How Can I Lower the Acidity of my Cider?

I've made several batches of cider, all using store bought juice and they all give me pretty bad heartburn almost immediately after drinking (even a sip or two and I feel it in the back of my throat). Is there anything (other than racking on to Tums or Nexium) that would lower the acid level without horribly effecting the flavor?

I'm not sure what the pH level is, I'll need to get a test kit to really track the results, but I figured I'd ask if anyone had any ideas.

Did your cider list citric acid as an ingredient?

Pitch an MLF culture, lowers the acidity considerably, though may not be worth the expense.

I found Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast to take out a fair bit of acid. From the spec sheet: "71B also softens high acid musts by partially metabolizing malic acid (20-30%)." Malic acid is the predominant acid in apples.

I'll have to give the Lalvin 71B-1122 a shot. I've been using E-1118 and Nottingham so far, and just got a couple packs of S-04. Thanks for the info. I'll keep records of the pH and see what kind of results I get.

I'll also look into the MLF culture. I've read that I can't use it with E-1118 - which is no big deal. I'm not crazy about the results I get from the E-1118. Thanks!

If I'm not mistaken you can add something to speed up Malolactic fermentation, or just wait longer to drink it and malolactic fermentation sill start on it's own.

I use EC-1118 and mlf culture, no problems.

gregbathurst said:

I use EC-1118 and mlf culture, no problems.

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Thanks for the reply. I'll track down some mlf culture, get a pH meter and do some tests.