Hard cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented apple juice. Its popularity has grown rapidly since the early 2000s and is expected to grow to a billion-dollar industry by 2022. However, unlike beer and wine, there are few popular resources and little scholarly research on the sensory attributes of ciders and how consumers perceive them. Thus, the purpose of this study was to categorize and describe the sensory and visual product attributes of ciders made in Virginia, USA using a rapid sensory evaluation method with untrained panelists known as a free sorting task. Specifically, panelists (N=65) first evaluated, sorted into groups, and described ciders (K=18). Then panelists (N=63) sorted photo sheets of cider labels and packaging according to how they expected the products would taste and at what occasion they would be most inclined to drink each cider. The data were analyzed with DISTATIS to produce compromise similarity maps, with bootstrapped confidence intervals to identify significant differences between products. Classical text analysis was used to evaluate the sensory descriptions used by assessors during the sorting task and project terms onto the similarity map. Panelists identified and described distinct sensory styles and attributes among the ciders evaluated. Consistent patterns in what occasion panelists might consume a cider emerged, providing a first-look into how cider might be valued based on packaging and label. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Hard cider is a beverage made from fermented apple juice. Its popularity has grown rapidly since the early 2000s and is expected to grow to a billion-dollar industry by 2022. However, there are few popular resources and little scholarly research on the sensory attributes of ciders and how consumers perceive them. The purpose of this study was to categorize and describe the sensory and visual product attributes of ciders made in Virginia using sorting tasks with untrained panelists. Specifically, panelists (N=65) first evaluated, sorted into groups, and described ciders (K=18). Panelists (N=63) then sorted photo representations of cider labels and packaging according to how they expected the products would taste and at what occasion they would be most inclined to drink each cider. The data were analyzed with DISTATIS, an extension of multidimensional scaling, to produce product similarity maps with confidence intervals to identify significant differences between products. Classical text analysis was used to evaluate the sensory descriptions used by assessors during the sorting task and project terms onto the product maps. Panelists identified and described distinct sensory styles and attributes among the ciders evaluated. Consistent patterns in what occasion panelists might consume a cider emerged, providing a first look into how cider might be valued based on packaging and label. The findings act as a first step in understanding how consumers may describe and perceive hard cider and will aid in future sensory research on consumer liking, purchase intent, and acceptance of hard cider.

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), is a negative off aroma produced during yeast fermentation and is common in cider and leads to consumer rejection. H2S has a very low odor detection threshold (ODT) and is often described as "rotten egg". H2S is produced when juice is deficient in yeast nutrients, such as amino acids and yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN), which is a common problem in apples since they naturally low in nutrients. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of yeast nutrient addition to cider fermentation by adding four different nitrogen-rich supplements and evaluating the effects on H2S production, fermentation kinetics, and aroma quality during cider. Three yeast strains (M2, EC1118 and ICV OKAY), four yeast nutrients (Fermaid K, Fermaid O, Experimental Nutrient, and DAP) and single addition versus split addition of nutrient were tested. For single addition, all nutrient was added pre-fermentation and for split additions, the first addition was pre-fermentation and the second at one-third total soluble solid (TTS) depletion as measured by °Brix. Sensory evaluation was conducted on selected treatments. The greatest H2S was produced by M2 yeast strain (525 .63 ± 53.31 µg mL-1) while the least H2S on average was produced by EC1118 (118.26 ± 26.33 µg mL-1) and ICV OKAY produced an intermediate amount of H2S (209.26 ± 31.63 µg mL-1). Significant differences were observed between treatments and total H2S production within yeast strains. Yeast strain had the largest effect on H2S production. The second largest effect was yeast nutrient type. Classical text analysis of descriptions of cider aroma were evaluated and 25 attributes were chosen to describe the ciders. Check- all-that-apply (CATA), a rapid sensory technique that askes panelists, revealed that there was no clear pattern between variables tested. This work demonstrates that yeast nutrient type and yeast strain affect H2S production during cider fermentation. These findings provide a basis for improving the effectiveness of strategies used to prevent H2S production in cider fermentation. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Cider, an alcoholic beverage made from fermenting apple juice, has grown in popularity and production in the United States in recent years. With increased in production and sales there is increase demand for high quality cider, but cider is prone to sensory faults. A common fault in cider aroma includes negative off aromas know as volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). These aromas are often described as "rotten eggs", or "cabbage" and lead to consumer rejection of the product. One of the most recognized VSCs is hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which has a characteristic smell of "rotten eggs". These negative off aromas are thought to be produced during yeast fermentation under nutrient lacking conditions. Apples, depending on cultivar, ripeness, and other factors, naturally lack yeast assimilable nitrogen, vitamins, amino acids, and other nutrients needed for a successful yeast fermentation leading to off aromas. Yeast nutrients can be added to apple juice to increase nutrient availability, but little research has been focused on nutrient addition and timing of additions to prevent H2S production in cider. Most research focused on H2S production has been studied in wine must or grape juice. This knowledge may be limited when applying practices to apple juice due to differences in juice chemistry. Providing cider makers with specific scientific strategies to prevent off aromas, such as H2S, is important to the continued growth of the cider industry. This research is focused on exploring aroma quality and H2S prevention strategies in cider by evaluating how yeast nutrient addition via four exogenous nitrogen rich yeast nutrient and timing of yeast nutrient addition affect H2S production, fermentation kinetics, and consumer perception of aroma in cider fermentation.