Cider not bitter enough - What should I add to it?

Hi all.

I fermented some store-bought apple juice, and it came out not bitter enough. A high level of sourness, but no bitterness to speak of. I added some Angostura bitters to a glass of it which improved the flavor quite a bit. But it tastes wrong. Somewhat medicinal. I was thinking of adding hops, but I am by far not a fan of hopped cider. What type of bitters should I add to it?

Thanks.

I've seen recipes including black tea, which would add some bitterness. Whatever you do, I think you're on the right track doing a test sample first.

one word 'tannin'

can you add tannin at the end of fermentation? end of secondary?

Add a few days prior to bottling, be sure to do a bench trial(s) so you don't take it too far.

Its probably not much help at this stage but crab apple juice is a good way to add tannin. You can test for tannin by biting into the crab, if it leaves your mouth feeling furry it has tannin. Let the crab apples ripen like ordinary apples and a little of the juice can add a lot of interest to cider. Some wildling apples also have tannin.

gregbathurst said:

Its probably not much help at this stage but crab apple juice is a good way to add tannin. You can test for tannin by biting into the crab, if it leaves your mouth feeling furry it has tannin. Let the crab apples ripen like ordinary apples and a little of the juice can add a lot of interest to cider. Some wildling apples also have tannin.

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Apparently, you may get some extra bitterness from apples with apple scab. https://elizapples.com/tag/tannin/

Instead of paying for a bag of tea, I collected some fallen red oak leaves and boiled them to get the tannins out, then added it to a half gallon batch of cider, compensating with extra sugar. When it is done, I'll compare it to another batch I started a few days later.

If it's store-bought juice, then it is quite possible that it is lacking in acid, as well as tannins. You can add a bit of winemaker's acid blend to increase the "sharpness" of the juice. Both acid blend and grape tannins available at any homebrew store can be made into "teas" then dosed to the cider in measured amounts.

I've added rowanberries to the must with good results. If you use apple juice I would recommend putting the rowanberries in the freezer a couple of times (freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw) to mellow the acid before mushing up the berries and adding them to the juice. The freeze-thaw trick is adviceable even if you make your own must. Here in the north of Sweden that occurs naturally by a couple of nights with frost.

You can use horehound, marrubium vulgare for bitterness. It has been used in beer and softdrinks. I have plenty growing on my farm, it's a weed here and very easy to grow. It gives bitterness but not much else. You can buy dried horehound, just make a tea in hot water and add it to cider.

I found that a bit of malic acid and aging with a French oak spiral, medium char, gave me the "bite" that was lacking in off the shelf apple juice. I've experimented with a few different things but personally prefer to keep it simple and as close to fermenting an apple in a barrel as possible.

ten80 said:

If it's store-bought juice, then it is quite possible that it is lacking in acid, as well as tannins. You can add a bit of winemaker's acid blend to increase the "sharpness" of the juice. Both acid blend and grape tannins available at any homebrew store can be made into "teas" then dosed to the cider in measured amounts.

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Why not just use straight malic acid, since it is available?

wasully said:

Why not just use straight malic acid, since it is available?

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you can do that, but malic acid is fairly "sharp" tasting, so in retrospect, I'd add lactic acid which has a "softer" acidity. Acid blend contains malic, citric, and tartaric acid. Might as well just use lactic since that is the end-product of malo-lactic fermentation, which is generally considered to have a beneficial impact on ciders by softening the acidity.

Personally I've found that tea works. No noticable tea flavor, but bitterness and tannin effect enhanced.
Black and green tea both work well. I've used lipton, tetley, and a few varieties of green tea.
I use 1-2 bags per gallon, steep twice as long in as little water as I'm comfortable with, once cooled add it to the cider. It's best to add it early, but it can also be added at kegging time.
Lime juice is also suggested for both acid and bitterness, there seem to be a few ideas on when is best to add the lime juice. I've added it at the start with good results but I found it a little too sour for me. Like the OP, I found that my basic cider is just about the perfect level of acid for me.

ten80 said:

you can do that, but malic acid is fairly "sharp" tasting, so in retrospect, I'd add lactic acid which has a "softer" acidity. Acid blend contains malic, citric, and tartaric acid. Might as well just use lactic since that is the end-product of malo-lactic fermentation, which is generally considered to have a beneficial impact on ciders by softening the acidity.

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Not a scientist but... I believe one of the other important benefits of malic to lactic conversion is the production of diacetyl, the "buttery" compound. The joy, of course, is experimenting to suit one's own taste. Never underestimate the value of time, and maybe a bit of oak, on the final product.