Sulfur Smell In Cider

[stef]

I've opened 2 stubbies of a new (my first) batch of cider recently. Both of them gave off a faint whiff of sulphur smell when opening. Just wondering if this will dissipate with time? I'm not really worried about it- i know that smell is often produced during fermentation and it hasnt affected the taste or clarity of the drink. Just was curious as to whether it will always be there and if there is anything i can do to avoid it in my next batch.

Oh, it was US-05, 75% apple, 25% pear, fermented slowly at about 20 degrees. Been only 2 weeks since bottling. Bulk primed with cane sugar.

Cheers

 

[manticle]

Did you use campden/sodium/potassium metabisulphite anywhere?
That will exarcebate sulphur odours.

Yes it will dissipate.

 

[stef]

nope. Only additive was lactose. Good to hear it will dissipate. Make it a bit less unnerving for the wife and anyone else i hand some out to.

 

[manticle]

Let it sit another 4 weeks before even thinking of handing any out. Crack one and see - if sulphur still present, leave another 4. Cider can take time to come good - I get around it by fermenting low (14 degrees) and cold conditioning.

 

[stef]

ok, thanks mate. I'll make sure the next ferment is nice and cold.
Cheers

 

[manticle]

Not sure how 05 will go at 14 but 15 -16 should be OK.

I try and treat ciders roughly like lager because you re after a clean, refreshing result. I am interested in trying a lager yeast at lager temps one day.

 

[Tanga]

I'd be interested to see how that goes Manticle.

I know the sulphur smell can be a side effect of making the spirit water - from a lack of nutrients I think. It usually comes good with aeration and the addition of nutrients. I'm not saying you should aerate cider (I think that may cause it to oxidise), but perhaps next time add some nutrients. Glad the flavour and appearance are still good.

 

[Airgead]

ok, thanks mate. I'll make sure the next ferment is nice and cold.
Cheers

Nutrient deficiency can also cause yeast to throw sulphur compounds. Apple juice (especially shop stuff) can be low in nutrients so a few opinches of DAP or similar can work wonders.

Cheers
Dave

 

[stuchambers]

I just took a gravity sample of my NoFrills cider and have no sulphur smell but it has a slight sulphur taste.
It was also rather dry but i did add lactose.
the recipe was:
13L of homebrand apple juice
250g lactose
sn9 yeast
fermented at ambiant temp around 17-25 I guess.

Why is it so dry is SN9 known to finish dry It was the only yeast the shop had that mentioned either cider or sparkling wine so I got it?

 

[Airgead]

I just took a gravity sample of my NoFrills cider and have no sulphur smell but it has a slight sulphur taste.
It was also rather dry but i did add lactose.
the recipe was:
13L of homebrand apple juice
250g lactose
sn9 yeast
fermented at ambiant temp around 17-25 I guess.

Why is it so dry is SN9 known to finish dry It was the only yeast the shop had that mentioned either cider or sparkling wine so I got it?

Cider has pretty much only simple sugars in it so pretty much regardless of the yeast you use, unless you do something special to it to cause the yeast to finish early, it will come out dry.

Lactose is one thing that can sweeten it up as it is an unfermentable sugar. Its also not very sweet. It has a relative sweetness of only 20 (with sucrose being 100) so about 1/5 as sweet as regular sugar. You probably didn't add enough to make it noticeable. Given that it is a non fermentable sugar you can quite happily add it post fermentation to back sweeten to whatever level you desire. Just dissolve it in a little cool boiled water and start dosing.

Cheers
Dave