Bitter taste in Cider

[JPStinky]

I've been making cheap cider at home. I've done a few batches, and it is ok, but there is always a bitter taste at the end.

Here's my process:
4 gallons of Tree Top Apple, heat up and mix in C&H sugar until SG is 1.090. Cool down to 100 F, then pitch Cote Des Blanc yeast. I let it ferment in the carboy for 2 weeks, bottle it, then let it sit for 2 weeks in the bottles.

I've tried the same process using Costco's White Grape/Peach juice with the same result.

Don't get me wrong, it tastes alright and it's a really cheap way to get tipsy. I'd just like to get rid of that bitter taste. I've been thinking about switching from table sugar to brown sugar or molasses. Maybe trying a different yeast. Any thoughts?

 

[theck]

Not an expert in these things but what's your final gravity? Also, have you tried ale or beer yeast?

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[bernardsmith]

Have you tried back sweetening? You would need to stabilize with K-meta and K-sorbate and then after a few days add some sugar. Two ounces of sugar in one gallon raises the gravity by about .005 . It may be that your cider is too dry for the acid level

 

[JPStinky]

I haven't gotten to figure out final gravity since my hydrometer broke.
I was thinking about backsweetening, but I have been bottling right at two weeks so it will carbonate. I'm still kinda new to this. Can I bottle carbonate and backsweeten?

 

[theck]

Not sure about bottling since I keg and I hear you can get done bombs if you don't do it right. But... I was messing with how long to leave batches and found if I let it go all the way out past 1.00 it was more wine like, most people where on the fence, but if I pulled it at 1.01ish then it was nice and sweet the way I like it and got good reviews from.friends. I did one batch of 3 gallons went past 1.00 and then added 2 gallons back in but it wasn't the same as when I pulled it at 1.01ish. You got a hotness and still had a wine like undertaste. So... I plan on going back and trying my first which was 4lb brown sugar 5 gallons of juice, and washed ale yeast... Guess it kinda depends on your tastes, either was I think more time helps all flavors, beer or cider, as well while in the bottles or kegs.

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[bernardsmith]

I haven't gotten to figure out final gravity since my hydrometer broke.
I was thinking about backsweetening, but I have been bottling right at two weeks so it will carbonate. I'm still kinda new to this. Can I bottle carbonate and backsweeten?

I am not sure that you can bottle sweeten AND carbonate easily. There may be other ways but I think you would need to add fermentable sugar to carbonate and non fermentable sugars to sweeten. I have never tried this but I believe stevia for example, does not ferment , at least not in the short run, so if you added stevia AND say corn sugar or honey or table sugar you could end up with a semi dry or sweet cider that is sparkling BUT I have no idea what flavors stevia might impart or taste like in a cider...

 

[WVMJ]

JP, why are you heating it up? Its already pasturized and doesnt need to be heated up. Do you mean acidic taste or bitter tannic taste? Are you pasteurizing or just drinking it really fast WVMJ

I've been making cheap cider at home. I've done a few batches, and it is ok, but there is always a bitter taste at the end.

Here's my process:
4 gallons of Tree Top Apple, heat up and mix in C&H sugar until SG is 1.090. Cool down to 100 F, then pitch Cote Des Blanc yeast. I let it ferment in the carboy for 2 weeks, bottle it, then let it sit for 2 weeks in the bottles.

I've tried the same process using Costco's White Grape/Peach juice with the same result.

Don't get me wrong, it tastes alright and it's a really cheap way to get tipsy. I'd just like to get rid of that bitter taste. I've been thinking about switching from table sugar to brown sugar or molasses. Maybe trying a different yeast. Any thoughts?

 

[HopSong]

You are having the same issue I am having. I don't believe it's an issue in the sense of something wrong. It's, IMO, because you/I ferment to dryness. Some people like it that way. I don't. I like a little sweetness to balance out the bitterness so I do back sweeten.. and just likea dat.. BAM.. it's great. From the standpoint of cider.. I've got it down regarding taste and playing with different flavors.. at least for now. My "issue" is clearing.. I haven't gotten that down like I have with beer. The cider wants to stay cloudy despite adding PE before pitching the yeast.

 

[theck]

You are having the same issue I am having. I don't believe it's an issue in the sense of something wrong. It's, IMO, because you/I ferment to dryness. Some people like it that way. I don't. I like a little sweetness to balance out the bitterness so I do back sweeten.. and just likea dat.. BAM.. it's great. From the standpoint of cider.. I've got it down regarding taste and playing with different flavors.. at least for now. My "issue" is clearing.. I haven't gotten that down like I have with beer. The cider wants to stay cloudy despite adding PE before pitching the yeast.

I did a couple so far and found that the back sweetened didn't have as great of a taste as when I pulled the juice at 1.01ish. I pushed it out past 1.00 and added 2 gallons in but that first batch, 5 gallons pulled, there's nothing comparable so far.

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[Agnt92]

Try using turbinado sugar instead if white sugar. Turbinado isn't 100% fermentable from what I understand. My last cider is 60/40 turbinado/table sugar and s04 ale yeast. Finished at 1.01 from 1.064. 10 days in primary 2 weeks in secondary.

 

[jjeremy]

I have had bitterness with some of my cider batches. For the most part it goes away with age, like after a month or so in the bottle.
If you're getting bitter tannins you can reduce that with proper gelatin fining.
And lastly, I've always detected a bitter taste in Tree Top so I just don't buy it. Try Old Orchard.


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