I've been working on a pumpkin pie flavored cider to have for the upcoming holidays and I'm having some trouble with the flavor. I started out by roasting 4 cans of pumpkin purée in the oven topped with nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice, and put 5 gallons of cider I got from a local orchard on top of that. Then I added my yeast along with a few teabags and some brown sugar.
I let it ferment for a couple of weeks and racked it to secondary. I tasted it then and it was real good; lots of pumpkin flavor going on. After a week, there was a bunch of sediment at the bottom, so I racked it again, and this time when I tasted it, the pumpkin flavor was gone. I actually really like how it tastes, I'm just disappointed that it's not what I was going for. It has a nice amount of acidity and the body is great. The taste is just more tart and citrusy than it was before.
What do you think happened to the pumpkin flavor? Do you think it was all in the sediment that settled to the bottom? The best thing I could think of was that maybe the flavor I enjoyed was from a sugar that fermented out. In the future, do you have any idea what I should do differently?
Also, on an unrelated note, this is my first time posting here, although I've been lurking for a while, and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the great info here.
I let it ferment for a couple of weeks and racked it to secondary. I tasted it then and it was real good; lots of pumpkin flavor going on. After a week, there was a bunch of sediment at the bottom, so I racked it again, and this time when I tasted it, the pumpkin flavor was gone. I actually really like how it tastes, I'm just disappointed that it's not what I was going for. It has a nice amount of acidity and the body is great. The taste is just more tart and citrusy than it was before.
What do you think happened to the pumpkin flavor? Do you think it was all in the sediment that settled to the bottom? The best thing I could think of was that maybe the flavor I enjoyed was from a sugar that fermented out. In the future, do you have any idea what I should do differently?
Also, on an unrelated note, this is my first time posting here, although I've been lurking for a while, and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the great info here.
