Yeasty cider

[Mike-HBT]

Hello,

I have been trying to brew an acceptable cider since January with no luck.

All of my ciders come out very yeasty with some sourness. I have had trouble finding information on what might cause an extremely yeasty off flavor.

I have been using store bought juice and cider along with Nottingham yeast.
I have tried with and without various sources of extra sugar and back sweetening such as aj concentrate, raw sugar, lme.

Batches 6 through 8 are now fermenting. At first I thought the issue might be that the cider was young or I hadn't let enough yeast drop out. I've experimented some and have gotten very clear cider, so I don't think there is suspended yeast causing the issue.

I haven't heard of young cider being called yeasty which makes me think aging several months will solve the issue.

Sanitation does not appear to be the issue, but I'm wondering if under pitching or poor temp control might be the cause.

Maybe Nottingham is not for me?

 

[grathan]

Nottingham has a distinct flavor. More so if you ferment higher than 67*f.

 

[yarghble]

I don't know about nottingham specifically, as I have never used it, but I know that generally higher or more variable temps lead to yeasty flavors. You also have to be careful not to suck up any of the trub when you're siphoning to bottle...inattention from myself or my partner has ruined a couple of batches that way, and aging doesn't seem to help with that problem. If that's what happened, it should be overwhelmingly yeasty and sour. Like, think of the yeastiest bread or roll you've ever had, and then double that and make it coat the inside of your mouth, and then try not to vomit while you find something that will get the taste out...

But aging should help if the issue was just poor temp control. I had no temp control whatsoever at my last place, so I pretty much had to let everything I made age for at least a couple of months before it got really drinkable.

 

[Mike-HBT]

Okay, here is an update.

I moved all my fermentation to the tub in the spare bathroom. The temp should be more controlled in there vs the kitchen.

I started a new batch of fresh unpasturized cider from the orchard. It's sitting in an ice water bath. So this should control for temp and juice quality.

If this comes out bad then Nottingham or other parts of my process such as sanitation are the culprit.

I'll cold crash batch 6 this week and see how it turned out. It's been in primary for 3 or 4 weeks now.

 

[TexasWine]

Assuming you've previously fermented at 70F +, the Nottingham will definitely be happier in the tub. Hopefully this solves your yeasty flavor issue.

I see you're using an ice bath. You obviously know what cold crashing is and understand what temperature swings in the other direction will do. Depending on your room temp, you might not even need the ice.

Last time I used my tub as a swamp cooler I found I could achieve an 8F temperature drop from ambient temps by simply wrapping my carboy in a towel, allowing the bottom half of the towel to wick water up the sides, and then pointing a fan at it. And that was in muggy Houston where the humidity usually lingers somewhere around 200%.

I hope some of these ramblings help. And I hope batch #6 turns out great!