Diacetyl stank

[ishkabibble]

I have 5G cider that's 4 weeks old (1 primary, 3 secondary). I sampled it tonight and couldn't even get my face close to it because of the diacetyl movie theater popcorn fart stink.

I've made cider before and I'm aware of the periods of ghastly stench it goes through, but I've never known what the smell of diacetyl was until tonight. Should I dump this thing or what?

And does everyone pretty much set their cider in a cool closet and just forget about it for a few months, or what?

 

[HopSong]

That might well help.. the closet.. if the diacetyl is from not fermenting long enough. Yeast poops stuff that turns into diacetyl.. but left long enough the yeast clean it up. However there is also a bacteria that produce it post fermentation due to lack of cleanliness.. Not sure what might have caused your problem. Let it sit and see if it doesn't clean up.

 

[thadass]

I've never had it in a cider, but the few diacetyl-in-primary beers I've made have been so offputting when sampled that I was amazed how much they were able to clean up

 

[ishkabibble]

I've never had it in a cider, but the few diacetyl-in-primary beers I've made have been so offputting when sampled that I was amazed how much they were able to clean up

wow, i've never had that in beer. you remember what strain of yeast it was? i'm really intrigued by how yeast is able to clean up its mess if given enough time. i was ready to dump my breath-taking cider.

 

[thadass]

wow, i've never had that in beer. you remember what strain of yeast it was? i'm really intrigued by how yeast is able to clean up its mess if given enough time. i was ready to dump my breath-taking cider.

The main one I remember was just Nottingham, for which diacetyl isn't really a "thing". Probably means I had a pediococcus infection or something but it managed to clean up anyways.

Ah I found it. It was my first brew of Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale. My gravity-sample-tasting note in my brewlog just says "UGH. POPCORN BEER."

Wasn't my best brew of that recipe, but still turned out delicious!