Cider Brewing.. Concerned

[Mags]

Hi Guys,

This is my 3rd brew and 1st post on here , and I decided to do a cider for the girlfriend.

Now I done a brigalow kit, 1kg dextrose and 2.4L of apple juice. I pitched at 24c and brought it down to 18-20c. It didn't seem active for 3 days as the SG was the same as the OG. So decided to up the temps to 24c. It kicked off and has now come down to 1.009 from an OG of 1.032.

My concerns;

After I got home from work yesterday it had went very cloudy, i decided to take a sample, as said at 1.009. Could really taste the alcohol now. But it had a different smell not so sweet like an apple, hard to explain, but the girlfriends wise words were very yeasty haha . The taste was fine until it left an after taste which again i have never encountered. I would like to say like blue cheese, but it isn't, and she agreed, it doesn't taste like cheese but has a weird after taste.

So i decided to lower the temps back to 20c for another week in hope it would get better. But I noticed a few mosquitos/flys had got into my coopers DIY fermenter. Could this coupled with the taste lead to my conclusion possible infection? So clearly the coopers DIY fermenter isn't sealed like previous one but there is enough space for flys/mosquitos to get inside which isn't great news.

Not sure where to go from here. Ride it out for another week (2 weeks total) or throw down the drain and get my planned beer on the go .

 

[stakka82]

3 days without fermentation kicking off... looks like your yeast was unhealthy/dead/low viability percentage.

The off taste makes me thing something other than your yeast got a hold during that period... I've had the same issue when I brewed a left overs batch with a 2 year old kit yeast that had been sitting in the fridge. That was most definitely infection. Had to chuck the lot.

That said, I reckon bottle/keg it, let it age and give it a crack. Not uncommon to have a weird/bad tasting brew come good with age!

 

[ekul]

The aftertaste could be the artificial flavourings in the kit. To make a great apple cider just get 20L of homebrand apple juice and add yeast. Let ferment @ no more than 22C (ideally around 18-20) till its done and then bottle. I've used wine yeast and it came out great.

If you like it a little sweeter then add lactose.

 

[mkstalen]

How the hell did the flies and mosquitoes get in? That's what I'd be worried about. If they can get in then pretty much any micro-organism can get in an affect your beer leading to an infection.

I've not gotten my hands on the newer Coopers DIY fermenter, it does look a little weird from the pictures. But I just fail to see how they could produce something which could let flies in.

More to your point, the odd taste could be the twang from the artificial sweetener in the briglow kit. Test the gravity tomorrow, if it's still at 1.009 then it's likely finished. If you can fit the fermenter in your fridge then stick it in there (or rack to a 2nd container which does fit in your fridge) for a few days to let most of the yeast settle out then bottle as usual. If you can't fit it in your fridge that's ok you'll just get a lot more yeast sediment in your bottles and you'll have to be careful pouring so you don't stir it all up.

 

[Mags]

How the hell did the flies and mosquitoes get in? That's what I'd be worried about. If they can get in then pretty much any micro-organism can get in an affect your beer leading to an infection.

I've not gotten my hands on the newer Coopers DIY fermenter, it does look a little weird from the pictures. But I just fail to see how they could produce something which could let flies in.

More to your point, the odd taste could be the twang from the artificial sweetener in the briglow kit. Test the gravity tomorrow, if it's still at 1.009 then it's likely finished. If you can fit the fermenter in your fridge then stick it in there (or rack to a 2nd container which does fit in your fridge) for a few days to let most of the yeast settle out then bottle as usual. If you can't fit it in your fridge that's ok you'll just get a lot more yeast sediment in your bottles and you'll have to be careful pouring so you don't stir it all up.

Yeah, I thought perhaps it COULD be the artifical sweetners as their is no other signs of infections. And to the people above, you are right, next time I will not use a kit, I just got it real cheap to refuse.

it was still bubbling away this morning so I'll see how it reads tonight.

As for the flies getting in, I quite disappointed at this, as you are right, it could lead to other organisms getting in. I';ll ride this one out and see how it goes, hopefully it gets better with time :unsure:

 

[Rina]

I've found from the ginger kit the artificial sweetener 'twang' does dissipate.

 

[kario]

The aftertaste could be the artificial flavourings in the kit. To make a great apple cider just get 20L of homebrand apple juice and add yeast. Let ferment @ no more than 22C (ideally around 18-20) till its done and then bottle. I've used wine yeast and it came out great.

If you like it a little sweeter then add lactose.

What approx ABV did this method work out to?

 

[Mags]

Absolute disaster this cider, flys kept getting into it and it looks like beer. Tastes something like cider and doesn't smell like cider :huh:

I was going to chuck it but thought why not i will bottle it. So here it is, why does it look so much like beer and have such a strong colour?

By mags88 at 2012-02-11