[jayb151]

Hey all,
I have a quick question. A friend drank three of my ciders and claims that it caused her to shit her pants. It was one normal cider and two peach ciders made with Oregon puree. I am under the assumption that nothing like that could live in a fermented liquid.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this??

[psolio]

What's the %ABV? Has anyone else that drank those suffered? She could have eaten something bad 24-48 hours before the shits that caused them.

[jayb151]

The ABV was pretty standard, about 5% IIRC. People have had them before, but not for a while. I made 10 Gals of cider and split half into different flavors. They just finished the standard cider but now are starting on the fruit ciders. I'm still thinking it wasn't the cider but am just wondering about other's oppinions.

Thanks!

[psolio]

I'm pretty sure there are things that can live in 5% and let it go bad; however, I always am suspicious of people claiming the last thing they ate/drank as the cause of their issues. It takes 1-2 days for your body to process foods and incubate nasties.

Try drinking a pint and see!

[ScottS]

Did she drink a lot of lees? Lees give me the squirts, and quickly.

[fatbloke]

5% ABV is like a low alcohol cider or just a "normal" (ish) beer here.

It's one of the reasons that beers and ciders are made for reasonably quick consumption after manufacture. There's not enough alcohol in them to last very long. Yes they do go bad/deteriorate.

I think you'd find that something has to be something like at least 10% alcohol before it offers long term protection/preservative type qualities.

So, I'd suggest that it's possible, but it's also more likely that your friend got the shits somewhere else.

If an environmental health officer came into most of our houses, one inspection of the kitchen would qualify you for an immediate closure notice. We all like to think that we keep our places clean etc, but invariably you'll find fridges at the wrong temperature, poorly cooked meats and other "sensitive" items and a host of other potential contaminants. Yet we live with these, quite healthily, day in day out. Someone else might visit and bingo, they get a dose of the shits.......

That said, if the ciders taste Ok then they're probably fine. You can usually tell by smell or taste if they're going off.

[jayb151]

Yea, I'm pretty sure the cider is safe, so she might have gotten alot of the lees. I actually don't drink the ciders since I have too much beer laying around. I might have to drink a few tonight just to prove her wrong...I'll get back to you guys later, and if I don't you'll know it's because I died of epic diarrhea.

[43hertz]

How much residual sugar?

My wife reacts the same way when she drinks straight apple juice. All that sugar pulls lots of water out of her system and dumps it into her colon.

[jayb151]

43hertz, on 04 June 2010 - 03:31 PM, said:

How much residual sugar?

My wife reacts the same way when she drinks straight apple juice. All that sugar pulls lots of water out of her system and dumps it into her colon.

Oh, sorry. I don't check the wine forum too often. That cider fermented all the way down and finished some where under 1.0. I don't know how to bottle condition and back sweeten.

[zymot]

Plain old fresh press cider can give me the hershey squirts. I think cider is a good source of fiber.

Add to that laxative affects of yeast and she might have gotten a good natural colon rinse.

I am pretty sure it was all natural and doubt any of was because of some sort of poison.

[jayb151]

You're probably right. It was fresh pressed from a local farm.

[davelew]

jayb151, on 04 March 2010 - 08:41 PM, said:

I am under the assumption that nothing like that could live in a fermented liquid.

Yeast evolved to attack drops of fruit juice from rotting fruit, and immediately claim that fruit juice for the yeast. The method of claiming was to make alcohol and lower the pH, so that no other microbes could eat the yeast's food. The 5% abv seems low to us, but in the natural world that's really high, something that doesn't occur without yeast. Not many microbes can get past even 5% abv and the pH of 3 or 4 in a fermented beverage.

Yeast's self defense mechanism isn't perfect. There are a few microbes that can live in fermented beer or cider, but all the ones I know of smell and taste like raw sewage. I doubt that your lady friend got sick from your cider if it tasted good enough for her to drink three.

On the other hand, natural fiber from the apples and that natural laxative effect of yeast could have had an affect on her, especially if she didn't normally get a lot of fiber in her diet.

[japhmi]

I get the squirts from plain ol' apple juice, I ferment it to make it drinkable for me

[robsauce]

japhmi, on 30 July 2010 - 09:01 AM, said:

I get the squirts from plain ol' apple juice, I ferment it to make it drinkable for me

my day is now complete. thanks for sharing

[43hertz]

japhmi, on 30 July 2010 - 10:01 AM, said:

I get the squirts from plain ol' apple juice, I ferment it to make it drinkable for me

That's the same thing I'm talking about with my wife.

If she drinks it straight, it's splattershat. Fermented to where it removes some sugar it's fine.

I think with saltwater they call that edema, but I don't know if the terminology is the same with excess sugar.

You'd probably have to look up edema to suss the difference.