Beginner's luck?

ok I dont know if this is going to turn out or not, but here is what I did, I put 3 gallons of apple juice, 4 cans of conncentrate, and 2lbs of cane sugar into my fermenter, and then added the yeast. its been bubbling like a crazy man for over a week, I was going to rack it into a second fermenter later this week, but I wanted to add some flavoring to it, maybe some cinn, can anyone give me an idea if im on the right track?

Don't rack to secondary until the juice appears to stop bubbling (or the specific gravity becomes stable). I wouldn't use any spices, but that's just me.

If you do decide to use spices don't use the ground/powdered form, use the whole form; cinnamon stick, whole clove, whole allspice, etc... And remember: a little spice goes a long way. This is going to be some high alcohol stuff & will need to age out, spices or no. Regards, GF.

add stick cinnamon but not too much. I usually put in (2) two inch sections. You can always add to it later but you can't take it out.

I was wanting to add some Brown Suggar is it ok to put that in the secondary?

Remember that the cider will be very dry. Not a sweet apple cinnamon flavor, but like cinnamon added to a dry white wine. The brown sugar is ok to add but it will ake it drier, less appley, and take much longer to age. If that much percentage of any brew is refined sugar it will taste "funky" unless aged for at least a year, IMO.

You could wait 'till fermentation is done and add some campden and sorbate ($5 total) then backsweeten a few days later with brown sugar, I think that would be awesome, probably more along the lines of what you want.

ok im a beginer so can you explain backsweetening?

Back sweetening is when you add sugars after fermentation is over and halted with an additive so it doesn't take off again.

gratus fermentatio said:

If you do decide to use spices don't use the ground/powdered form, use the whole form; cinnamon stick, whole clove, whole allspice, etc... And remember: a little spice goes a long way. This is going to be some high alcohol stuff & will need to age out, spices or no. Regards, GF.

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christ almighty... High alchohol indeed - thats two times more added fermentables than I put in my standard 5 gallon batch...
and my stuff will settle your affairs with 2 pints!!

hope you have a healthy liver

That sounds like a drink for sipping! Perhaps you should add some fortifying spirit to bring it up to 18% abv then you can backsweeten and spice it as much as you want.
I prefer a cider you can drink in big glasses, much more refreshing.

I want it to be as strong as I can, so help me out you guys, im open for any input

I want it to be strong so any advice I can get would be great, please fill me in

My second batch of cider I ever made I used ground spices...tasted great before ferment. That was a BIG mistake. I think I'll need to let it age for about 5 more years before I try it again. Very overpowering and tastes....well.....its crapy!

joentuff said:

I want it to be strong so any advice I can get would be great, please fill me in

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The higher the ABV (Alcohol By Volume), the longer it's going to take to age. It'll likely taste like fuel until it's aged out. Once you get over about 10% you're into wine territory. High ABV apple wine is going to taste significantly different from 8% ABV apfelwein. You can add whatever you want & make it 20% ABV if you want, but the question is: will it taste good? I've got a couple of cysers that are over 18% ABV & they've been aging for about a year now, and I don't expect them to be drinkable for at least another year, maybe two. Regards, GF.

I'm simply backing up Gratis's observations -

"strong" is not always synonomous with "good". generally the goal here is to make a beverage that tastes great - AND provides a healthy alchohol kick.

the higher the alchohol content, the longer it has to age to mellow out the flavors - if you really want to get an apple flavor rip going - try making apple infused vodka... or pour yourself an apple martini...

trust me - 8-10 percent cider/apfelwien is plenty strong - almost dangerously so... I'm a 200 pound man with decent tolerance, and 3 pints of my apfelwien will put me on the floor. when drinking commercial brews - it takes 6 pints of Widmer Hefewizen to do that to me.
I've given many a pint to many a "hard drinker" and all report back that it "does the job" plus it tastes great.

if your goal is to get smashed in as little time as possible - stick to hard liquor. mixed drinks will taste better than an "over the top" high gravity hootch - and do the same thing.

remember the idea of homebrew is to make something that tastes better, is better for you, and reflects your personal tastes better than a commercial brew... not to power your lawmower.

you know I want to thank you guys so much for your input, its funny how us beginers loose track of the destination. again I thank you guys for your help

put with brown sugar, I think that would be awesome, probably more along the lines of what you want.

I agree that going over 8% ABV extends the time for tasting halfway good way out there. If you want to drink it sometime this year I would not add any more sugars.
I also strongly agree that spices are not needed, and if you feel the urge, less is really more. But I would recommend against it for your first batch, give it a few more weeks, bottle or keg, wait another month and you will have some good cider. Really, going for the high octane stuff takes a long time to age and the last one I made I had to renamed to my "brain dead" cider. It tasted good, too good and the next day I was usually useless.
Best of luck, and remember to start with the basics, then when your drinking it think of "What if the next one..."