My 2013 Cider Season has now finished: The RESULTS are IN..!

[StrandedinCanada]

So, you may or may not want to read this --- but I think this will be last post for this season... I've just attempted bottling the last of my stockpile and here are the results and dates...

Things to note:
Batch 1 - Very was pulpy and not very well strained
Batch 2, 3 & 4 - Very well strained and quite clear from the start

Fri Sep 13 13 - (Batch 1) In a 4.16 Imp. Gallon Demijohn: Pear and Apple Juice Combined with 4.25 Campden Tablets (Ratio = 60% Pear / 40% Apple)
Sun Sep 15 13 - (Batch 1) Added Tannin and Yeast Nutrient + SOME Pectic Enzyme to Brew (Didn't have enough for 1tsp/imp gallon)
Sun Sep 15 13 - (Batch 1) Added Muntons Yeast (1 6g pack) to Apple/Pear Brew
Sat Nov 23 13 - (Batch 1) DESTROYED

Thoughts:
Man, this batch smelt like a trip to the sewage works...! And even then, a sewage works that had 'gone off'... :?
I had my suspicions (as it looked a bit sketchy with about 40% of the demijohn filled with sediment) - but I never realised it could smell that bad... Needless to say - lesson learned... Now we've got all the windows open to try and get rid of this, quite literally, "Eau du Toilette" :lol:

Sun Sep 15 13 - (Batch 2) In a 4.16 Imp. Gallon Demijohn: Juice Pears and added 4.5 Campden Tablets
Tue Sep 17 13 - (Batch 2) Added Tannin and Yeast Nutrient + Pectic Enzyme to Brew
Tue Sep 17 13 - (Batch 2) Add Nottingham Ale Yeast To Brew
Sat Nov 23 13 - (Batch 2) of the 4.16 Gallons I made, I was happy, and confident (given Batch 1), enough to bottle 12 x 1 Litre bottles of drink. I've added 1 Teaspoon of sugar to each, sealed and cleaned off the bottles.

Thoughts:
I didn't really drink it all that much - but I did get a taste as I was creating a vacuum... Taste was 'light' --- OK... Different... I might be a bit 'compromised', again, because of opening batch 1 first - so I took a gamble and bottled anyway... I didn't want to risk getting anywhere near the sediment at the bottom - and so, like it or not, destroyed the rest...

Sat Sep 28 13 - (Batch 3) Add 6.6 Imp. Gallons of juice into food grade bucket w/ 6.5 crushed campdens
Mon Sep 30 13 - (Batch 3) Add Tannin, Pectic Enzyme and Yeast Nutrient
Mon Sep 30 13 - (Batch 3) Add Yeast: Added Mangrove Jacks Cider Yeast at 13:50 with no rehydration (packet said add directly to brew)
Fri Sep 22 13 - (Batch 3) Transferred contents (all except for about 3 litres) into a steel keg/cask. Cask sealed and then I pumped it with CO2 until it reached about 6 or 7 PSI for 30 minutes with a 'gas bleed' every 10 minutes to ensure that any oxygen at the top should have been pushed out. I tapped the keg to ensure there was no oxygen in that part of the tank too... Thereafter I disconnected everything - cleaned it up and it's back in the cold cellar to wait...

Thoughts:
Taste was, without any expertise, 'young' - but not off (thankfully I did the Apple Ciders yesterday - Gee's only knows what I would have written if I did those today - as all I can smell now is - well... Not nice stuff! :mrgreen: )... Hopefully with a bit of time - I might be onto a reasonable winner here...

Sat Sep 28 13 - (Batch 4) Add 6.6 Imp. Gallons of juice into food grade bucket w/ 6.5 crushed campdens
Mon Sep 30 13 - (Batch 4) Add Tannin, Pectic Enzyme and Yeast Nutrient - (NB - Short on correct amount of Pectic Enzyme)
Mon Sep 30 13 - (Batch 4) Add Yeast: Added E118 Champagne Yeast at 14:10 rehydrated...
Wed Oct 02 13 - (Batch 4) Added last of Pectic Enzyme needed for 1tsp/imp gallon ratio
Fri Nov 22 13 - (Batch 4) See comments for Batch 3 --- exactly the same thoughts and comments

So there you have it peeps... My 2013 Cider season in a nutshell. Being honest I'm a little disappointed in myself and even a little skeptical now... Hopefully with a bit of time, when the smells have dissipated, AND I've had a hot bath or shower - we'll be back on the right track again.

All thoughts and comments welcome. Thanks again for your help this season and speak soon :)

 

[bobsbeer]

Good luck with it. They do say time is a great healer, so you never know.

 

[Crastney]

shame you threw some of those away - cider can smell terrible at times, but not necessarily off.
from what I've learnt, and as far as I'm aware it's when there's not enough nutrient - the yeast produces hydrogen sulphides (or varieties of similar) - smells of rotten egg, but will go away with time.

good job though, nice write up. Well done that man.

 

[Dave1970]

I did 3 batches this year, the one that was done with Nottingham yeast (after a failed Old Rosie yeast attempt) did the hydrogen sulphide smell for a good 3 weeks (it was a cool, slow ferment). It has gone now but this was a background smell not anything like you're describing.