Cider tastes like vinegar- throw it out?

[ciderjoe]

Hey, I'm still new to cider and beer brewing and have a question about a batch of cider I was getting ready to bottle.

The cider is just a gallon batch and was from Musselmans apple cider (not from concentrate, not filtered, no preservatives). I added a cup of brown sugar (not sure the weight) and some raisins since I heard they are good for the yeast. OG was 1.060

It sat in the primary for 2 weeks then I racked it to get it off lees and the raisins. Left it in secondary for 2 more weeks and checked SG and was 1.000 (I used lalvin 1118, next time I will use a milder yeast)

I cold crashed it in my fridge for 3 days and racked again to get off the large yeast cake. In doing so, I took a sample of it to see how its going and is has a distinct vinegary flavor, almost undrinkable

I was sure to clean and sanitize everything I used and used an airlock for all of primary and secondary. When cold crashing, I took airlock off and rubber banded foil over top of jug so not to suckback water.

My question is, should young cider ever have a vinegary taste, and just needs to age for a while, or is it most likely contaminated and I should just pitch it and start again? Its only a gallon batch, so no big loss but still...

Thanks for any input and I appreciate all the info I have found on this site already!

 

[Yooper]

"Tart" or even a bit sour is fine in a young cider- vinegar is not.

I assume when you racked that you topped up, so that aceterobacter contamination is unlikely, so I'd wait and see what happens.

 

[ciderjoe]

Yeah, when I racked it I topped it off with apple juice from a sealed container. I'll give it time and see what its like in a few weeks. Maybe just bulk age at room temp with airlock on. It did taste more vinegary than tart or sour but maybe it was just me.

Thanks yooper!

 

[Stout-n-Braggot]

If it really is an acetic acid flavor (vinegar/result of acetobacter infection), DON'T THROW IT OUT, you could have a fantastic cooking liquid on your hands! Even if you just don't care for the taste you can still use it. Apple cidre, cidre vinegar, apple juice, etc. are all great for stewing pork!

 

[spearko520]

even if the acetobacters ravaged it, like stout n braggot said, vinegar is good to have. or you can pasteurize it and blend it with other ciders- some people like sour cider

 

[ChickenArise]

If it's vinegar, put it in a slow cooker with a pork shoulder, brown sugar, and lots of pepper (+other spices)

 

[ciderjoe]

Yeah I guess I could use it to cook with if it did in fact turn to vinegar. Its strange since I thought I was so careful during the process. It was only my second batch though.

I'm hoping my taste was off and it was just sour from being green, but I'll wait and see.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[ciderjoe]

An update in case you were wondering...
Today, after setting the cider aside for 9 days, I decided to bottle it to free up a jug for a new batch (raspberry mead).
I tasted it and it was much better, no vinegar taste to speak of
Still very young tasting and needs to sit in the bottles for a couple months, but I am glad I was patient and gave it a little time...
Cheers!