Flavoring cider to taste suggestions

[cburke]

Hello,

This was my second time making cider (I have made wine from kits numerous times). Unfortunately could not get my hands on any true cider apples and had to use generic apples from my local orchard (mainly macs). It was a tough year around here (New Hampshire) for apple growing from what I was told.

Otherwise, everything went fairly smooth and just checked and the malo-lactic fermentation seems to be complete. After sampling a little bit I was not surprised by my results, quite strong (about 7% abv.) and sharp, not exactly what I hoped for but kind of knew I would get.

Would love to be able to take that edge off of the sharpness. Do not really care if the abv. drops a bit, but would like to make it a bit more palatable.

Maybe add some fruit like raspberries? Or maybe a little tannin? Some sort of other additive? Also do not want to create bottle rockets either by adding anything with too much sugar and then bottling it.

Please, any suggestions would be great!!!! Just would like to make something I can drink and be proud of.


Thank you in advance,

Colin

 

[MarkKF]

Let it sit in a secondary with very little headspace for 6-8 months.

 

[Maylar]

How much cider do you have to play with?

Take a half gallon and add 1-1/2 tablespoons of Xylo-Sweet organic sweetener (tastes like sugar but not fermentable). That should be enough to take the sharp edge off your cider. If you like it, do the batch that way.

 

[Archer]

Ditto what Mark said

 

[cburke]

I have about 3.5 gallons of cider and a good, old 2 or so gallon carboy. I will try filling that and letting it age and then try the sweetener on the last gallon or so. Never hurts to experiment.

 

[MindenMan]

Do you know the pH of your cider? It may be a little too much on the acidic side, causing the "sharp" flavor. Do you have any test strips?
I know this post is about flavoring cider, but if your pH is too low, adding a boatload of sweetener may hide it, but it won't "fix" it.
You could try a little precipitated chalk, to add if your cider is acidic.
Most ciders are between 3.6 and 4.2 pH, but everybody has a different palate.
Just a couple of ideas.