Solids appeared at surface

[boludo82]

Hi

After racking off several of my 5L demijohns into two 25l demijohns in late October I have seen in the last week particles forming at the surface (See images below). I racked off the previous year's cider in the same way but didn't see this happen. The only workflow change has been the length of time spent in the larger demijohns. The previous time it was one month. This time three months and counting. Just as I did last year immediately after racking off I pumped in some Argon gas to oxygen protect the liquid which has been crystal clear throughout until the last week or so. Interestingly there was one 5l batch that I racked off into another 5L demijohn and these solids haven't appeared at all.

I didn't want to leave it this long before bottling but other life events got in the way and from what I read elsewhere on this forum leaving the cider to "sleep" after racking for several months over winter should do it no harm at all.

Anything to be concerned about?

 

[JohnSand]

I've only made a little cider, but a lot of beer. That white film may be the start of a pellicle, indicating infection.
When I made cider I let some of it ferment spontaneously. There was wild yeast on the apples, but probably Lactobacillus too. That batch ended fairly tart, but not completely sour or vinegar like. How does yours taste? Even if it is infected, the yeast may still dominate. Pasteurization might help.
Welcome to HomeBrewTalk, keep us posted.

 

[boludo82]

I wouldn't call it a film necessarily, I've seen films develop before probably from yeast floating to the surface and then it later sinks back down. This looks more like tiny little pellets just floating on the surface. Will give it a taste in the week and see. Pasteurising is something I've avoided previously as I am for the least amount of intervention possible during the entire process.

 

[boludo82]

I tasted them. None of the batches tasted bad per se like they'd been spoiled or infected. One batch however does taste utterly lifeless compared to previous years. Like its been diluted with water. Will sugar prime and bottle up the whole lot tomorrow and report back with tasting results in a month or so but just wanted to update this thread for now.

 

[boludo82]

So sampled the first batch from bottle. Super fine bubbles like I've never seen before! But the amount is far too low. I think because last year I over carbonated I was more cautious this year. But also this time around I measured the temperature more precisely so I think last year the temperature readings were higher than they actually were and therefore I added more Dextrose than necessary. Anyway I digress...

The lifelessness/dulted nature persists. Aromatically it's fine, same as previous years. But flavour wise its just so limp. Before drawing any final conclusions I will taste the second batch next week which is made from different apples and tasted much better at the bottling stage.

 

[JohnSand]

You might also get someone else to taste it. Sometimes we're too critical of our own product.