First attempt at cider - advice needed

[Wellingaway]

I think I need some advice.

Apples were bashed and apples were pressed to get around 23 litres of juice. I added 4 Campden tablets and let it stand overnight in my outhouse. The next day I added some Pectolase, 5g of cider yeast, some tanin and some yeast nutrient and waited.

The reading at the beginning was 1050. There was some frothing at the beginning but nothing since and it has developed a strange sour smell.

What have I done wrong and is it retrievable?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I have ever only made beer, but if I were to make cider, I would use a commercial yeast. My pop would make beer in an open fermenter and would get vomit and other not great flavors. It has been my experience that using specific yeasts and airlocks has given me pretty good results.

 

[oldmate]

Doesn't sound like you did anything different to standard procedure. How long has it been in primary fermentation? I would pull a sample and see what the specific gravity is, that way we can see how far along it is.

I assume it's under a suitable airlock as well?

 

[Wellingaway]

I think I've found the problem. There was a small tear at the top of my fermenting bucket which made it seem like it wasn't fermenting. I've changed the bucket, put another airlock on and it's bubbling like a goodun. The last time I looked on the hydrometer it read 1030ish.

Not as bad as I feared!

 

[Wellingaway]

It's been fermenting for 8 days now but the temperature in the outhouse is colder than ideal - around 12 degrees C

 

[madscientist451]

If the fermentation is progressing at 12C then everything is fine. Slow fermentation is generally better for cider.