What Did I Do Wrong?

just took a sample of my very first cider ever, and it tasted like horse poop. it was flat, had NO apple flavor left at all, but it didn't smell bad. i think i might have a contaminated batch. any advice from the veterans? all i put in it was 4 gallons of unfiltered, organic, pure apple cider, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. i used a yeast starter from wyeast cider. i got a good enough primary, racked, and let it sit for about 3-4 months. this is the first time i even touched the carboy to take a sample. HELP?!!!?

I can only address the flat cider problem. Your cider will be flat until you prime and bottle it or force carbonate it.

The apple flavor being gone I really don't have enough experience with it to comment.

Flyerman said:

just took a sample of my very first cider ever, and it tasted like horse poop. it was flat, had NO apple flavor left at all, but it didn't smell bad.

Click to expand...

Explain the 'horse poop' taste better - And what ciders have you been drinking to compare it to?

Road Apple Cider, I just don't think it would sell.

Is it just very dry? That cider yeast will eat a lot of sugar before it goes dormant. Could it be a combination of that and it not being carbonated that's throughing you off.

I'm just saying that what tastes like a fine cider to someone else might not meet your criteria of a good cider. Could it just not be your style? I know the first time I tried an IPA I couldn't hardly stand it, now I'm drinking it like its going out of style.

david_42 said:

Road Apple Cider, I just don't think it would sell.

Click to expand...

Not in my neighborhood...

Not to be confused with Apple Road Cider...

it's not really dry at all, it just has almost no taste at all. no apple taste, no yeasty taste, just very very bland. and flat. should i have used a diferent kind of juice, not use unfiltered organic cider? i'm comparing it to some cider a brew friend of mine made a while back. hers was very clear, almost a sparkling cider, a little too much carbonation for my taste, just a hint of dryness, and not too sweet at all. i don't know what kind of juice she used. see above for all my ingredients. one of the biggest mistakes i know i made with this, was i orgot to write down any notes at all while making it. i know, very stupid. i have a few spiral notebooks filled with homebrewed beer recipes and notes, but this is the first cider i have attempted. i also made one sweet mead, which turned out to be incredible. don't know what i did wrong with this cider though. anyone?

Flyerman said:

...almost a sparkling cider,...don't know what i did wrong with this cider though. anyone?

Click to expand...

Per the steps you wrote up above (and a previous post) you will not get any carbonation by racking to secondary because the airlock will let any carbonation that happens dissipate. You need to bottle or keg the brew to get it to carbonate.

Try chilling your cider. That can bring out flavor.

If you could, describe what flavors there are in what you have. While it might not be meeting your expectations, it seems unlikely that there is no flavor---if you can identify the flavors that are there then some of these folks might be able to tell you what produces those flavors.

Just a thought, but whenever I use cinnamon, honey, or dark brown sugar the batch tastes like crap. In my opinion, simple is better. Apple juice, sugar, and yeast.

raynor said:

Just a thought, but whenever I use cinnamon, honey, or dark brown sugar the batch tastes like crap. In my opinion, simple is better. Apple juice, sugar, and yeast.

Click to expand...

I have to agree - the first list of ingredients sounds like a recipe for apple strudel not cider!

Flyerman said:

it's not really dry at all, it just has almost no taste at all. no apple taste, no yeasty taste, just very very bland.

Click to expand...

The blandness of the apple flavour may well be down to the variety of apple pulped for the juice - Did it state what type of apples had been used? They were probably plain 'eating' varieties that can lose a lot of flavour when used in a 'hard cider'.

I dont think that you did anything wrong.

Give it some more time.

Prime and condition.... I bet you'll like it then.

My first batch tasted like crap when racking to secondary. Heck it tasted like crap (but not as bad) before bottling. The more it conditioned, the better it tasted... everyone ended up loving it.

Good luck