My bottled cider has a nutty taste?

I bottled my 5 gallon batch of cider a week and a half ago... I used Mussellmanns cider and Nottingham yeast. My OG was 1.060 and I cold crashed it at 1.014. I let it sit for 4 days after crashing and saw no activity. I then added 3 ounces of corn sugar (boiled in cup of water) to my bottling bucked and racked the cider on to it. I bottled it and kept it in a dark closet at 64 degrees. I pulled out a six pack and refrigerated it for 2 days and took it to a party this evening. I didn't expect much carbonation, as it was only conditioning for a week... well, I was right... it didn't have much carbonation, and was obviously sweeter than when I initially bottled it... because the yeast didn't eat the priming sugar. I am confused and concerned though, because the cider has a VERY nutty taste to it that it did not have when I bottled it. I went through all 6 bottles tonight, hoping that perhaps it was just in 1 or 2 random ones that may have slipped through my sanitizing process... but it was the same with all 6 bottles. These bottles were cleaned with hot water, and then had a cleaning wih star-san in my vinator.

Any idea where this nutty taste would be coming from?

It isn't terrible, but was definitely not there prior to bottling.

You are so lucky you didn't have bottle bombs. Bottle conditioning a sweet cider is dangerous.

This is the second batch I've bottled around 1.014... but the other was only a 1 gallon batch and i used s-23 yeast instead of nottingham. I looked around online last night and found out that for whatever reason... nottingham gets a nutty taste when bottled. I have a 6 gallon batch going now with s-04... so hopefully that one doesn't have the nutty taste.

The bottles aren't even really carbed at all. I guess the 4 day cold crash killed off all the yeast?

jrss13 said:

The bottles aren't even really carbed at all. I guess the 4 day cold crash killed off all the yeast?

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Yes, you did a decent job with the cold crash and got rid of a lot of yeast. Cold crash doesn't kill yeast, just makes it settle to the bottom to allow you to rack and leave a lot of yeast behind. If you had been unsuccessful, you would have had 1.014 sugar plus the sugar you added to let it happily munch some more. That is a lot of CO2 being produced.

I'm still hoping the bottles carb up... because if not ill have to get used to sweet... nutty... non carbed cider. Maybe ill cold crash my next batch for only 1 day

jrss13 said:

I'm still hoping the bottles carb up... because if not ill have to get used to sweet... nutty... non carbed cider. Maybe ill cold crash my next batch for only 1 day

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The problem with carbing a sweet cider is controlling the amount it'll ferment. If the yeast is alive enough to carb the cider, it's not going to know that you want it to quit. You have a 99% chance of bottle bombs if it does carb up.

Even if i use a plastic bottle as a carb tester and move them to the fridge as they get firm... and then leave them there indefinitely?

jrss13 said:

Even if i use a plastic bottle as a carb tester and move them to the fridge as they get firm... and then leave them there indefinitely?

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As long as you don't ever take them out of the fridge, then it might be fine.

jrss13 said:

This is the second batch I've bottled around 1.014... but the other was only a 1 gallon batch and i used s-23 yeast instead of nottingham. I looked around online last night and found out that for whatever reason... nottingham gets a nutty taste when bottled. I have a 6 gallon batch going now with s-04... so hopefully that one doesn't have the nutty taste.

The bottles aren't even really carbed at all. I guess the 4 day cold crash killed off all the yeast?

Click to expand...

I did a similar bottling, I didn't add priming sugar but bottled around 1.020. Three months later the bottles are nicley carbed! Of course I only noticed this on the last couple of bottles cuz all the rest is gone.

jrss13 said:

I am confused and concerned though, because the cider has a VERY nutty taste to it that it did not have when I bottled it. I went through all 6 bottles tonight, hoping that perhaps it was just in 1 or 2 random ones that may have slipped through my sanitizing process... but it was the same with all 6 bottles. These bottles were cleaned with hot water, and then had a cleaning wih star-san in my vinator.

Any idea where this nutty taste would be coming from?

It isn't terrible, but was definitely not there prior to bottling.

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Can you be more specific in your description of the "nutty taste"? Was it slightly bitter like walnuts, or was it sweeter like cashews? I recently sampled a blackberry wine that tasted almost exactly like walnuts & I'm still trying to figure out why. Regards, GF.

One solution to prevent bottle bombs is the dishwasher pasteurisation technique once you judge the carbonation to be about right.

It is hard to tell what kind of nutty taste it is, but I guess I would say more of a cashew taste, because it isn't really bitter at all. I am kind of getting used to the nutty flavor, but would prefer it wasn't there. Hopefully I will have better luck with the S-04

Apparently I did a REALLY good job of racking and cold crashing, because I bottled it pretty early at 1.014, and my plastic carb tester bottle really hasn't gotten firm after 2 weeks.... and there really isn't much sediment at the bottom. I'll leave them and hope they are just going slowly.

"Nutty" tasting cider usually comes from autolyzed yeast, or stressed yeast, or oxidation. It's possible that the cider was aerated a bit during racking, or that the cider was on some decomposing yeast after fermentation was over.