Low temperature cider ferment

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

I put a MYO dark berry cider on last Saturday. Its bubbling away nicely in the self build fermentation chamber in the shed and there's a definite smell of sulphur in the air however, due to there being about 8 inches of snow on and around the shed the 40w heater is struggling to maintain temperatures between 16.5 °c and 19.8°C (measured from within the thermowell using an Inkbird temperature controller probe).

What impact will this have on the fermentation process if any? As I say, it sounds pretty active!

 

[johncrobinson]

Well if it is cold it will ferment slower,!!

However i have lots of old books on cider which RECOMMEND a long slow cool fermentation for top quality.

Some cider yeasts do produce a sulphur smell naturally.However it seems to dissipate totally from the finished cider.

See you have got one of those fermentasaurus things
I would love one,Alas the budget the budget

 

[chthon]

I'm with @johncrobinson . I visited a cidrerie in Normandy, they wait until winter to press their fruit and start fermenting it. Of course their fermentation tanks are bigger, but I didn't see any heating or cooling installed.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Thanks for the responses both. That's encouraging to hear.

The cider kit brew is supposed to be in there for just 1 week but I'll give it another week before taking a gravity sample.

That's my first brew in the fermentasaurus @johncrobinson and I'm not using pressure this time round as I haven't got a spunding valve. I picked it up from brew2bottle. Its £109.25 down from £124.95. I also managed to get another 5% off so £104 all in.

I've a couple of lower rated pressure release valves winging their way from Australia as we speak. When they arrive I'm going to do a coopers lager kit in there under pressure.

Thanks for the advice both