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novice cyser maker seeking advice on sulfur odor

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Barrel Char Wood Products
It is very common to get some sulfur odors when doing apples, however, usually it is transient, and not that strong. Having really strong odors that don't clear is a sign of undernourished yeast - and even if you gave enough nitrogen, the product you are using doesn't provide the key vitamins (like pantothenate and pyridoxine) that are needed to keep sulfur odors from being produced. For future batches, you'll want to get some yeast energizer (tannish powder) such as Fermaid K that provides these essential nutrients in addition to the nitrogen from the DAP and urea.

During a routine, well nourished apple fermentation, by the time it is done, the sulfur has usually dissipated. If your batch is really stinky now and has completed fermentation (gravity no longer dropping), it needs to be treated or you may wind up with more-complex sulfur compounds that won't go away. A splash racking is helpful, and then treating with yeast hulls sometimes helps, but more often than not, you will need to treat this with copper - racking through some copper pipe, or with a copper scrub pad, or stirring with some copper.

This should quickly eliminated the H2S and mercaptans that are causing the stink, and with age, the apple will come back.

Endeavor to persevere!

Medsen
 
Well I am on my second batch of Cyser and I am using the K1-V1116 yeast. Both batches got smelly around the First Sugar Break. I added the Fermaid K and Aerated the batches like crazy..smell went away shortly there after and didn't come back. I attributed it to the Cyser smell..lol

I would say that both my batches smelled more like a smelly fart than Sulfer..:p, but again, both went away after the Nutrient addition. I also did add the prescribed amount of DAP and FermK at the end of the Lag.

Now I didn't add any spices, so that's also something different between our two batches.

I will say that Medsen is giving good advice that he gave me once..I had a Show mead that developed a sulfer smell, Racking onto a copper tube cleared it all away...

Let us know how it comes out..
 
Somehow I got lucky with my cider.

I used WLP775 which gives off "Rancid Rhino Farts" as many have put it.

I never got a single off-smell from it.

One things I have considered, is that at one point, the temperature bulb from my fridge temp controller got into the must overnight. It's a large copper bulb so maybe that kept the copper down. Then again, copper can cause those issues if it's not needed.

*shrug* just a thought....
 
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