Rhino Cider

[BlackSundog]

Brewing a cider with clove, oak chips, apple jelly, and cinnamon since Dec 2nd. I was going to move it to secondary on the 23rd. (Not sure how long I should leave it in secondary.) But like a Christmas gift I could not help but take a peak.

So...I removed the airlock and....Rhino Fart.

Something is afoot.

I removed the lid, and smelled some more. Rhino Fart....with spices. So I sat there, examining it for a bit, letting the gas clear. Then mustering up some hutzpa I decided to try some.

It.... actually tastes alright!

But is the yeast being stressed or something? Do I actually need to aerate cider?

 

[Maylar]

Adding yeast nutrient up front would have prevented that. Yeast need nitrogen to live and apples are low in nitrogen. When the nitrogen runs out, the yeast get stressed and start converting amino acids into nitrogen. Hydrogen sulfide - rhino farts - is a byproduct of that.

I suspect that your ferment is too far along now to respond to adding nutrients, so you'll have to deal with it after the fact. Search the forum for "Rhino", there are lots of threads about that here.