Cider clarity and off smells

[theburner]

Hi Guys,

Working on my first ever batch of cider right now. I have about 5 gallons in a glass carboy I pressed from a collection of various apple trees. I'm shooting for a sparkling sweet cider and planning to bottle pasturize. The OG was 1.054, I immediately put in potassium metabisulphite to subdue any wild yeasts, then after 12 hours I put in Pectic Enzyme; 12 hours after that I added a packet of Nottingham yeast. I didn't realize until about 6 hours later that I hadn't added any yeast nutrients, so at that point I added in the nutrients. I didn't really see any activity at all for over 12 hours, then it picked up slowly and by the next day it really took off. I had to switch over to a blow off tube. I took a gravity reading at day 5 and it was 1.030. On day 6 I switched back to an airlock and as of today (day 7) it's bubbling about once every 2-3 seconds. Since around day 3 it has had a sulphury smell and still does today (day 7). Should i be concerned? Could this be from a lack of nutrients? Temperatures have been between 64 and 68.

In addition, the cider hasn't cleared at all. There is some sediment at the bottom of the carboy. The sample I took for the gravity reading I placed in the fridge and by the next morning a lot of stuff had come out of suspension and the cider had cleared quite a bit, but not 100%. Would adding more pectic enzyme help? Should the cider be clear by now, or will it before I bottle (probably going to bottle at 1.010)?

Here's a picture of how it looks.

Thanks guys.

 

[Snackerton]

The smell is likely the commonly experienced "rhino farts." It's nothing worth stressing about, it will dissipate with time. Humans are just incredibly sensitive to the smell of sulfur, so it likely smells worse than it is. It can be caused by lack of nutrients or, if I'm not mistaken, the potassium metabisulphite can contribute to it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on the K Meta contributing to rhino farts. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it, it looks like your yeast are going strong.

In regards to clarity, if you added the amount of pectic enzymes your bottle called for (mine is 1/2 tsp/gallon), it will clear in time. It should take a couple weeks for the clarity to kick it. Also, you likely still have quite a bit of fermentation going on, so the cloudiness is being contributed to by the yeast still in suspension.

You didn't mention that you aerated your cider before pitching your yeast, so I'm not sure if you omitted that in your run down or didn't do it. If it's the later, make sure you give those yeasties some air before you pitch next time!

 

[theburner]

Thanks for the reply Snackerton!

Ya aeration is one thing that I didn't do any extra on. The only aeration it got was collecting the pressed juice in a pail, then transferring to carboy via a funnel with strainer.

I did add the recommended amount of pectic enzyme, so I guess it's just a matter of kicking back and waiting.

 

[Skyphoxx]

Yeah Rhino Farts will fade. However wait at least 6 weeks before bottling if not longer. I've had a cider that was prematurely bottled and after months still smelt of rhino ass.

I also agree with using pectic enzyme. It's amazing what a couple teaspoons will do. I usually add it after fermentation has stopped and in a few days/weeks it'll look crazy clear.

The name of the cider game is 'kicking back and waiting' and waiting... and waiting unfortunately.

 

[theburner]

Hmmm. So due to rhino farts, and it being best to wait 6+ weeks for that to dissipate I've kind of backed myself into a corner on this one right? I'm assuming that by that time the yeast will have eaten all of the sugar and I'll have a dry cider correct? Leaving me to either just bottle dry, or to back sweeten?

Thanks!

 

[Skyphoxx]

To my knowledge, yea too late for Christmas.

 

[gregbathurst]

You don't need to aerate fresh pressed cider, that's a beer thing. If you want to sweeten the best bet is splenda or pasteurisation. It's actually better to add the nutrients a bit later so don't worry about that. You just need to give your cider a bit of time, sounds like its all going well.

 

[Skyphoxx]

Or if you want to back sweeten and enhance that apple flavor, use a few tsp of potassium sorbate to kill the yeast once fermentation is finished. Then mix in some apple juice concentrate. I use about 1/2 of a can of walmart's frozen stuff (thawed of course) and it sweetens nicely. Of course this method is only recommended for keggers as it prevents natural carbonation once the yeast are murdered

 

[smh]

Aptly pointed out many times on this site, especially by Yooper, potassium sorbate DOESN'T KILL yeast. It blocks division. If you have a trillion cells in the solution, they can still metabolize sugar to make alcohol, so who cares if they can't divide?

True, it does slow it down, but won't stop it. Most importantly, for bottlers, this can inadvertently lead to bottle bombs.

 

[theburner]

Would cold crashing the carboy at the alcohol level I want slow down the yeast while at the same time allowing the sulfur smell to dissipate? I have a cold cellar that's temperature is 50 or below if so. I assume that a lot of the yeast would drop out of suspension like it did to the sample I put in the fridge, then after it settled out I could rack to a secondary, or just leave it in the primary I guess; let the sulfur dissipate, then bottle and pasteurize. Does that make sense?

 

[GinKings]

I think you'd have to move it to the basement early because it would take a while to chill at that temp. A refrigerator would be better. If you don't have room in the fridge, I'd be tempted to put it outside for a while to stop fermentation, then into the basement.

 

[Snackerton]

You don't need to aerate fresh pressed cider, that's a beer thing.

Although it's a beer thing, it's advised by most yeast nutrient/energizer bottles I've seen. I understand what you mean though, as there is no boiling to remove oxygen from the solution.

 

[theburner]

Okay, well after waiting a while (it's now almost 4 weeks total from the beginning of fermentation) the sulfur smell has dissipated. The cider seems to be coming along quite nicely. It's cleared up quite a bit, not crystal clear, but it's slowly getting better. Just took a gravity reading today and it's 1.006. Gave it a taste and it seems pretty decent to me, still some sweetness left, bit sour, mild apple taste. Keeping in mind that I was aiming for a sweet cider would it be reasonable to go ahead and bottle, allow time for it to carb carb up, the bottle pasteurize? The airlock is bubbling every 30 seconds and I can see bubbles rising up in the cider.

Thanks guys.