Blending Ciders

[MichalekBrewing]

So in a nutshell I made 5 gallons of a cider last June. However my fatal mistake was using an artificial sweetener for it, everyone but me enjoyed the flavor and I thought it was gross enough to only bottle 2 gallons. The other 3 I racked into 1 gallon Demi Johns until I decided what to do with them. Well fast forward almost a year they are in the way but I got the urge to experiment since I will probably never make that style again. I'm thinking of getting some fresh juice and then blending the 3 gallons with it. It'll dilute the artificial sweetener some and hopefully blend into something rather tasty

I know I'll need to pitch fresh yeast at this point and I'll taste the other cider to make sure it's not infected but visually it looks fine

Other than that is there really anything else I should be concerned about?

I'm one of those stubborn people who can't dump mistakes or gross things. I always find a use for it even if it's just cleaning, so I'm hoping to make an almost "solera" cider from this

 

[MindenMan]

Diluting the "too sweet" cider with fresh juice should not be a problem as long as you have treated the cider in a way where it will not oxidize during the re-ferment.

 

[MichalekBrewing]

The only way I could think of doing that is to ferment the new cider then blend in secondary

But I am open to suggestions!

 

[homebrewer_99]

You can add some Potassium Sorbate to the original batch to make the yeast dormant. Give it 24 hrs before adding the new juice and it will not ferment out, just thin out the original.

 

[madscientist451]

I've made lots of cider and when I have some I don't like very much I try all kinds of ways to use it up.
You have a few options besides adding unfermented juice to your finished cider:
--Make 1 gallon of 6-8% ABV mead and when its finished, do some blending trials to see if it helps your existing cider
--Add frozen apple juice concentrate; it comes in straight apple, apple/cherry and etc.
--Like already suggested, ferment out a new cider and see if you like the blend.
--If you brew beer, "blend in the glass" with a light ale or even a stout, or blend with a commercial beer.
--Brew a Graff, using recipes here on HBT or elsewhere, but add your cider to taste when the beer part of the recipe is done fermenting.
--Get some frozen raspberries, cherries, blueberries or blackberries from the store, smash them up when thawed and rack the cider onto them, try 1-2 lbs a gallon. The cider will probably kick off again, so add an airlock, but maybe not, if it doesn't the alcohol in the cider will help pick up some of the fruit flavor. Try a taste a week or so after fermentation stops, if its OK, rack it off the clear cider and you can add another 1/2 gallon or so of cider to the fruit that's still in there if you want to be frugal.
--Buy some Angry Orchard or similar commercial cider, maybe one that has strong flavors added, and make 50/50 blends with your cider as you drink it.
--Get some quart jars and experiment with a mixture of the above or add cinnamon or other spices.
--Use the cider in cooking like you would use wine. I pour some cider in the crockpot with a pork shoulder, poached salmon with it, and have added it to "beer bread" instead of the beer.
Two gallons really isn't that much once you start experimenting, just drinking 3-4 pints a week and it will be gone in a month.

 

[MichalekBrewing]

Madscientist451... that was information overload (in a good way!) I found some fresh cider on mega sale along with fresh strawberries at .99 a pint at the mom and pop shop near me so I picked up a few gallons of that. I havnt fully figured out the exact route im going but I'm gonna mess around with it

Thank you!

 

[madscientist451]

Strawberries have a very delicate flavor, you have to use a crapload to get any taste into your cider, like 3-5 lbs per gallon to start. Strawberries are better for eating (for me) than for anything fermented.

 

[MichalekBrewing]

Strawberries have a very delicate flavor, you have to use a crapload to get any taste into your cider, like 3-5 lbs per gallon to start. Strawberries are better for eating (for me) than for anything fermented.

I bought 25lbs of strawberries so hopefully that's enough. If it wasn't on sale I would have skipped them but at that price I figured why not

 

[MichalekBrewing]

So after 4 weeks and an accidental cold crash (not that I'm worried, the temp in my garage dropped drastically and it snowed... again) I'm in the pickle of keg or age (or both?) I don't intend to back sweeten the cider or add anything to it at this point

So if you were in my shoes, would you keg it? It's tasty already

Or would you secondary it?

Or would you keg it and let it sit a few weeks?