first hard cider taste like crap, Help

Just tried to make my first cider. Just wraked it after a week of ferminting and it tast and smells like crap. I used foodlion brand100% apple juice from concentrate no preserves, yeast, suger, added dripping from boiled raisins. It was bubbling like wild and stopped about a day ago. I sanitized. My stuff. What happened? Will it get better in another week or two? Do i need better apple juice?

What kind of yeast did you use and what temp has it been fermenting at?

Patience my friend. Let it age and it will change dramatically.

Wait 3 weeks then back sweeten with 2 cans of juice per 5 gallons. It will be "refreshing "

I used a lalvin brand it suggested to me by the guy at the brew store. I tested the potential alc. Went from 10% last week to 0% today.

Sounds like it's doing it's thing then. Gonna taste like crap for a while. Leave it alone now.

As the others have stated, it needs some age. I think that if you are truly at 10% ABV then you are in apple wine territory and not just cider. It's probably going to need more aging than normal to mellow out the heat of the high alcohol.

In my experience, by taking the final gravity to 1.000 or below, you've essentially stripped a lot of apple flavor from the store bought juice. That is probably contributing to the flavor you are tasting right now. That too should come back around with at least a month of aging.

Cool thanks!!!!! I did get a gravity reading of about .996. So the almost sour taste Will go away in a month!!! And a good back end add Will help as well. Should i put it in bottles or just leave it wraked in the1 gal. Jars it is in with an air lick on them?
I tell you what i just joined this form the other day and i am already loving it!!

My cider that I brewed back in September is just starting to come into its own. It is around 11%, and the fusel alcohols are just now falling out.

It has a champagne-like effervescence and retains much of the tart character of the fresh cider I used. All in all, I'm happy with it, and it keeps getting better with age.

I have some from Oct and like DGibb said its just now turning in to cider, I would stuff it in a corner and forget about it for 6 months thatll help.

Webby

helix6789 said:

I used a lalvin brand it suggested to me by the guy at the brew store. I tested the potential alc. Went from 10% last week to 0% today.

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what temp are you brewing at? 10% potential alc is about SG=.085, and a drop of 85 points in 1 week is extremely fast, leads me to believe you temp is too high producing to many fusel alcohols.

high temp fermentation is faster but it strips away apple flavor and imparts bad flavors. it takes my cider around 30 days to just drop 45 points.

also if you ferment you cider out dry it takes several months to mellow out and start to taste good, especially with that high of a abv, i would let it sit for close to a year before drinking. what i do is stop fermentation at around .010 which cuts aging time down to a month or so. adding a few cans of apple concentrate is a grate way to add some apple flavor as well.

Thanks everyone i just did a check on them and they are smelling way better in only 3weeks extra!!! I am going to push it in a corner. Can't wait!!!! One last thing how long do you need to wait after adding suger when bottling to get it carbinated?

Mine is usually pretty carbonated after 2 or 3 weeks. Check it often to make sure you aren't making bottle bombs.