Pellicle on Cider During Secondary

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Steven Barrett

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
Messages
162
Reaction score
49
I fermented a cider that dropped clear after 2 months or so. I racked to secondary (did not purge) because I wanted to follow the recipe (which in hindsight I regret). After sitting in secondary for another 2 months (again, following recipe), what seems to be a pellicle is forming on the top of the cider.

Although I was alarmed at first, I’ve decided to let it ride and see what happens.

I’m curious to know (a) if you think this is a pellicle and (b) how this could have formed.
image.jpg
DC7FE726-39E7-47C7-A9B4-ADE5FB33641A.jpeg
 
I will offer:

1) I don’t remember if the cider was pasteurized. I bought it from Whole Foods during apple season.
2) I initially used kveik that I had dried out as the yeast, thinking it would give a peachy flavor. After not seeing much activity and assuming the kveik didn’t survive drying, I added some US-05 and it started to ferment.
 
It does look like a pellicle. Looks like a lot of headspace for secondary. I wouldn't let it sit too long in there. Monitor your gravity readings and bottle when stable.

If you bought it from Whole Foods, I'm sure it was pasteurized. Pretty hard to find unpasteurized juice these days and you'd typically have to get it directly from a press/mill.
 
I agree with the too much headspace comment! My cider this year had a slight pellicle which I sprinkled with metabisulfate tho not really sure yet if that helped!
 
So wouldn’t whatever is creating the pellicle continue to develop/ferment/reform-pellicle inside the bottle?
 
Here’s a better photo
She’s beautiful!

FG is FG, especially with cider where the fermentables are simple sugars and it should ferment dry even without the help of whatever bugs you’ve got there. Once the gravity is stable, it should be safe to bottle. It’s possible that flavors will continue to develop after that, but still bottle safe.
 
Back
Top