n00b mistake ... still drinkable?

[yeastpoopshardcider]

A little bit of background:

About 4 years ago, I got a couple gallons of UV light treated cider from a local apple orchard. I brought it home and tried to go the natural yeast route. I added 5 lbs of sugar and hoped the yeast would do its thing. When moving the cider from the carboy to the 5 gallon bucket, I followed advice from a local beer/winemaking shop ... I added camden tablets to the bucket (or whatever that process was, I'm not remembering exactly). As I suspected, that seemed to kill off any natural yeast that was in there.

Then, I gave up. I just left the bucket in my basement with the little stopper on top and forgot about it. Fast forward to today. I went to go dump the bucket in the woods and decided to have a little taste. It tasted a bit like spiked apple juice with a little cider flavor.

Here's my question: Is this okay to drink? Should I do something now to make it more drinkable? I have read that I should let it clear? So, should I remove the cider from the yeast remains and let it clear in another container? OR should I just dump it all.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[ThatITGuy]

Rack it to a secondary vessel, let it sit for 2-3 weeks to clear. Then bottle it up, It's probably aged well!

 

[TandemTails]

I'm surprised it didn't taste like **** after sitting for a few years in a 5 gallon bucket. Those are notoriously bad at keeping out oxygen. I also can't imagine the airlock had anything left in it either.

That being said, if it tastes ok and there isn't any obvious mold growing on it, i'd say rack it to another vessel and let it sit for a few weeks.

As for adding more apple flavor, I'd make sure the cider has been stabilized (kmeta + ksorbate) and then add frozen apple juice concentrate. For 5 gallons of cider I'd probably add 4 containers of concentrate. It'll be a little on the sweet side but at least you'll get some of that 'apple' flavor back. You can always adjust the amount of concentrate to add if you taste as you add it.

 

[bernardsmith]

Sounds like scrumpy and may not clear any time soon if it has not cleared in 4 years... Not always the case that wild yeast on apples produce wonderful cider. yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance.