HELP HELP HELP!! Is my first batch gone wrong

Hi,

I am new to home brewing and i think my first batch has gone wrong.

I bought a brewbuddy cider kit which contained the apple concentrate, yeast & nutrients.

I fully sterlised my fermentation bucket and followed instructions for stage 1. After 10 days i syphoned the brew into my king keg, added the remaining recommended sugar and left for 1 month. I sampled a bit today bit it smells quite odd nothing like cider would smell. It looks very clear and tastes quite watery with a bitter taste that leaves your mouth very dry.

Have i done something wrong as i cant believe it should be tasting like this, i am very disappointed as was looking forward to a nice glass of homebrew. Is there anything that can be done to turn the brew around like adding more sugar and leaving for a few more weeks, or is it to late and i should cut my losses and start again.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Just give it time, don't add more sugar, that will only make it drier and take longer. Next time try just juice and beer yeast, it will be less dry.

how much time do you think it needs

did you take any mesurements?

did you use a hydrometer?

are you sure it fermented?

-Jason

pretty sure, it had settled down took sg measurement and good to go according to instructions

4-6 months is about right for a starting gravity of 1.060 or less. Add another month for every 10 point.

The kit may have used a strain of yeast that doesn't leave much residual sweetness, even after adding more sugar. What was the FG?

I used Hefeweizen yeast and apple juice with no additional sugar; tastes pretty good after 1 month in primary and another in secondary!

The taste expectations on a cider are often inaccurate. Many people enjoy a fruity/sweet cider at the pub or at the store. Pretty much all homebrewed cider, however, (unless you're able to kill the yeast, backsweeten, force carb in a keg, and then bottle) is dry to one degree or another. The yeast will continue to eat all of the available sugar to it so there is almost none left for your tastebuds.

It could be that your cider tastes exactly how it's supposed to taste, but your tastebuds are used to a different type of cider so it tastes off.

Tell me to go stuff it if you actually like dry cider and I'm way off base. ;-)

If you want to make a great cider, please, please, please check out https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/

From the day you start to the day you take your first drink from a bottle, you're in and out in 5-6 weeks tops. And as you can tell from how many views and responses that thread has, it's everybody's favorite.

i do like a nice sweet fruity cider and i am not expecting it to be as good as that. But there is no hint of apple flavour at all. The brewbuddy kit said be ready in 1 month

is it possible to put some more apple concentrate in the keg and leave for a few more weeks. What is the likely outcome if i do this.

I just took a hydro reading from a batch of cider that has been fermenting for a month now and the taste gagged me. No worries though, come October it's gonna be awesom! Calling it my little Trick or treat friend.

If your cider is that young and it was close to good then you are good to go.

The apple flavor comes back... you just need to give it time. A lot of time, like at LEAST another month.