Infection Advice

[M4rotku]

Hey Guys,

I think my cider has an infection. I am including pictures. It does not seem like a major infection and I don't think it needs to be thrown out. It would be such a shame to do so because the cider I started with was so delicious. The source cider was bought in a store, so I assumed it was pasteurized and did not sulfite it before adding yeast. I started it on 10/23/16 and racked to secondary on 12/4/16. So it is due to be racked next weekend, 2/4/17.

Does it need to be thrown out? I am assuming it isn't that bad, but I want to ask the experts just in case.

My current thought is that I should bottle it next weekend, only adding enough sugar to carbonate, and pasteurize the crap out of it after it has some time to carbonate. However, if it were not infected, I would normally rack it to tertiary and let it clear some more. Do you guys think I should bottle it and pasteurize or do you think I should rack it and sulfite it? If I sulfite it, do I need to add more than usual to combat the infection? I have enough cider in the large wine bottle that I should be able to fill a carboy to the top, leaving minimal headroom, if I rack it. Lastly, when I bottle or transfer it, should I first suck as much of the infection out with a turkey baster as I can, to try to avoid putting my racking cane through it?

Thank you for any and all advice.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[mikerlynch26]

Hm, hard to tell from the photos, does it smell sour or vinegary? I've heard of people simply racking from under the questionable stuff to a secondary, and if you're looking to pasteurize you may be ok. Yeast sometimes floats on top of a must, there is a small amount of carbonation dissolved in the liquid after fermentation that may have deposited that stuff up there. Only way to be sure is to taste, and be honest with yourself about what you taste.

Good luck and let us know how it is!

 

[M4rotku]

I smelled it and it did not have a smell other than what cider should smell like at this stage.

 

[Maylar]

Doesn't look like any of the classic infection photos I've seen here. I would ignore it and use some k-meta (or campden) on your next racking.