lifted the lid I got a medium bad smell of rotten eggs (Sulpher), from the info I gathered reading other posts here, I decided on giving it a good stir (Sedemant and all), and I left the lid off for a while for some of the smell to leave before putting back on the airlock and heating belt and now I've left it to bubble away.
Was this the best approach?, will it just "Fix itself" now? What should I do from here on in?
Any advice is welcomed.

Thanks and Regards,

rhinofarts

Fermentation can be a smelly beast. I've had a few beers, particularly wheat beers produce some horrid odors that don't make their way into the finished product.

Well the fact that you chose the name you did, should give you an indication if you've read any of the 10,000 rhino farts threads, that fermenting cider often does smell like sulfur. You should also know that it does indeed clear with time. B

It should also be an indication that if it smells like it, then it's not time to bottle it yet. You wouldn't really want to trap that in a bottle if you want it to clear.

I don't even think of touching my ciders for a minimum of 6 months.

HAHA Revvy nice post. Yes I have read many Rhino Fart threads. But as I said everyone just replied "Ya it's fine..." I wanna know what to do here, this is a cider emergency for me here.

"I don't even think of touching my ciders for a minimum of 6 months"

Your not talking about me leaving it in the fermenter for 6 months? This is a kit cider? You think after a good stirring, smell should go? Or just go with a bit of time anyway?

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, I'm talking about leaving it in the fermenter for 6 months, kit or no kit....

And to get rid of the sulfur you.....







....Wait for it to go away. It's a natural part of the process, and if you can still smell it, it means fermentation and or conditioning are still going on...so bottling at this point is not what you want to do.

I think thats a bit extreme. 6 months is a long time for person who doesnt live forever

rhinofarts said:

I think thats a bit extreme. 6 months is a long time for person who doesnt live forever

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It's all about perspective...

Use that 6 months to brew as many batches of cider or beer or wine as you can. Pick a 10-20 day recipe if you want instant gratification, but the same day you brew that fast beer, brew a couple of medium length beers... stage the batches so they get finished in a staggered fashion. That way, you always have something that is getting close to done. Waiting sucks... brew more and it's less painful. I've got a braggot sitting in the fridge that I brewed in the fall of 2009... take a taste every now and then... figure it's just about ready for oak... maybe next year. then we'll bottle and let it mellow for a year or three... see, 6 months isn't much time at all - if you've got other brews to play with.

BTW, my newest apfelwein is just turning 3 this june.

I get your point. I have 2 fermenters on the go always now, and I am bottling away, so things can mature. I would have concerns about leaving something in an open fermenter for 6 months tho, whatever about it being kegged or bottled.

Anyway, my Rhino Farts smell is gone, I left it sit for several days after the smell had left and now I have bottled my none-Rhino Ass cider.

You might be experiencing a lack of nutrients in your must. Yeast under stress produces more SO2 than yeast that is well nourished. I've read that copper helps to remove some of the odour and flavour by turning the SO2 in solution into copper sulfate. Perhaps a copper racking cane might be helpful later.

Mine still smells like farts after month and a half

DirtyD69 said:

Mine still smells like farts after month and a half

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I'm not one to say "it's normal, it'll go away". I'm the one who will say that rhino farts in anything except a cider with montrachet yeast (and those are mild) is a sign of stressed yeast.

I'd definitely rack, and add some nutrients and hope it helps. H2S is not a good sign, especially after the first few early days of fermentation.

DirtyD69 said:

Mine still smells like farts after month and a half

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If it's Rhinofarts, they usually come an go withing a couple days...and that's in the initial few days of fermentation. If it hasn't gone away it's probably stressed yeast or needed nutrients. Rhinofarts act like normal farts, they fade away.

So mine still smells after 4 months, what can i add to help things out?

I'm thinking there's not much else to do at this point but splash rack the heck out of it and hope for the best. Rack it to another vessel and let is splash on the sides...in the bottom...fling the hose around in the air. If its been 4 months and still smells like sulfur...that's not good. I wouldn't worry about oxidizing it at this point..see if you can salvage something to drink quickly. If splashing does work...pitch it and start new. Or hold your nose and drink till the smell doesn't matter

skankin_brews said:

So mine still smells after 4 months, what can i add to help things out?

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Btw...where'd you get that name? Pickle?

Smells like sulphurs, I purged CO2 with sulphur and injected "new" CO2

taste not so bad, but do you guys recommend leave it for another couple of months?

rhinofarts said:

I think thats a bit extreme. 6 months is a long time for person who doesnt live forever

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Do you know what the yeast was that came with your kit? The traditional way to make cider is to press the apples in late fall, put it up in barrels and when the apple trees blossom in the spring its ready. So 6 months is not extreme for cider. Your cider will be done on its own time, so just go with it and don't fight it.