I screwed something up...

... and can't figure out what.

I'm new to brewing and new to cider making. This is currently my 3rd project attempt. I apologize in advance if I am giving to much info but better too much then too little.

Current project consists of 12 one gallon batches of cider as a test of sweeteners and yeasts. We are using a Nottingham Ale yeast on 6 of the gallons and a Champane yeast on the other six. 2 gallons we pressed out of Pink Lady and Braeburn apples and left unsweetened. The other 10 were gallons of organic apple cider from Sprouts and two of each were sweetened with cane sugar, light brown sugar, sugar in the raw, honey and the final 2 left unsweetened as a control. We had to use campten tablets on the 2 gallons of fresh juice due to time schedule forcing us to put off pitching yeast until the next day.

The yeast propagated well and we were seeing decent bubbling in the airlocks. After 11 days the two fresh squeezed gallons had become very clear, and their specific gravity were near 1.002. The taste on them is fairly bitter and a bit bland. The other 10 gallons are progressing well it is only those two that have gone bad.

Any thoughts on where we went wrong? Thank you in advance.

I don't think that they've gone bad as much as they haven't matured/mellowed. All indications that I get from reading the forum is: Ferment it. If it tastes "not great" right after ferment, then bottle/bulk age. After a couple MONTHS, try another taste. What an improvement! Wait ANOTHER couple months. Taste. Much better. Wait, again, a couple months. Taste. Kick yourself for *not starting additinal batches each month*.

I haven't gotten to the second and third stage yet, but I'm ready and willing.

I think those 2 gallons haven't "gone bad," so much as they're about done fermenting. They had less sugars, so they finished up sooner than the rest. Unsweetened juice does tend to be a bit bland, but should require less time to age as it has a lower ABV than the sweetened juice will. Higher ABV = longer aging time. Like Joesponge said: just give it some time & it'll get better. Regards, GF.

JoeSponge said:

I don't think that they've gone bad as much as they haven't matured/mellowed. All indications that I get from reading the forum is: Ferment it. If it tastes "not great" right after ferment, then bottle/bulk age. After a couple MONTHS, try another taste. What an improvement! Wait ANOTHER couple months. Taste. Much better. Wait, again, a couple months. Taste. Kick yourself for *not starting additinal batches each month*.

I haven't gotten to the second and third stage yet, but I'm ready and willing.

Click to expand...

You know, that sums things up nicely.

Thank god... I thought we had just screwed something up. Good to know all we have to do is bottle and wait.