I have six apple trees, and have been making pressed apple juice every autumn. This year I decided to try to make cider and the results were okay, I guess. I’m wondering what I should do next year.
The batch was made from 80% antonovka, 20% winter apple, which are both tart, sour apples. 1040 on the Oecshle scale. I used Safcider TF-6, and for carbonation I added 0.5dl huvitus apple juice (1050) when bottling, which is a mealy, sweet apple with no tartness at all. Frankly disgustingly sweet as juice. All juices were pasteurized, and stored for weeks in airtight, sanitized containers prior to fermentation.
The fermentation took two weeks at 16 C, in my basement. The filled bottles were left to sit in the basement for two months.
The result was 120 liters of bone-dry, acidic and somewhat thin-tasting cider with light carbonation, with 6.5% alcohol by weight. Exactly the average of what I feared and hoped for it to taste like. Goes nice paired with something sweet to eat though.
Any suggestions on what I could try next year?
The batch was made from 80% antonovka, 20% winter apple, which are both tart, sour apples. 1040 on the Oecshle scale. I used Safcider TF-6, and for carbonation I added 0.5dl huvitus apple juice (1050) when bottling, which is a mealy, sweet apple with no tartness at all. Frankly disgustingly sweet as juice. All juices were pasteurized, and stored for weeks in airtight, sanitized containers prior to fermentation.
The fermentation took two weeks at 16 C, in my basement. The filled bottles were left to sit in the basement for two months.
The result was 120 liters of bone-dry, acidic and somewhat thin-tasting cider with light carbonation, with 6.5% alcohol by weight. Exactly the average of what I feared and hoped for it to taste like. Goes nice paired with something sweet to eat though.
Any suggestions on what I could try next year?