Sulfur Dioxide and Smelly Cider

[speakspress]

Has anyone else made the mistake of adding Sulfur Dioxide or Turkish apricots to their initial fermentation?

I failed to read the ingredient list on a pack of Turkish Apricots. They contained sulfur dioxide.

I added one apricot to the following:

1 gallon of Whole Foods 365 apple juice
1 to 2 Dozen raisins
1 gram of Lalvin EC-1118

The fruit was soaked in a campden tablet bath before it was added to the must. It stopped fermenting through the airlock around 9 or 10 days out and it stinks!

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My observations:

1. It smells “rotten vegetal” - not like anything I would want to drink
2. Fermentation stopped at 1.02 - (OG 1.065) I have had the same must without the fruit go to 1.0.
3. Taste is a little boring. Will know better in a week.
4. I fermented a second gallon at the same time and same fruit but with Premier Cuvee instead of the Lalvin. The Cuvee batch smells a bit as well but not nearly as much as the Lalvin batch and taste is much better on the Cuvee as well. The Cuvee fermented to only. 1.03 (OG 1.065)

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My research indicates the following:

1. Sulfur Dioxide is often added to wine during initial fermentation to help maintain delicate aromas
2. It acts as a preservative and helps wine during the aging process
3. The smell may go away with time
4. The smell may go away by running the cider over copper.
5. Maybe I should throw it out

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My hypotheses:

1. The sulfur may have stopped the fermentation early
2. It should be ok to drink - it won't kill me
3. I should wait and see

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Conclusions:

1. I will read packages more often in the future
2. Boy does it stink

Please note that I believe sanitation was properly executed through out the preperation.


Has anyone else made the mistake of adding Sulfur Dioxide or Turkish apricots to their initial fermentation?

 

[RukusDM]

Darn. Too bad about the sulpher. I've never thought of using apricots. That sounds good.

The bad smell might go away with some aging. I recently did a Lager beer and I thought the dog took a dump down in the basement. It went away with a few days dialectal rest and a week of aging. Maybe yours will too.

 

[mrk305]

Read Edwort's recipe for Apflewine, specifically the part about rhino farts.

 

[gregbathurst]

You are getting confused between H2S ans SO2. The rotten smell is Hydrogen Silfide H2S which can be a product of the fermentation when the yeast are stressed by lack of nutrient or other conditions.
SO2 is completely unrelated and used as an preservative and anti-oxidant. The primary fermentation process leads to most SO2 being bound to acetaldehyde, which is a natural product of fermentation. This leaves the SO2 inactive, and it won't stop the fermentation finishing. Your yeast may have stopped fermenting due to stress, or maybe there are non-fermentables in your recipe. The H2S smell may leave with time but is probably not related to the apricots.

 

[speakspress]

Interesting.

I would indeed describe the smell as "rhino farts". It smells like a zoo. Coincidentally the local zoo just lost Sally - probably about the time I discovered the smell. http://bit.ly/g4Or5l

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I had a bit of the smelly stuff left over from the racking that I placed in an open champagne bottle a placed in the fridge. After several hours it still stank. However, I placed some in a glass and gave it a swig. It was tasty. I started wrapping gifts for a couple hours before my wife came home and I said "Wait till you smell this!" Really hoping to knock her off her feet and to my surprise the smell was gone! It seems that over time the smell will indeed go away.

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In the meanwhile, I have replaced the airlock over the one gallon carboy of stinky stuff and I'll just let it do it's thing.

As for the Cuvee that fermented to only 1.03 and I corked in champagne bottles... well...

 

[postban]

I made it the first time and hated the stink. After that I used yeast nutrient and it cut the sulfur down to barely noticeable.

 

[speakspress]

Indeed. Yeast nutrient is the solution.

 

[McKinley]

Based on point #4, do you think that you have some wild yeast and/or bacteria in the fruited batch? Just sulfiting the fruit may not knock down these organisms enough, but I would still expect the Lalvin to blow through everything else at that pitch rate.

I use servomyces on my cider and it still smells bad.

 

[liv2fly88]

I've read a lot of the "sulfur" threads after day three of my (very active) fermentation left my spare bathroom (the fermentorium, as I call it) smelling like a rhino had visited that tiny closet. I have since added the yeast nutrient that I failed to add at pitching time. The local grocery liquidator had a 2-pack of 59oz "Simply Apple" apple juice (no preservatives) on sale for $2.00. I figured it was OK to blow $10 on a first shot at cider. Now I'm learning what I really should have done.
Thanks for all the input from those that have so much experience in cider.