How should my cider taste?

[the-crowing]

I recently attempted my first cider about 3 weeks ago. Last night I opened up my bucket to take a gravity reading and add some cinnamon sticks. It fermented down to about 1.00 and tasted kind of like wine and was slightly carbonated. I thought it was kind of weird that it tasted a little carbed especially because it was gassing out during the vigorous stage of fermentation. Is this normal?

Recipe:
5 gal Kroger apple juice
3 cans Kroger concentrated apple juice
24 oz brown sugar
2 tsp yeast nutrient
3 sticks cinnamon (1oz) 1 week prior to bottling
2 packets S-04
OG: 1.065
Kept the temp in my swamp cooler between 66-68F for about 1 week then just let it reach room temp
Planning to bottle next week using 1 can of apple juice concentrate for carbonating

 

[h4mmy86]

Sounds right to me!

 

[Snow4phil]

I checked mine last night as well. Both finished primary fermentation and were at 1.00. I know everyone says the taste will improve with aging, but man it's hard to see that. It tasted like a bland champagne with the dry wine yeast.
I am glad to hear its normal though.
How long should I let it sit in the secondary before bottling?

 

[MuddyCreek]

I made the Apfelwine recipe in June. Right now, it tastes like a dry, mild white wine. (Which makes sense given the apple juice and wine yeast...)

I should point out that the first 8 ounces taste like that. Wait a few minutes and you'll find the 2nd 8 ounces taste really frickin' good. Apfelwine seems to very quickly grow on you as you drink it.

I made a beer with half apple-juice, half pale-ale wort, used a couple hydrated coopers ale yeast packets. It tastes pretty good, does grow on you a bit, but has a bit of a cloying, overly fruity aroma which I'n hoping will reduce as the beer ages in the keg. (It just finished secondary and will be transferred to kegs for carbonating and aging sometime in the next couple days. I need to free up a corny.)