Weak cider from juice- suggestions

[globell]

Bought some cheap juice and filled a 5g carboy. Added tannin and acid. Fermented and in secondary probably a month maybe two.

Really no flavour.

Can't win them all I guess...and I'm used to fresh pressed juice which makes it worse.

Any suggestions with additions in the secondary to make maybe a flavoured cider? Something different or out of the ordinary?

Do you think oaking a weak cider is worth it?

 

[MindenMan]

You can always freeze concentrate it; if there is any flavor at all in it will become more pronounced and since it was simple juice. Your ABV at this moment is like the average non-fortified cider. I would not go to the trouble to oak a weak cider, as there would be little to nothing to complement flavor-wise. So freeze concentrate it down to 1/2 and serve with a juice you really like to end up with a 5% ABV beverage. Apples and stone fruits really go well together, but pears do to. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[z-bob]

What yeast did you use? (sounds like champagne yeast or Premier Cuvee) If it's still in the secondary, you can add a little sugar and frozen concentrated apple juice and let it ferment some more.

 

[bucketnative]

What brand of juice did you use, and do you remember if it tasted very sweet?

Anecdotally, I have been noticing that the sweeter the store-bought juice, the less flavor remains in the cider. My preferred store-bought brand is White House, because it is less sweet in the juice form and retains more flavor after fermentation. Although, after a year in the bottle the flavor of the weak stuff seemed to improve.

 

[mwilcox]

last time I had something like this I added grain alcohol and a tiny bit of aromatic juice to a gallon of it, and boom, instant applewine. The rest was used to test out the character from a wide range of oak products I had sitting around.

 

[mikerlynch26]

Hopped cider is all the rage these days, there's another thread on here about adding blood orange. Or if you have the space you can keg it up and blend it back with other ciders you make later. Personally I'm hoping I can get a cellar going of multiple batches, different juices, ferments, etc, and then sitting down and blending a "master" blend of all of them, hoping to make something better than the sum of it's parts. More of a winemakers technique. Let us know what you decide!

 

[Maylar]

When I use store bought apple juice I usually add 1/4 tsp per gallon of organic apple concentrate to boost the apple flavor. The stuff I use is from Nature's Flavors

https://www.naturesflavors.com/organic-flavor-concentrate/60823-apple-cider-flavor-concentrate-organic.html

It might seem expensive, but a little goes a loooong way.

 

[globell]

Freeze concentrate. I like it.

Yeast used WL 775 so a good yeast

The alcohol is around 6-7% so it's not weak in alcohol just lacking flavour. It was a cheap juice. Allen's brand.
Added acid and tannin which helped a little but not a ton. Just bland flavour overall.

Maylar - need to order some of that. Keep dragging my feet.....as shipping is about 45.00 So 60.00 a bottle!

I'll look into hopped

 

[globell]

Anyone try or have success with flavoured teas as an addition?

 

[Maylar]

I've also added fruit to finished cider and it changed a meh cider into something very different. About a pound of frozen berries to a gallon and racked after a couple weeks. Sweetened with frozen apple-berry concentrate and everybody loved it. Or you could add honey and let it ferment again into a cyser. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove can add some extra complexity too.

 

[Maylar]

Maylar - need to order some of that. Keep dragging my feet.....as shipping is about 45.00 So 60.00 a bottle!

Where are you... on the moon?

 

[globell]

Ha ha. Almost. North of the border. Shipping to Canada is 35.00 usd so with exchange rate (which is horrible right now for us) it's about 60.00 cdn.

Have some friends coming up from northern US in June. Maybe I'll have them bring some up for next years batch (or just suck it up and buy some for this years). Is it hat good Maylar?

 

[Shawn3997]

Sweetness adds body to the cider. Without it the cider is just sour water. Try just adding some sugar to your finished cider to see what that does for it.

 

[Maylar]

Ha ha. Almost. North of the border. Shipping to Canada is 35.00 usd so with exchange rate (which is horrible right now for us) it's about 60.00 cdn.

Have some friends coming up from northern US in June. Maybe I'll have them bring some up for next years batch (or just suck it up and buy some for this years). Is it hat good Maylar?

No way in hell would I pay $60 for it. I only use it to spiff up a weak cider made from cheap juice, and I don't do that any more since I have local orchards. Id find another way to fix what you have.

I looked at shipping a small package to BC from here and I can't believe the prices from the major carriers.

 

[nasty_rabbit]

You could add between 3 to 5 cans of frozen concentrated apple juice to taste. If you plan to keg just add the FCAJ then transfer and carb. If bottling, add the FCAJ then bottle and when carbed to your liking pasteurize. The FCAJ will add flavor along with sugar to aid in bottle conditioning. The down side is that it's more sugar than you need to carb in bottles. If you do not pasteurize, bottle bombs are in your future.

 

[globell]

I will be adding FCAJ and maybe some other sweetening agent if needed but even with that it's not going to be grand. It's not very dry/sour...just bland.
Think I'll try something bold and I'll definitely report back.

 

[arienjaynes21]

The shipping is insane! I'm in bc and just ordered a adapter for a paintball co2 tank to screw onto my regulator for storing in the fridge, I can refill the small tank with my 5lb co2 tank at home and if I spring a leak I loose the small tank of co2 vs my whole 5lb tank, the adapter was cheaper to buy than it was to ship here from the us

 

[globell]

I bought some of that apple concentrate while in the US. Agreed that too much is not good and if you add enough to really TASTE the concentrate it's too much. Just a tad to elevate the natural flavours. I've only tried it by the glass. Clearing now and thinking about adding fruit and letting it sit for a couple weeks. How do you prepare the fruit? Wash and add in? Thinking blackberries, raspberries and blueberries and the first two are hard to wash. Suggestions on that?

 

[MindenMan]

I have mentioned it another threads but a touch of apricot concentrate really makes apple cider taste great.

 

[globell]

I recall that! From same company? Or just apricot in general?

 

[CKuhns]

Agree with Maylar. 1 pound of fruit per gallon for 7 -10 days makes a huge difference. Blackberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries and Cranberries all work well. With a small amount of medium toast oak chips for tannins. 1/4 oz or so per gallon