cider sweetness threshold?

[ebbelwoi]

Just curious if there's a sweetness threshold for ciders, in terms of final gravity... above which sweetness can be detected (by the human palate) and below which it cannot. I suppose it would vary from person to person, but what would a ballpark figure be?

 

[bucketnative]

Google turned this up: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1974.tb06795.x

 

[Maylar]

Just curious if there's a sweetness threshold for ciders, in terms of final gravity... above which sweetness can be detected (by the human palate) and below which it cannot. I suppose it would vary from person to person, but what would a ballpark figure be?

There are too many variables that affect that to put a hard fast number on it. Acidity, carbonation, and a few other things all have an impact on how sweet someone perceives the cider to be. For reference though, the list below is from the 2015 BJCP Cider Guidelines:

• Dry: below 0.4% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity less than 1.002. There is no perception of sweetness.
• Medium-dry: 0.4-0.9% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity of 1.002- 1.004. There is a hint of sweetness but the cider is still perceived primarily as dry. Also known as semi-dry.
• Medium: in the range between dry and sweet, 0.9-2.0% residual sugar, final gravity 1.004- 1.009. Sweetness is now a notable component of the overall character.
• Medium-sweet: 2.0-4.0% residual sugar, final gravity 1.009-1.019. The cider is sweet but still refreshing. Also known as semi-sweet.
• Sweet: above 4.0% residual sugar, roughly equivalent to a final gravity of over 1.019. The cider has the character of a dessert wine.

 

[bmd2k1]

There are too many variables that affect that to put a hard fast number on it. Acidity, carbonation, and a few other things all have an impact on how sweet someone perceives the cider to be. For reference though, the list below is from the 2015 BJCP Cider Guidelines:

• Dry: below 0.4% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity less than 1.002. There is no perception of sweetness.
• Medium-dry: 0.4-0.9% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity of 1.002- 1.004. There is a hint of sweetness but the cider is still perceived primarily as dry. Also known as semi-dry.
• Medium: in the range between dry and sweet, 0.9-2.0% residual sugar, final gravity 1.004- 1.009. Sweetness is now a notable component of the overall character.
• Medium-sweet: 2.0-4.0% residual sugar, final gravity 1.009-1.019. The cider is sweet but still refreshing. Also known as semi-sweet.
• Sweet: above 4.0% residual sugar, roughly equivalent to a final gravity of over 1.019. The cider has the character of a dessert wine.

I'm definitely in the med-sweet club for my regular ciders.... [emoji111][emoji111]

 

[ebbelwoi]

There are too many variables that affect that to put a hard fast number on it. Acidity, carbonation, and a few other things all have an impact on how sweet someone perceives the cider to be. For reference though, the list below is from the 2015 BJCP Cider Guidelines...

Thanks! That's exactly what I was wondering about. Maybe it's in a sticky somewhere that I missed?