Slightly Acidic brew.

Brewing my first batch of Cider, and tasting some of my Gravity test samples. The cider is coming out pretty acidic, it isn't affecting the flavor, just i can taste the acidity.

I have heard about adding Calcium Carbonate before fermentation to lower acidity, and Potassium Bicarbonate post fermentation for the same effect. Has anyone had any experience using either (specifically that latter since I am towards the end of fermentation )

I haven't heard of either being used but it sounds like a good idea, assuming the resulting reaction doesn't create any off-flavours.

I usually buy fresh cider or apple juice that hasn't had any vitamin C (ascorbic acid) added to it in order to avoid this problem. Back-sweetening the cider also helps to mask the flavour, which can be done with Splenda if you're naturally carbing it. Although my preferred method is to add a can of frozen apple juice concentrate to the cider after transferring it to a keg.

A malolactic fermentation is the traditional way to reduce the acidity in cider. You can pitch an mlf culture or just keep the camden tablet (so2) level low and wait for it to happen naturally in secondary. It makes quite a difference in the acidity. If you reduce the acidity now and a natural mlf happens it may taste very flabby.

I went with the Potassium Bicarbonate in the secondary. Added 3tsp for 5 gallons (6grams/tsp), and 3.4 grams/gallon reduce acidity 1%.

We will see how it turns out.

The malic acid in cider can taste quite sour, but low ph is not normally a problem in cider. The ph helps determine the keeping qualities; high ph is better for spoilage organisms so it is not usually advisable to raise the ph of cider, however if it tastes better to you it is ok to experiment.

My cider tasted very acidic when I was measuring the SG after a few weeks. I have lete it sit another month and it has smoothed out very nicely on it's own. I was afraid that I had a carboy of vinegar but now it is like very dry white wine. Give it time.

If cider conditions for 2-3 months in secondary, do i need to add yeast. It's been about 1.5 months and has also smoothed out nicely...