Layer of gunk on top of cider?

[dmac91]

Recipe:
10 AJ from ALDI
9L AJ+Pear from Coles
Pitched onto 250ml of yeast slurry of S-04.
Yeast Nutrient
Pitch at 21 degrees on 4/3/2014
Current temp is 16 degrees.

Previous recipe was a cider and used apples. There was some mush in the yeast, I didn't try to strain them out. Should I have?
The yeast slurry would have been fairly cold, as I cold conditioned, then bottled the previous batch. It was out of the fridge for probably an hour or so until I pitched.

After 1 day there was a layer on top of the cider. As shown below
http://imgur.com/EouD4Hb
http://imgur.com/u2pLaTJ
The one below is of the apple and blackcurrant juice
http://imgur.com/v1qg3WH

There was a strong acidic smell after the first few days. It's now a week past and the smell is dissipating somewhat but still noticeable. Is it infected, is this normal, or is there something I can do to remedy it?

 

[indica86]

Looks normal to me.

 

[Bribie G]

Just got back from dear old Aldi myself an hour ago with 20L of apple juice, and going to chuck in some YN and Ringwood Ale yeast slurry from a batch of brown ale I'm kegging this afternoon.

I have used SO-4 in cider and actually now prefer ale yeasts to wine / cider yeasts as they seem to come out smoother and less "winey" if you know what I mean.

Depending on your temperature I'd fully expect SO-4 to behave like it's fermenting an ale and float to the top. It's not krausen as such, because apple juice doesn't have the proteins to make krausen, but going on your photos I'd confidently say it's just a yeast mat. Are you getting weird aromas apart from acidic? A bit of sulphur seems to be generated in a lot of my cider brews, but I mean any really shitty or dead stuff smells?

Otherwise I'd even go so far as to rock and swirl the fermenter and get the yeast mat it back down into the must to ferment quicker.

 

[dmac91]

Yeah I was wondering because I haven't seen anything like 'krausen' on a cider and I didn't even know something called a 'yeast mat' existed.

I think it has smelt a little bit sulfuric but nothing extreme.

Thanks Bribie G!

 

[TimT]

Yeah looks fine.

We made one apple cider last year from a variety of crushed apples we picked in and around Bright and Wandiligong. After a couple of months maturing it came out beautifully, and I have to say, ever since tasting my mature scrumpy I look on the commercial ciders with absolute disdain. Commercial cider companies give us substandard ciders with little to no flavour but maximum sweetness and we miss out on what cider really could be with a little more effort - a beautiful, complex, well-rounded wine.

 

[Bribie G]

Cider on Ringwood and here tis



Edit: re post above, when I was a kid in the UK in the 1950s a truck used to come round every year before Christmas with 5 gallon stone jars of cider with a tap and sell door to door, they would come and collect the jar during the year and give you your deposit back.
Mr 9 year old used to sneak glasses of it and I can still taste it, I make the Aldi stuff for quaffing but I'm inspired to try for something a bit better during the forthcoming ideal brewing weather.