Ok so I used 5 gallons of apple juice and ***** my white labs cider yeast...long story short its done fermenting and its pretty dry tasting. Its been in my secondary for over two weeks. This morning I put a 12 oz tube of apple juice concentrate in it along with a couple pinches of cinnamon and it still taste pretty dry. (and yes I put my sorbate it) can I add some table sugar to sweeten this stuff? Also was hoping for it to have a little more of an apple flavor to it. Any suggestions would help greatly thanks
cider question
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commonsenseman
Well-Known Member
You're on the right track by adding more apple juice. What I'd do is draw a measured sample from the fermenter, & add measured amounts of apple juice to it until you reach the sweetness level you desire. Do a quick calculation to scale it up to 5 gallons & you're good to go.
Keep in mind that many ciders are not good tasting until they're at least several months old & that some sweetness (perception) will return over time, so don't over-sweeten it.
Keep in mind that many ciders are not good tasting until they're at least several months old & that some sweetness (perception) will return over time, so don't over-sweeten it.
ok so heres what Ive dont with my cider thus far. After the juice fermented in the primary for a couple weeks I let it sit in the secondary for about a week. I weighed it and tasted it and It was very strong, did not have much of an apple flavor, and tasted more like a wine to me. I decided to put a cinnamon stick in the product for a few days. After about 4 days of dangling the cinnamon stick in the product I tasted it and again had no desireable apple, sweetness, or cinnamon taste. I then racked it into another bucket and added 4 cans of concentrated apple juice and about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. It has a little more of a sweetness that I was desiring. I bottled it and Im gonna let it sit for about 6 weeks. Please feel free to tell me how bad I screwed this batch...or if you think im gonna be ok. Please be nice Im still a Noob.
johnnyspade
Well-Known Member
Adding more juice or sugar at bottling is going to sweeten it up at that moment but if your yeast is still active it's going to continue to eat that sugar in the bottles. The end result of this isn't going to be a sweeter cider, it's more likely going to carbonate it, depending on the type of concentrate you're using. You don't mention how much cider you've made here but you'll want to watch for overcarbonation as well.
Look into pasteurizing as a method of killing that yeast, or cold crashing it at the right time. Both difficult to time.
For the future, look into back sweetening with an unfermentable, like wine conditioner. Or, better yet, look into kegging. It's easier to make a sweeter cider for the keg than it is for bottles, in my opinion anyway.
Look into pasteurizing as a method of killing that yeast, or cold crashing it at the right time. Both difficult to time.
For the future, look into back sweetening with an unfermentable, like wine conditioner. Or, better yet, look into kegging. It's easier to make a sweeter cider for the keg than it is for bottles, in my opinion anyway.
bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
You added quite a bit of sugar... its going to make bottle bombs. Your going to have to test the cider until its at the desired carbonation, then you'll have to pasteurize the bottles to kill the yeast
discooby
Well-Known Member
Bomb!
Exect bottle bombs! 4 cans of apple juice concenrtrate?!?
The apple won't return until several months of conditioning... and that depends on what temp you fermented in, what yeast you are using, how much sugar you used... it's endless.
Bottom line: the longer you age it, like a wine, the better you take care of it, like a wine (temps), the better quality of products you used, the better it will turn out. I would suggest you use pet bottles (plastic) so you can crack the lid and relieve pressure as it continues to ferment.
Exect bottle bombs! 4 cans of apple juice concenrtrate?!?
The apple won't return until several months of conditioning... and that depends on what temp you fermented in, what yeast you are using, how much sugar you used... it's endless.
Bottom line: the longer you age it, like a wine, the better you take care of it, like a wine (temps), the better quality of products you used, the better it will turn out. I would suggest you use pet bottles (plastic) so you can crack the lid and relieve pressure as it continues to ferment.
