Cider tastes like trash water

[yobarnyard]

Hi all,

A friend and I have been trying our hands at brewing hard cider and have found that our efforts have yielded some 'rotten' results.

We were fermenting one gallon of apple juice from WFoods with English ale yeast, two gallons of apple cider with Pasteur Champ yeast, and one gallon that was 1/2 apple 1/2 pear cider with the Pasteur. All had been UV pasteurized, had yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme.

Primary fermentation was active and we racked to secondary when the bubbles slowed down to about one bubble or less per minute. The cider was exposed to light some days and the temp never got too crazy hot. We didn't add sugar during primary or secondary because we were using sweet cider and wanted to end up with a dry final product (akin to Farnum Hill Dooryard Cider).

Tasting as we racked into secondary, we got some trashy, wet dog aftertastes and figured that would mellow out. When we went to bottle after two weeks in secondary, the trash water wet dog flavors remained, albeit a tad different, but still vile and not mellowed out. I don't know if this could be from oxidation, as there was room for oxygen to be in the secondary fermentation because when we racked, we lost a bit to avoid the lees. Or perhaps we didn't sanitize well enough. Refusing to give up, we added sugar in order to carb, took hydrometer readings and bottled.

Phew, okay so has the cider just gone rotten, is it oxidized, infected, light struck (no hops, I know), did we not wait long enough in the secondary, are we screwed or will some miraculous thing happen to the trash taste if we wait a bit??

Enough questions, right?
Thanks for your time!!


**Oh yeah also, the two apple-based ciders had small white bits on the surface and one of the airlocks had dark, ominous-looking mold in it :/

 

[snuesen]

I think you answered your question at the end there. Sounds infected if anything.

What kind of liquid did you have in your airlocks? Most people tend to use vodka or a Campden solution.

I would revisit my entire cleaning and sanitizing process. A little bit of ocd can go a long way in preventing wet dog!

Maybe it will mellow a little with age? Back sweetening can help mask faults as well, at least to an extent..

 

[pondochris]

How long did it ferment before you racked? Was the cider clear?

Depending on the yeast and apple juice I've used I've had some pretty terrible tasting/smelling cider. No matter how bad it tasted I've just let it age and it all ended up tasting fantastic.

A little searching will lead you to the term "Rhino Farts" the smell the yeast give off during fermentation. The taste and smell of actively working yeast in cider is just terrible.

A bubbling airlock when you racked makes me think the yeast were still working away. You most likely racked to secondary too soon. They'll finish the job eventually but it could take a few months.

The white bits on top are most likely just yeast groups floating. I've seen it in mine a few times.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Rotting is what you want lol. Fermenting apple juice is actually controlling the rotting process. You must think of it this way. Apples rot into a tiny pile of dirt. The juice naturally rots after just a few days from squeezing. Fermentation is the natural path that the cider wants to take. It just needs time. Remember, min time on a average hard cider is about a month. Cider is best after at least 6 months to one year. You just need time young grasshopper. Be easy and make more while u let this batch hang out for a few months. It takes a serious serious lack of sanitation to mess up cider.

 

[yobarnyard]

Thanks for getting back at me with all the wisdom and tips!

Snuesen, we used some Iodophor water in the airlocks, but by that point it was a bit lighter in color, so perhaps it was running out of juice.

Pondochris, two of the ferments were in primary for 6 days and one was in primary for 10 days. We were going off a website that said when bubbling had slowed down to less than a bubble per minute, that was the time to rack. After reading a slew of posts on here, it seems like we jumped the gun on this step, even if the bubbles had pretty much stopped. At that point the cider had begun to clear, but didn't really clear up much until secondary. At bottling time it wasn't crystal, still had some haze going on. When you say you let it age, is that in secondary, or after bottling?

GrizzlyGremlin, you've got a point there! Thanks for the words of encouragement. Today I am going to PBW the crap out of all the gear and get ready to start again. I'm looking forward to seeing this batch through.

 

[pondochris]

When you say you let it age, is that in secondary, or after bottling?

.

Final Gravity is usually reached after 4 days in primary so it's not a good indicator of readiness.
Usually I let them go a month in primary.
I then give it a taste. sometimes I bottle if it tastes good. If I get any hint of the yeast or doesn't taste good I rack it to secondary and basically check it again in another month. When it tastes good I bottle.