Cider turned out very dry, thoughts?

[Gagunga]

Hello!

I just bottled my first batch of cider. It just came out very very dry...

Approx. 2 gallons of cider.
Used 1/2 lb. of sugar to ferment.
Used a packet of dry yeast.
Carboyed for 3.5 weeks.
Bubbled for about 8 days.
Stored in my dark basement at approx. 70 degrees F.
Did not take OG or FG, did not have the hydro at the time.
Did not use any clearing chems (such as pect. enzyme)

I bottled in 2 wire-top growlers, 1 22oz amber bottle, and 3 12oz amber bottles for testing purposes. Only 2 12oz. bottles were conditioned for carbonation test purposes. The rest has no sugar added for bottling.

There is still some small suspended sediment in the cider.

Am I screwed in terms of dryness?
Should I age the cider for more time for better flavor?
Will this drop out the rest of the sediment reducing the dryness?
What should I have done to make a sweeter cider next time?

Your help will be IMMENSELY appreciated. : )

 

[harry_the_face]

What yeast did you use?
The yeast will control how dry a cider gets by the attenuation of the yeast. If you used a wine yeast that would account for the dry finish. Next time use a beer yeast and it will finish with a sweeter taste.
The only way to undo the dry finish is to open all your bottles, back sweeten with some apple juice and pasteurize or add some nonfermentable sugar (lactose, Stevia, etc).

BTW, no need to add sugar to ferment cider. Apple juice has more than enough sugar to get cider in the 5.5-6.5% abv range. Adding sugar just makes it higher in alcohol.

 

[dmf38]

Age it for at least 6 months, that will help bring back the apple flavor. And when you drink it add some sugar syrup to your drinking glass, to sweeten it as you like it. Next time you make cider don't add any extra sugar in the fermenter, because that makes it drier. A couple good ale yeasts to use are Safale S04 or Nottingham.

 

[Maylar]

Cider almost always ferments dry. You have to deal with that at bottling time (or serving, as suggested above). Aging will mellow the alcohol bite a bit but dryness will not go away.

 

[Mainer]

I bottled my first cider last October. It also turned out very dry. However, the malic acid, which is what creates the unpleasant bitter tartness, will mellow substantially over time. 11 months in, my cider is only just now starting to get that nice dry appley tartness of a proper dry cider, like the Basque ciders.

I say learn to let it ride, and embrace the dryness.

 

[Mainer]

I used a beer yeast, and mine came out dry as a bone. In fact, someone else gave me the advice that for a sweeter cider, I should use wine yeast.

I used WY1728 Scottish Ale. It came out pretty nice with a bit of that tart, smokey Scottish bite. Interesting experience. Not sure I'd try it again, though.

 

[justinrphillips]

Age it, it will take on some nice notes. First small batched I made, I drank one bottle a month for a year and the one that was the driest was my fave in the end

 

[jrgtr42]

I've made cider a bunch of times, and it always comes out dry - I don't pasturize or anything, since I do bottle it, and I like the carbonation. From what I understand, it doesn't really matter what yeast you use, it'll end up at the same FG, plus or minus a point or so - it'll almost always, (when left to it's own devices) end up at 1.000 or even a little less - my own record was .992 on one batch. I like it dry but that was too much even.
I have aged on bourbon/ oak, cinnamon, vanilla, and I tried a souring - let it go to 1.005 or .008, dropped some campden in, then inoculated with a sour blend I had from one of my beers. Didn't work well.
I think the bourbon / oak gives a little illusion of sweetness back, due to the bourbon.

 

[ericbw]

Making cider is easy; making sweet, sparkling cider is hard. It can be done in bottles, but it's really only "easy" if you force carbonate in a keg.

That said, there are posts on this forum for backsweetening and carbonating, then pasteurizing to stop the fermentation. It's not hard, just scary.

As someone mentioned, try adding sugar, simple syrup, or frozen (thawed) apple juice concentrate to the glass to make it sweeter when you drink it. But if you really let it rest for months/years, you might get something good.

I was cleaning this weekend, and I found some bottles that were aging - some from 2012 and some from 2013. They were not great when they went into aging, so we'll see how they are now!

 

[Gagunga]

Thanks for such fast and helpful replies. I really like this forum so far! I will try aging the cider for a few months and check back with it (ohhh the impatience of waitinggggggg).

I like the idea of back sweetening with stevia. Have you guys tried this before? Does the yeast disregard this natural sweetener? I know stevia has a bitterness on the back-end. I wonder how this would effect the bitterness/dryness of the cider...

 

[corkybstewart]

I love the driest of dry ciders, my wife likes hers a little sweeter. Since I keg mine it''s an easy fix. I put a sugar cube in her pint glass before I fill it and it's perfect for her, no sugar in mine is perfect for me.

 

[daft]

I love the sweet Normandy ciders in France, which I understand use KEEVING to starve the yeast to death of micronutrients prematurely. Not sure if google can tell you how to do it at home. Hurray for doux, demi-sec ok, but bah to brut: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cider#Kinds_of_cider . You can't appreciate those ciders by importing... they seem to wilt from hot weeks aboard a rattly cargo ship with their low alcohol preservative content.

Why delay gratification for everything? I consume my cider while there is sugar left and yeast is still fizzing. It is yummy tart and sweet, except if you open too often then some off-tasting bugs get in. I found out it only works well with active rather than instant type of bread yeast. The instant gives ghastly bready tasting results; my cheap bulk Mexican active dry yeast (Western Family brand) is slow and clean tasting.

 

[Owly055]

Proper Keeving is an iffy process at best. If one wants sweet cider, the solution is to back sweeten with a non fermentable sugar. The oldest and by far the safest of unfermentable sugar substitutes is Xylitol, which is naturally occurring. It has about the same sweetness as cane sugar, and no off flavors. It may cause flatulence in some people, but is essentially harmless to humans, though it is deadly to canines. I've used it and am extremely impressed with it. The flavor is indistinguishable from ordinary sugar.
H.W.

Xylitol /ˈzaɪlɪtɒl/ is a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener. The name derives from Greek: ξύλον, xyl[on], "wood" + suffix -itol, used to denote sugar alcohols. Xylitol is categorized as a polyalcohol or sugar alcohol (alditol). It has the formula CH2OH(CHOH)3CH2OH and is an achiral[3] isomer of pentane-1,2,3,4,5-pentol.[4] Multiple studies utilizing electron microscopy have indicated that xylitol is effective in inducing remineralization of deeper layers of demineralized enamel.[5] Fair evidence was found that xylitol (as chewing gum, lozenges, nasal spray, etc.) reduced the incidence of acute middle ear infection in healthy children.[6]

Xylitol is naturally found in low concentrations in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, and can be produced by the action of yeast on the xylose contained in fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse.[7][8][9] However, industrial production starts from xylan (a hemicellulose) extracted from hardwoods[10] or corncobs, which is hydrolyzed into xylose and catalytically hydrogenated into xylitol.

 

[daft]

My dentist recc'ed xylitol gum and I didn't like the taste - maybe just a brand thing. Now that I read of its low glycemic index (non diabetes promoting) I am mainly deterred by the cost. Cheaper to make cider in small batches twice a week and consume it all before the yeast finish making it bitter/sour.

 

[dmtaylor]

Used 1/2 lb. of sugar

This ^^^.

Don't do this. Problem largely solved.

 

[madscientist451]

It easy to fix if you can drink a 750 Ml bottle in a week or so. Just get some frozen apple juice concentrate from the grocery store. You can get apple-cherry, plain apple or maybe some other flavors. A can has about 355 ml in it. About 85-90 ml is enough to back sweeten a 750 ml bottle.
You'll have to experiment to see how much suits your taste. Once you have it mixed, keep it in the fridge and it will last a few weeks before it starts to kick off. You can put the unused frozen juice concentrate back in the freezer and use it when your ready. I usually mix enough for a 1.5 liter bottle and that is usually gone in a couple weeks of occasional drinking.

 

[daft]

I just accidentally discovered something by leaving my 3qt plastic bottle out overnight (sealed) after refrigerating it earlier to supress further fermentation. After re-refrigerating it, the result was a pleasant but adult semi sweet, and overflowing with pinpoint bubbles with a champagne head.

I don't know what's going on, but to outline:
1) ferment at 80f a bit more than intended
2) seal in fridge overnight, bottle bulge remains alarming instead of going down, and after gas release the taste is usual mild doux with hint of bubbles.
3) leave sealed bottle out overnight in 80f by mistake, giving alarming bulge again.
4) re-refrigerate several hours (alarming bulge still remains at mucho psi) and the taste becomes sophisticated demi sec with exuberant pinpoint bubbles rather than the usual timid evolution towards that.

I understand the bubble boost, but not the smoothly blended taste in spite of more alcohol than I normally like. It might degrade from now on; I better drink fast!

 

[frettfreak]

Lots of good advice. I always use some low attenuating english yeast, and add 1# of lactose. should end up somewhere around 1.008. Also, even if you didnt add sugar for bottling, the bottle bomb fear is real. You need to pasturize the bottles if you plan to store them for long periods before drinking... OR..just keep it in a fridge!! cheers and good luck

 

[MarkKF]

I find fermentation in the high 50's to low 60's retains more flavor if not more sweetness. You can always back sweeten with more juice, freeze concentrate or FAJC if that's your thing.