First Cider Batch - 9% ABV! Help Please

[jenkinscm]

Hello Everyone, My first cider ever.

One gallon cider from a farm with no additives.
2 cups maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup black tea
Safcider packet

2.5 weeks in held at 60-70F. Bubbles have mostly stopped.
I tasted cider today and it was like whiskey. Slight apple flavor, but very strong.
I used cider online Calc, with OG and FG. Almost 9% ABV!!

My goal was a easy to drink, smooth, apple & maple flavor that would be a little sweet.
Any suggestions on what to do next?
I was planning to bottle soon, but I think I need to do something else.
BackSweetening? Add froz concentrate?
Just let it sit in the jar? Bottle and let it sit?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Jenkins

 

[bracconiere]

2 cups maple syrup in 1 gallon of juice is pretty hefty.....And brown sugar? i'm surprised it's not more then 9%....

(but i brew 9% drinks all the time! )

 

[bmd2k1]

Well....

If you mix it with another gallon of plain AJ the end product with be 4.5%.

Try a small sample & do a 50/50 mix of ur cider & plain AJ....see how it tastes & adjust the ratio from there if needed [emoji106]

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[bracconiere]

Well....

If you mix it with another gallon of plain AJ the end product with be 4.5%.

Try a small sample & do a 50/50 mix of ur cider & plain AJ....see how it tastes & adjust the ratio from there if needed [emoji106]

Cheers [emoji111]

i think it would be more than that, because the AJ would ferment, but good idea....

 

[bmd2k1]

i think it would be more than that, because the AJ would ferment, but good idea....

If ya mix at serving time no fermentation...

 

[1GallonNoob]

Did you follow a recipy?

The ABV sounds like something you would expect with this sweetening.

I havent brewed a whole lot of things, just bottle my first cider after a few batches of berry wine, so my input might not be worth much, but...

If you want a sweet taste, you will need to kill off the yeast and back sweeten it.
I believe that there is both heat treatment and chemicals that can kill the yeast for you, but I never backsweetened anything so I have no experience with that.

It might make the most sense to just rack into a secondary and let it age/ferment further. Then bottle. This way you can drink it as is or mix with juice when serving. Embrace the brew you made and make the best of it.

Otherwise, before bottling kill the yeast and mix with apple juice or frozen apple juice depending on the ABV you want.

But the first option requires fewer bottles and less effort.

 

[dwhite60]

With that abv age will help. Probably three months minimum and most likely six months to a year. Won't change the abv but will taste a lot smoother.

You can stabilize it with sorbate then blend with regular juice as suggested. Easiest fix.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[MarkKF]

Why isn’t anyone’s first cider made with just juice? I wish someone had told me back when.

 

[teddyearp]

Why isn’t anyone’s first cider made with just juice? I wish someone had told me back when.

Surely you jest . . . . .

 

[fishnjeeps]

I've made high ABV batches of cider before (16.5%) and I've found ageing will help mellow out the hot whiskey/bourbon taste you get when its young. For my Hand Grenade Cider I rack after fermentation has stopped (about 3 weeks or so) to a secondary then let it sit for 9-10 months. I'll bottle it and let the bottles age for another 3 months before drinking.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

9% is high, but I do 8% ciders all the time. Give it 3 months in the bottle and it will probably be great.

Alternately, you could bottle half, refill with apple juice, and let ferment restart. Should give you 7 or 7.5%. That would give you a couple bottles of high octane stuff to age awhile, and the rest will be ready to drink in 3-4 weeks.

 

[jenkinscm]

Thank you All!
Question. If I add plain AJ to sweeten it, can I bottle after? I would like to bottle and share with friends, but I don't know if stopping fermentation and adding fresh juice will make it so I can't bottle or drink later.
Thanks