Cider with a citrus/acidic spin or other successful additions---any great ideas?

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Fanoffermentation

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I'm new to the forum, relatively new to ciders, not new to brewing. My query, has anyone had good success with a cider using an adjunct flavoring.....citrus (orange,lemon) or possibly caramel, maybe cinnamon...this are some compatible ones that come to my mind. When I'm thinking of orange for example I'm thinking orange zest for the flavor perhaps instead of simple juice. I love an acidic brew, and imagine I'd need to tweak the acid up a notch if I used zest. However, when could you add zest-in the boil/pasteurization vs the primary vs secondary...etc. Cinnamon I have never used and wonder what amounts per gallon has not been overpowering for people. I know there are a pile of questions, but Im hoping to fine tune this idea for a dry flavorful brew I'd like to let mature in bulk till fall. Thanks all!
 
Take a look in the recipe database,here, and use the search bar up the top right of the screen, there's more information that you can poke a stick at!
 
Cidermaking is quite different to beer brewing. The main acid in cider is malic acid, which gives a sour flavour (think sour candy) but bacteria can convert this to lactic acid, which is much less sour. If you want to keep the malic you need to add so2 according to the pH. It is also useful to do titratable acid measurements (TA) which measures grams/litre of acid. The amount of acid in apples is very variable, from 0.2 to 2.0 g/L. Other factors like sweetness, tannin and carbonation can change your perception of acidity. Aiming for a sour cider is not very common.
 
don't do a boil just because it's going into a carboy- it's still not beer
some otherwise bland mass produced ciders leave it semi-sweet and then add malic acid for the sweet&sour combo, you could add ma at the finish to make it more... puckery
 
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