The Yeast has Risen! Or maybe something else?

[MikeRussell]

Hey Home Brewers!

This is my first post, so be gentle. :cross:

I'm on my 5th batch of home brewed cider, and I have stumbled across what I believe is a case of yeast resurrection. It could be contamination, I suppose, but I was hoping more experienced brewers could take a look.



Click the image for a bigger version of the same thing.

This is an experimental batch dubbed "Mike's Cheapo Cider."

To describe my process, I took 6 cans of WinCo brand apple juice concentrate and added water up to 2 gallons. I can't recall whether I pasteurized it at this point or not.. I'm pretty sure not. I then pitched some yeast and stashed it away.

I took a look about 2 weeks after throwing the yeast in and it had a wonderful champagne smell to it, and a relatively clear surface. I re-sealed it and let it sit for another week. Yesterday, I opened the lid again to show a friend the progress and it seemed to have this white growth on top.

Is this just the yeast being reactivated or might I have contaminated the batch by breaking the seal after a couple weeks? I only opened the lid about 2 inches, enough to get a smell.

Thanks for any info you can give!

-Mike

 

[MikeRussell]

Also, I wanted to note that it still smells like yeast. If it smelled super nasty, I would assume it has been contaminated, but it's not too unpleasant; just a little off.

 

[McKinley]

Looks like film yeast.

 

[MikeRussell]

McKinley, Thanks for the response.

I noticed a few pouches on the surface as well. Would this be indicative of anything other than yeast?

I'm planning on leaving it another week or two. That should be sufficient time to produce more obvious off-scents, right?

 

[Germelli1]

I am actually going to vote this one as a pectile from a bacterial infection. Yeast rarely films like that and I have had a couple of minor infections that have looked just like that. If it is acetobacter or something similar, they NEED ozygen to ruin your beverage so if I see one of these coming on, I bottle and drink it quick.

I can imagine it would be hard to differnetiate the vinegar/off flavors the bacteria throws out in a cider so I don't think the old taste taste would be very beneficial haha

 

[tealio]

I say taste it and compare to your previous batches.

I have made 15 batches using all store bought stuff, and haven’t see anything like that during normal fermentation.

Most of my store bought juice ciders barely do anything visible at all, other than turning bright golden/yellow during fermentation and clearing back out to a clearer gold after a few weeks. No film, foam or really any clues of fermentation, even though I usually ferment to 1.000

 

[frydogbrews]

i've only seen a film like that on cysers, never a regular strength cider. what is your expected ABV? i have seen that on my batches that come in around 10.5% and i age those beauties for at least 6 months. flavor only improves, never gotten funky yet (knock on wood)

 

[MikeRussell]

@Tealio - Are you usually using concentrate or regular cider? This is my first batch of cider from concentrate, so I'm afraid I don't have much to go from. I do, however, have a younger batch of the same brand concentrate and approximately same OG. I will plan on tasting this younger brew and comparing from there.

@FryDogBrews - Ever since adopting the idea of back sweetening, Ive been taking my 'stock' to the highest ABV possible. From there I usually take a fresh (pasteurized or treated) batch of cider and cut the original brew down to something around 7-8%. That doesn't help us too much here, except I'm hoping the ABV is reeeal high.