Sulphur smell from cider brew

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ciderman

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Hi again forum,

I made use of your collective expertise earlier in the week, when my Cider kit wasn't fermenting correctly. It started to bubble like hell the day after I contacted you all. It is now near to finishing and I am getting a sulphur smell through the air lock. Is this normal, or not? Again I have never had this with beer! Also if and when I rack it off, what OG should it be at before i start to do this? Any advice gratefully received. This is a fantastic resource for us not so experienced brewer types!!! Keep up the good work!!!

Regards,

Ciderman :thumb:
 
Some yeasts do give off sulfer smells, i wouldn't worry about it just yet. Have a little sample, that'll tell ya if there's any problems fairly quick ;)
 
Hi AT,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Could you tell me what fermenting cider should taste like? I have only tasted finished cider, and that was out of bottle. (Magners!)
This is definitely an unexpected learning curve!! Any advice appreciated.

Ciderman :?:
 
The fermenting product always smells very different to the final product, thats with beer and wine.

I'd say, ralax :cool: try it when it's ready, thats when you'll pick faults (if indeed there are any)
 
Once it doesn't taste like it's dead or dying you're fine :lol: Like Wez said if you wanna wait till it's finished you can pick out faults. I thought you were more concerned with an infection, if that was there you would taste it but remember to sterilise anything that comes in contact with the beer ;)
 
Hi Wez and AT,

Thanks for putting my mind at rest. I'll let things take their course.

Best Regards,

Ciderman :D
 
Hi Wez ,

One other question, If I rack off this cider what OG should I look For before racking it off?

Regards,

Ciderman :hmm:
 
your target FG can be worked out if you know the attenuation of the yeast, but you need to know what the Original Gravity (OG) was.

Eskimobob, yeast attenuation and target FG's are coming up alot recently... i think it might be worth sticking a calculator for it in the Calculators section ;)
 
BrewStew said:
Eskimobob, yeast attenuation and target FG's are coming up alot recently... i think it might be worth sticking a calculator for it in the Calculators section ;)

Good idea BS :thumb: Edit: Now added :thumb:

In my limited experience of brewing cider, they tend to go quite dry. IIRC I have had some go down to almost 1.000 :eek: Are you planning on bottling on kegging it? - If bottling, I'd let it go well down to ensure you do not end up with a crate full of bombs :shock:

Edit: Should have said, I used to use champagne yeast which can continue to work in higher levels of alcohol so that could explain the high attenuation.
 
I have smelled the sulphur smell with a cider kit before. I think its the norm for them.
 
Good evening eskimobob and everyone else on the forum,

I am actually going to keg it, but Before I rack it off, I will take the OG reading and post it the result on this forum. The brew is still bubbling abit, so it'll probably be tomorrow or Monday when it is fully finished. :whistle: I hope the result is going to be worth the wait and effort!

Thank you again for all the advice from yourself and everyone who has replied. Talk to you all again real soon.

Best Regards,

Ciderman :cheers:
 
Since you are kegging it, I'd be less worried about racking too early - if it does continue to ferment in the keg then the pressure valve will prevent any accidents.
 
Hi to all on the forum,

Tonight I racked off my cider brew, and before doing so I took a hydrometer reading which was 1000. I seems to be doing O.K. When I added the prescribed 56 grams of sugar to the barrel, it frothed up, quite violently. I thought it was going to spill out of the barrel. :rofl:. It smells just fine, definitely a cider smell.

Thank you again for the past help and advice, and happy brewing to you all.

Ciderman. :clap: :cheers:
 
hehe that just brought back memories of my first time... i nearly **** myself when it started to make a run for it out of the barrel :lol:
 
i can imagine all those tired and hungry little yeast critters suddenly getting a whiff of sugar and going bonkers to get to it before its all gobbled up by their siblings!
 
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