I recently drank a bottle of my first cider made in 12/13/15 and next day and today I've got chills and gas pain like you wouldn't believe. Can't tell if it was cider, or other food or what. Just had surgery tues and that seems to be healing fine yet I feel sick like this. Straight up gas pain that won't relieve and sick-ish feeling. Now I'm concerned my damn cider is bad. How do you know??
Cider gone bad?
- Thread starter PTS_35
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Albionwood
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2013
- Messages
- 304
- Reaction score
- 134
What did it taste like? If you fermented it out, dry cider is inhospitable to pathogens, so it's doubtful that caused your symptoms. If you stopped fermentation with some fruit sugars left, that can give you gas.
eta: If you just had surgery, they probably gave you antibiotics. That will mess up your intestinal flora, so you won't digest anything properly.
eta: If you just had surgery, they probably gave you antibiotics. That will mess up your intestinal flora, so you won't digest anything properly.
Yep fermented out dry. I tasted it at 2 wks old and again now at 4 months; to track progress. As far as taste it's seems to have gotten better, carbed up nice too. Really well actually. Just trying to figure it out. How do you know if something like this is spoiled somehow. I'm making beer and wine too so now I'm curious. Of course the wine has fermented out as well..
Are or were you on anti-biotics for the surgery? and how long did you let your cider sit since it finished fermenting?
You would have noticed bad cider before taking the first sip, just by the smell. And if you were able to drink it without wanting to spit it out then it's highly unlikely there's anything wrong with it.
I have a buddy who won't drink cider unless he's close to a bathroom - it acts as a laxative for him. Some people just react that way. But if you've had cider before without any reactions, then I'd chalk it up to coincidence.
Hope you feel better.
BeeDee, yeah they gave me an IV full prior to surgery. Trying the track what I ate and pills I took after. Something messed me up. With chills and body ache I believed it to be bad food. Idk. We'll see in June when I taste it age. See if I get cramps. In total the cider sat for 2 months prior to bottling. 1 month primary, 1 month secondary
Albionwood
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2013
- Messages
- 304
- Reaction score
- 134
If it tastes good, it pretty much can't have "gone bad." Cider has a naturally low pH, even before fermentation, and that combined with the alcohol makes it inhospitable for pathogens. Fermentation has been shown to achieve "five-nines" (99.999%) destruction of E. coli in apple juice, for example. So, rest easy on that one - you aren't getting a nasty bug from your cider. (When cider does go bad, it usually becomes vinegar, which is still good for you!)
However, it is still possible that it is causing your intestinal problem. Antibiotics take out the good and the bad alike, so your gut is defenceless against things that normally would not bother you at all. Yeast, for example - normally they have to compete with the bacteria in your gut, but now they can proliferate if you also eat something sugary. You can also have a problem digesting things that are normally broken down by gut flora, so foods you would ordinarily eat without any trouble will cause cramping and gassiness because the right bacteria are not there to help.
I'm not sure what it is in cider that gives some people gas, but it is a well-documented phenomenon. Perry is much worse, and the culprit there is sorbitol, a refractory sugar.
But none of those things should have given you chills and aches. You probably should go ask your doctor about that. There is a significant risk of opportunistic infections after surgery, especially after a strong dose of antibiotics. (This is how people get C-diff, which can kill you.)
However, it is still possible that it is causing your intestinal problem. Antibiotics take out the good and the bad alike, so your gut is defenceless against things that normally would not bother you at all. Yeast, for example - normally they have to compete with the bacteria in your gut, but now they can proliferate if you also eat something sugary. You can also have a problem digesting things that are normally broken down by gut flora, so foods you would ordinarily eat without any trouble will cause cramping and gassiness because the right bacteria are not there to help.
I'm not sure what it is in cider that gives some people gas, but it is a well-documented phenomenon. Perry is much worse, and the culprit there is sorbitol, a refractory sugar.
But none of those things should have given you chills and aches. You probably should go ask your doctor about that. There is a significant risk of opportunistic infections after surgery, especially after a strong dose of antibiotics. (This is how people get C-diff, which can kill you.)
MindenMan
Well-Known Member
If we go back 100 plus years or so, the people that drank cider because water was unsafe seemed to have survived well enough... Actually there are no known human pathogens that survive in cider or beer. I agree your system was probably upside down due to the medications and side effects of recent surgery.
bullsi1911
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2015
- Messages
- 26
- Reaction score
- 3
After a recent sickness, I was put on an antibiotic that would supposedly make you very sick if you consumed alcohol with it. Check the warnings on your meds. See if one has an alcohol warning
Shoot, didn't even think about it. Who knows what all I was given. Pain med, then antibiotic, then benedryl bc I was mild reaction, and who knows post surgery. Pretty sure they hit you with more pain meds and anti nausea bc of anesthesia. Never thought...
