• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Plain apple cider smell sour

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

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

dcodol2

Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
I used a nottingham yeast cake from a batch of cherry Apple cider I racked off about 2 weeks ago and poured 5 gallons of apple juice on it. I also used a 5 gallon dose of year nutrients at the beginning of the ferment. I racked it off about 5 days ago and when I opened the primary it smells a little off. After I siphoned it off into the secondary I smelled it and it smelled a bit sour. Today 5 days later it so has a off kind of sour smell.
Should I wait and see if the smell subsides of just dump it?
 
Didn't really care to taste it with it smelling like that. My other batches I have made previously are sweet smelling like Apple juice and alcohol. That's why this one threw me off.
 
When I opened the fermenter the smell about burned my nose
The CO2 produced during fermentation will burn your nose when you open a fermenter. It's something you figure out after you've done it once (maybe twice). Waft it towards your nose using your hand.
 
I find that anything cider produces alot of sulfur type smells and yes CO2 does burn the nose if you get a big dose all at once. let it sit for a week or two and see if the sulfur gases off. If its not sulfur and is an infection you may have some wild yeast flavors in there, that may not be a bad thing.

If the taste is acceptable you may have started your very own local region sour style from local yeast. There's a trend right now where people are actually doing spontaneous fermentation from whatever is floating in the air instead of inoculation of a specific strain. if its good take it for what it is.

It occurs to me to ask what was your source of juice, was it bottle/frozen concentrate brand from the store? if it was make sure it wasn't a brand with preservatives found in it. that can really affect the yeast growth process and flavor of the final product.
 
It was 100 % Motts apple juice with no preservatives. I used this to throw on to a used yeast cake to get some plain some cider. I know not the best choice but made some great cider before
 
I tasted this batch today and at first I was reluctant to try it but after a minute I downed about an ounce of it and it wasn't wreched as I imagined it would be. It didn't have much flavor it almost had a faint apple taste but still smelled a bit sour. Maybe it's a new Florida Sour Apple cider? Lol
 
Give it time. Let it sit in glas for a month or two and I find any strange smells dissipate and the cider flavor is enhanced.
 
Back
Top