dannythemanny
Well-Known Member
Evening all,
I have researched this a bit on other threads and in other forums and I'm not sure what new information I'm expecting to find here, but here goes...
I collected about 70kg of apples back in August/September and had then pressed into juice. The juice started fermenting on its own immediately, even before I had time to get it in the fermenter. I put about 20L in a pail and another 5L in a small demijohn.
To the 20L batch, I added several teaspoons of Young's yeast along with some sugar to bump up ABV a couple of points. It fermented like nobody's business and I racked to secondary after about ten days, I think. The 5L batch received no other yeast or sugar - just wanted to experiment and see what happened, and I never racked that one. I'm fairly sure I added no campden to either fermenter.
I moved them out to the garden shed and went to France for 10 weeks. On returning, I was surprised to see a white skin had formed across the larger fermenter (Young's yeast) and little spots of what I thought looked like mold had formed on the surface of the wild fermented one.
In doing a bit of digging online, I'm somewhat encouraged to see people saying that mold on cider is very obviously mold - usually blue, green or black and fuzzy. These almost look more like calcium deposits or something. I think they may be what's referred to as 'film yeast', but I'm predominately a beer brewer and sanitise *everything* religiously, so haven't come across this before. I just thought I could be a little more laissez-faire with cider for some reason.
I've attached pictures. Very curious to know what people reckon it is and whether it is potentially harmful. My other half is a scientist, so I have access to microscopes but wouldn't have a clue what to look for!
Cheers.
I have researched this a bit on other threads and in other forums and I'm not sure what new information I'm expecting to find here, but here goes...
I collected about 70kg of apples back in August/September and had then pressed into juice. The juice started fermenting on its own immediately, even before I had time to get it in the fermenter. I put about 20L in a pail and another 5L in a small demijohn.
To the 20L batch, I added several teaspoons of Young's yeast along with some sugar to bump up ABV a couple of points. It fermented like nobody's business and I racked to secondary after about ten days, I think. The 5L batch received no other yeast or sugar - just wanted to experiment and see what happened, and I never racked that one. I'm fairly sure I added no campden to either fermenter.
I moved them out to the garden shed and went to France for 10 weeks. On returning, I was surprised to see a white skin had formed across the larger fermenter (Young's yeast) and little spots of what I thought looked like mold had formed on the surface of the wild fermented one.
In doing a bit of digging online, I'm somewhat encouraged to see people saying that mold on cider is very obviously mold - usually blue, green or black and fuzzy. These almost look more like calcium deposits or something. I think they may be what's referred to as 'film yeast', but I'm predominately a beer brewer and sanitise *everything* religiously, so haven't come across this before. I just thought I could be a little more laissez-faire with cider for some reason.
I've attached pictures. Very curious to know what people reckon it is and whether it is potentially harmful. My other half is a scientist, so I have access to microscopes but wouldn't have a clue what to look for!
Cheers.
