Is my cider infected?

[he-brew28]

Has anyone seen this form in cider? Talking about the solid near the bottom. The same thing is also floating near the top. Not sure if it is yeast or some kind of infection.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Probably some wild yeast or bacteria.

Doesn't matter though, as long as it tastes & smells good.

Normally yeast you pitch will out-compete any other microbes, especially wild yeast.
... Did you clean and sanitize the carboy and your other equipment? Does the carboy have an airlock with sanitizer or spirits? Were all the ingredients pasteurized or sulfited? What yeast was pitched and was it fresh from the lab (if applicable)?

 

[he-brew28]

Probably some wild yeast or bacteria.

Doesn't matter though, as long as it tastes & smells good.

Normally yeast you pitch will out-compete any other microbes, especially wild yeast.
... Did you clean and sanitize the carboy and your other equipment? Does the carboy have an airlock with sanitizer or spirits? Were all the ingredients pasteurized or sulfited? What yeast was pitched and was it fresh from the lab (if applicable)?

I cleaned and sanitized all equipment and accessories including the yeast pack and scissors I used to cut the yeast package. All of the cider said pasteurized on the label but I heated it to 170 for 10 minutes anyway. I used a dry (non-liquid) cider yeast.

The only thing I did different was I racked the pasteurized cider to the carboy while it was at 170. I put the airlock on and waited until the next morning to pitch yeast, rather than using a wort chiller as I do for beer. I’m guessing this could be bacteria that developed while it was in that temp range for some time.

 

[myndflyte]

The only thing I did different was I racked the pasteurized cider to the carboy while it was at 170. I put the airlock on and waited until the next morning to pitch yeast, rather than using a wort chiller as I do for beer. I’m guessing this could be bacteria that developed while it was in that temp range for some time.

For future reference, I'd suggest not doing that with a glass carboy (it looks like glass to me anyway). You're just asking for that to break, sending shards of glass everywhere.

 

[dmtaylor]

It almost looks keeved to me... but could also be normal, or contaminated. Approximately equal chances of each!? In any case, if it tastes good, then drink it. You'll know if it tastes odd that it got contam. The only thing to do now is to let it run its course and see what happens.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Cooling from 170F would develop negative pressure and pull in a bunch of air (and contaminants), as well as encouraging wild microbe growth. ... and yeah, stress the glass.

If the juice is pasteurized, it's fine just to use it.
If it's unpasteurized or might be contaminated, sulfites are the best option.

 

[he-brew28]

Cooling from 170F would develop negative pressure and pull in a bunch of air (and contaminants), as well as encouraging wild microbe growth. ... and yeah, stress the glass.

If the juice is pasteurized, it's fine just to use it.
If it's unpasteurized or might be contaminated, sulfites are the best option.

Thanks. So I planned on bottling a sparkling cider from this batch and pasteurizing the bottles when the right carbonation level is reached. Would it be a safer bet to add sulfites to kill the wild growth and bottle a still cider?

 

[RPh_Guy]

You can "safely" carbonate it. Pasteurizing the bottles should kill any wild yeast too.

It wouldn't hurt to add sulfite. That's up to you. Sulfite won't stop the yeast you pitched from carbonating it but will generally inhibit wild yeast and also bacteria that may be thermotolerant.
You need to measure pH to accurately dose for anti-microbial activity.
Here's a good calculator:
http://fermcalc.com/FermCalcJS.html
I'd suggest targetting 0.4-0.5ppm molecular SO2 at bottling.

Bonus: sulfite during aging also prevents oxidation.

 

[bucketnative]

For future reference, I'd suggest not doing that with a glass carboy (it looks like glass to me anyway). You're just asking for that to break, sending shards of glass everywhere.

And don't do it with PET carboy, either. At 170 F you are above the softening point of the plastic, and you run the risk of seriously deforming your fermenter.

 

[ten80]

It almost looks keeved to me... .

^This.

Is your juice from fresh-pressed apples? If so, I think you're seeing natural keeving which is separation of pectins and fruit pulp from the juice. Some of it floats due to slight fermentation activity and some sinks. Take a look at http://cidersupply.com/Page - Good-Bad-Ugly.html for some photos of keeved cider.

 

[Grad]

I've had cider that looked like that before it started actively fermenting. It turned out fine

 

[he-brew28]

I've had cider that looked like that before it started actively fermenting. It turned out fine

Yes it took 3-4 days before fermentation took off. Now all of that solid has settled out and the cider fermentation looks as I would expect it to.