What is this? Seems like an infection?

[GlimpseTheVoid]

I'm about 3 or 4 batches of cider in and when I racked this stuff it left some black granules behind in the bucket. The samples I tasted from the hydrometer have a funky sulphur/soapy smell and I'm worried that this batch is not going to come out ok.

Please share your wisdom with a noob:


This is how it came off on my finger

And what it looked like on the side of the bucket.....

 

[GlimpseTheVoid]

So my wife is smarter than me, and she has pointed out these are simply seeds from the vanilla been I had in the fermenter...