Help needed

[Shanghaibrewer]

Hi All,

I'm new here although I have read quite a bit on here to start my own brewing.

I started a test batch of 1 gallon of cider (in a hurry recipe).
The fermentation worked well and I racked the cider bottled, gassed and crashed it.

The end result was disappointing and had thick year deposits stuck to the side of the bottle. Was I in too much of a hurry? Anybody have a similar experience?

I have already started my next batch. Juiced, campden tablets and then 48 hours later the yeast. It is fermenting with a strong sulphur smell but from what I read on here that should not be a problem.

The weather here in China does get very hot in the coming month and it is hard to regulate this temperature. Will this have any negative impacts on my cider?
Also what would people suggest, not to hurry this one and just let it ferment?

Any advice would be greatly received.

 

[Parsaver]

Check the temperature recommendations for the yeast you're using. The last batch i made got to warm (among other things) and it tasted quite poor.


There are things you can do, especially with a smaller vessel to help regulate the temperature (water baths, evaporation towels/shirt; ect)

 

[Shanghaibrewer]

Cheers. I'm using a champagne yeast. Do you know the recommended temperature?

 

[Parsaver]

What brand/type of yeast? if it is Red Star, it says you can use it from 59-86 degrees Fahrenheit. We just bottled a batch with that yeast and the temperature was steady at 63 the entire time.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Shanghaibrewer and welcome -
A strong sulfur smell suggests a yeast under stress. You may be able to remove the smell but stressed yeast is not something you want or something that benefits a cider. There may not be enough O2 in the must or their may be insufficient nutrients in the liquor.
To solve the first possibility you want to whip air into the cider (as long as the gravity is greater than say, 1.010. To solve the second possibility if the gravity is above 1.020 I would add nutrient - which may be DAP or boiled yeast (Yeast need vitamin B and nitrogen).

 

[MindenMan]

Dealing with high temperatures "requires" high temperature yeast, Saison yeast is happy at warm temperatures, and it makes a very tasty cider. Many brewers in different parts of the world that cannot keep a close control on temperatures brew according to the seasons. keep a 5 gallon bucket from freezing is fairly easy in an inside closet, but trying to keep that same 5 gallon bucket in the mid-60's during the middle of summer may be next to impossible. Get creative and try new strains of yeast when making ciders or wines; that is why we brew yes, get outside the box and if we don't like it we may have friends that will. If all else fails a gallon of juice really doesn't cost a lot of money if it needs to be poured out.

 

[FatDragon]

As @MindenMan said, saison yeasts handle warm weather quite well. I brewed a saison recently and only controlled the temperature for the first day of fermentation before allowing it to rise to the ~26C ambient temps. Use some dry Belle Saison yeast from any of a number of Taobao brew shops and it'll handle those temperatures and even higher.

Note that cider often may need quite a bit of time to condition before it tastes any good, so if you're in doubt about a batch, leave it alone and forget about it for six months, then try it again and if it still stinks then feel free to toss it.

 

[Shanghaibrewer]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Over the last couple of days the temperature has ramped up here and the smell has become less pungent. On the advice of a friend I decided to pop the lid and stir.

As I opened it there was a strong sulphur smell which i expected.
I was concerned to see large clumps of yeast which were brown and dark brown sitting on the top. Is this normal? If it would help to take a picture then I can.

Cheers for the advice on the saison yeast. And thanks for all your replies so far.

 

[Shanghaibrewer]

Just as an update, I popped the top to give it a stir today and theifed a sample. The reading was 1.00 and there has been activity as the sides are filthy.

The fermentation has lasted about a week which seems quite short and there is little activity now.

I am planning to rack it as there is a smell which I think was influenced the taste. Planning to let it sit for some time on some strawberries/honey (open to suggestions).

How important will temperature control be in secondary?

 

[Melou]

Strawberries maybe (not sure you want to invest on fresh or frozen fruits given the sulphur issue and lack of efficient brewering temperature control), and honey will get eaten up very fast by the yeast given that its highly fermenticible, so higher ABV in your future, but dont expect any residual sweetness.

As a firat batch I would personally just let it age the way it is.

1 week primary is pretty normal if you didnt add any sugar to boost the O.G. Oh, and the dirty sides are also pretty normal depending on the juice and yeast you used.

Cheers!

 

[1bottlerocket]

On my first batch I was in a bit of a hurry too (due to time limitations with a family) and didn't let my cider sit long enough. I used champagne yeast and it fermented out quite dry. I ended up sweetening with xylitol but any non-fermentable sugar will do, though. Over time that taste has improved but there is a lot of yeast in the bottoms of the bottles.

I am not sure if you have a cellar space. If you do that may be an option to help control temperatures.

My second batch of cider is coming along much better due to being more patient ( I guess) and being able to handle the materials better. Someone suggested to me that I simply move on to the next batch and it worked out well.