Fermaid vs DAP vs Nothing

[Chalkyt]

When I started making cider a few years ago I was advised to add a tsp of DAP per gallon at the start of fermentation and I have done so ever since.

But... I finished all of the DAP with the last batch a month ago. With the last of the apples (funny looking trees... no leaves and a few kg of apples left) I have decided to do an experimental gallon of Pink ladies and Pomme de Neige, just relying on natural yeast.

Elsewhere there seems to be a mix of opinions ranging from "apples don't need nutrient, they just take a long time to ferment", to "Fermaid is the miracle cure for everything".

So before I get any more DAP (or Fermaid), does anyone have a strong view about using Fermaid, DAP, or nothing at all in cider?

 

[wasully]

tl;dr: If you want it to finish quickly, use nutrient. It's more traditional not to, but most of what the average person wants isn't actually a traditional cider anyway.

(I added the tl;dr because I'm bored at work and writing a lot because of it)

Cider is a weird beverage. The process of making it is much closer(almost identical?) to wine, but it's cultural consumption is much closer to a beer or ale. Your "Craft Cider" farmstead traditionalists can end up approaching things differently than beer brewers. "It's cider; not baking". "Organic, agricultural product where differences are welcomed and celebrated, not following a recipe and hoping for homogeneousness between batches."

The cider making purists will tell you it (probably)doesn't need nutrient. Or a commercial yeast; go wild and let the terroir show it's sheep manure and grass mulch, bittersweet and tannin filled. And that it might take 6 months to ferment. Which is fine, because you're drinking last seasons cider and don't need to free up the fermenters until the next apple harvest. Bottle while your harvested apples are sweating. If it's stalled and not dry by the time summer hits, then maybe add a little nutrient. Maybe just enjoy a naturally sweet(but still) cider. And who cares if it farts like an elephant; you're fermenting in the barn/garden shed/not your living area. Some aging will let the smell fade. And you're aging the cider anyway, right?

The beer guys will tell you to use nutrient or else it'll take 6 months, might stink and maybe get some weird "off flavors"(that could actually be stylistically important if you're traditional and going for that) and take months and months of aging to clear out. So you use nutrients because without them you won't go from pitch:bottle conditioningouring in a month.

Hell, you could make a good case that advanced cider making in the traditional school is all about removing nutrients from the juice and slowing the fermentation speed.

If you're pressing your own cider apples, I wouldn't use any nutrient, or I'd use it strategically. If you're buying juice or using juice from eating/cooking fruit(and not cider fruit) I'd probably use nutrient. If you're planning on backsweetening or adding in botanicals or something other than pure, basic, raw cider? Screw it, use nutrient and finish the product.

But this is all in my only-kinda-sorta-not-really-educated-amateur opinion!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Ideologies aside...
Anecdotally, I haven't used nutrient in any of the few wild ciders I've made. Two came out really great and the third is just ok, there's a little bit of funk to it that I could do without.

I've had mixed results with and without nutrient when using commercial yeast. Some stains produce a lot of hydrogen sulfide without proper amounts of yeast-assimilable nitrogen. Adding nutrient is a cheap insurance to prevent dealing with that issue.

Speaking of hydrogen sulfide, if you use sulfite, aerate like crazy before pitching to make sure it's completely gone.

I use Fermaid O. Scott Labs makes some really great products.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

You can throw in a handfull of chopped raisins for nutrient if you want. That will help keep down the rino farts. I use them in all my ciders, or most of them when I am not too lazy to do it.

Thats the nice thing about cider, it is a very forgiving hobby. Almost anything you do will yield something drinkable, and with very little effort you can make something that will amaze your friends.

 

[Maylar]

In a wild ferment I'd use nothing. If it stalls or goes sulfurous add some DAP. 25 ppm will drop SG by 10 points. In my regular ciders I'm using Fermaid-K now.

 

[gregbathurst]

If you are using your own, or wild collected, apples you should be fine.I have been making cider from my own apples for 12 years now and never have problems, never use nutrient. You should stop using nutrient and then if you have problems you can start using it again.I do both wild ferments and cultured yeast.