My cyser has no flavour

[Jameth]

Any suggestions on how to save my cyser?

After fermenting to an 8% ABV and aging in bottle for approximately 4 months, I have soft apple scent, but no apple or honey flavour. In fact, the only flavour is the alcohol.

Background information:

• cyser has been bottle conditioned for 4 months at approximately 17C/62F
• cyser is still - not carbonated
• as per recipe, there was no additions after fermentation

 

[GeorgiaMead]

Add apple juice and honey in a glass and top off with ur flavorless booze, since its bottled if I read correctly

 

[Devo9]

What kind of apple juice and what type of honey did you use?

 

[Beernik]

Garnish it with some mint or a sprig or rosemary.

 

[Jameth]

I used pasteurized cider straight from the orchard and generic honey.

 

[Devo9]

It has to be the type of apples used at the orchard and generic honey won't help. If you add some fruit concentrate to it, that should add some flavour. Find a juice with a flavour you like and add a teaspoon of concentrate to each bottle. Or you could VERY CAREFULLY pour the bottles back into a bottling bucket and add the concentrate to the whole batch. Just do all you can to keep splashing and anything else that can introduce oxygen to your brew to a minimum.

Also make sure it is stabilized first (maybe with potassium sorbate) before adding any more sugars (like the concentrate).

Good luck!

 

[Jameth]

Thanks!

Fortunately, I didn't carbonate. I'm going to put everything in a keg, add some concentrate to get some flavour and pressurize the batch. The potassium sorbate should be easy to get - I'm surrounded by wine-making stores.

 

[Doveguy]

I just got off the phone with an apple grower and he told me that if I used his early crop it would make flavorless juice. He said wait until early September at the earliest and use his mid season crop for best flavor in the juice. It may not be the type of apples that is the problem. Maybe the timing.
Good luck.