5.5 Gallons of Apple Cider Vinegar

[JoeBeer100]

So I tried my attempt at making hard cider. I put 5.5 gallons of cider and 4 lbs of brown sugar in a bucket. I got a new oxygen wand stone and I was excited to use it. I made a fatal error when I gave it a shot of oxygen after fermentation had begun. I took a sample after 2 weeks and it tasted so bad and like vinegar. Oh well, maybe next year.

[spiderwrangler]

Yup... could always bottle it as vinegar and give it out for the holidays.

[Bugeater]

The vinegar taste is acetic acid. This is caused by acetobacter which is primarily carried by fruit flies. Somewhere along the line between pressing the apples and pitching your yeast, these nasty little critters got their little fingers on your apple juice. The acetobacter then starts turning the alcohol into vinegar. I don't think the late aeration had anything to do with it.

[spiderwrangler]

The conversion of ethanol to acetic acid by acetobacter is an aerobic reaction though, yes? And a poorly or incompletely stone 'could' have been the source of bacterial contamination... or fruitflies as you mentioned, but oxygen is still needed to create acetic.

[JoeBeer100]

The stone had been resting in a sanitizer solution, so I don't think there was any issue with a dirty stone. The oxygenation didn't help matters, I'm sure. I think it's just a sign I need to stick to beer.

[Ozwald]

But was the stone cleaned in something like PBW before the sani?

[JoeBeer100]

But was the stone cleaned in something like PBW before the sani?

It was its first use. I had just purchased it from morebeer. I shouldn't think it would need cleaning prior to sanitizing being new and all. Perhaps a wrong assumption.

[adamK]

The fine pores of the stone can cause it to be difficult for sanitizer to make it inside (at least anecdotally), so it is often suggested to boil the stone frequently to sanitize. I have gotten in the habit of throwing it into my sparge water during the mash (170-180F for an hour) or boiling it in clean H20 during the boil (when I forget to put it in the sparge water), then letting it sit in sanitizer until it is used. It is likely overkill, but it takes almost no extra work.