My first cider (pear) is done. I back sweetened with a little brown sugar and added a little vanilla extract.
I like the aroma and some of the flavors but it seems to me just too tart.
I thought I could fix this adding more sugar, but in samples that made it too sweet and did not remove much tartness.
Then someone told me tartnedss was related to acidity. So I had the PH tested...It turns out my cider is a ph of 4.3. (tested at a lab so should be correct) which means the acidity is actually kind of low (ph kind of high for cider; other posts recommending cider be between 3.2-3.8 as a general rule) already.
So, in theory I should lower my PH (raise the acidity) for a "typical" cider but that would only INCREASE the tartness...so what to do?
Also could the PH of 4.3 be an issue for long term storage\aging?
(also read here that low acidity could allow bacteria growth or something like that.)
I may not be describing the taste exactly tight either though, being my first batch.
I reviewed a flavor grid here:
http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm
And while it definitely has a decent cider flavor IMO I also think it tastes metallic, astringent, drying to me. (class 11 Mouthfeel on that site).
So if my descriptions are accurate, what can I do at this point to correct it and try to remove the tartness and described taste and mouth feel before bottling?
I like the aroma and some of the flavors but it seems to me just too tart.
I thought I could fix this adding more sugar, but in samples that made it too sweet and did not remove much tartness.
Then someone told me tartnedss was related to acidity. So I had the PH tested...It turns out my cider is a ph of 4.3. (tested at a lab so should be correct) which means the acidity is actually kind of low (ph kind of high for cider; other posts recommending cider be between 3.2-3.8 as a general rule) already.
So, in theory I should lower my PH (raise the acidity) for a "typical" cider but that would only INCREASE the tartness...so what to do?
Also could the PH of 4.3 be an issue for long term storage\aging?
(also read here that low acidity could allow bacteria growth or something like that.)
I may not be describing the taste exactly tight either though, being my first batch.
I reviewed a flavor grid here:
http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm
And while it definitely has a decent cider flavor IMO I also think it tastes metallic, astringent, drying to me. (class 11 Mouthfeel on that site).
So if my descriptions are accurate, what can I do at this point to correct it and try to remove the tartness and described taste and mouth feel before bottling?