hi guys im new to brewing this is my second apple cider brew the first one I did was a cider kit and I followed the instructions, it was a apple concentrate with water and worked out fine just not unuf apple flavour or sweetness, this time i used a kit aswell but I replaced some of the water with apple juice and used yeast nutrient its bubbling away like crazy but there is a pungent smell but its not an off smell like rotten eggs but does smell strange maybe a slight sulphur smell not sure, the first batch I did didn’t smell at all, is it because I used apple juice? and is the gas poisonous? because I have it in my room, is it OK any help would be appreciated
A lot of ciders put out sulphur rotten egg during fermentation, it should clean up after a couple weeks you should be fine
You may already know this, most store bought juices contain sodium benzoate and potassium sulfate
which are preservatives, but also they are yeast killers. I buy from health food stores and purchase juices that are all natural without those ingredients.
[quote=“Old Guy”]You may already know this, most store bought juices contain sodium benzoate and potassium sulfate
which are preservatives, but also they are yeast killers. I buy from health food stores and purchase juices that are all natural without those ingredients.[/quote]
you can get plenty of cider without preservatives to ferment cider at big box stores
Adding extra apple juice or concentrate will increase the alcohol content, but I doubt it’ll give you the apple flavor or sweetness you’re looking for. If you want more apple flavor & sweetness you can stabilize and backsweeten with AJ or AJC.
I’ve found that the unpleasant aromas during ferementation have just as much to do with the particular yeast strain as they do with anything else. The champagne yeasts seem to give off little or no unpleasant aromas at all. The white wine/Chardonnay yeasts are a mixed bag. The unpleasant aromas, at least for me, usually show up a few days into fermentation. Most resolve themselves, but I’ve had a couple that were hopelessly tainted.
As for the store-bought juice/concentrate. It’s always wise to check the label. The grape juices almost always have benzoate. However, virtually all of the store-bought AJ/AJC that I’ve found only use ascorbic acid (vitamin C) … which won’t bother the yeast. In fact, many instant yeast products will often include ascorbic acid.
It could be normal. I’ve smelled sulphur rotten eggs too to be fair but everything turned out to be fine, with respect to this topic, I think this article can help http://www.vipcubancigars.com/blog/how- … -appeared/
