roberto188
Active Member
Just wanted to share my experience with some Zeigler's Cider that I recently made. I've brewed over 50 ciders in the past 5 years, and I have to say, this came out the absolute best:
5 Gallons of Zeigler's All Natural Cider (No preservatives, no added acid).
1 packet Safale-04 Ale Yeast
1 TBSP Pectin Enzyme
1 TBSP Yeast Nutrient
Starting gravity about 1.050
Fermented about 1 week at room temperature, then I threw it in the fridge to cold crash. Gravity was about 1.010 at that time. To my surprise, the Safale kept slowly fermenting. I cold crashed for about 3 weeks then removed from the fridge to find the gravity at 1.004 (corrected for temperature). Before kegging, I tasted the cider, and to my surprise, it tasted like water! No hot flavor, no tartness that you usually get when fermenting a cider dry. So I finally figured out, that all the other ciders I had used in the past had added malic acid or ascorbic acid. This cider however, had neither. So, I added 9 grams of acid blend and 1/2 gallon of the Zeigler cider to backsweeten, and BINGO! PERFECT flavor. It should also be noted that I forced carbed to about 8-7psig in my keg. Not sure if the CO2 also added an appreciable amount of carbonic acid. So if you don't force carb, you may want to add a tickle more acid blend.
Thought I had a dud there for a minute only to find this to be the best batch of cider i've made in 5 years. Lesson learned that pH REALLY affects the flavor! I pH matters! Also, it should be noted, that if you use more sour apple cider, you probably won't run into this problem, as the more sour apples have more acid inherent in them. But tasting the zeiglers all natural cider, you can clearly tell this cider was made from sweet apples, not sour.
I know the winemakers on here are laughing at me for making such an amateur mistake on the pH, but it's the first time I've ever had this issue and just thought i'd share it.
5 Gallons of Zeigler's All Natural Cider (No preservatives, no added acid).
1 packet Safale-04 Ale Yeast
1 TBSP Pectin Enzyme
1 TBSP Yeast Nutrient
Starting gravity about 1.050
Fermented about 1 week at room temperature, then I threw it in the fridge to cold crash. Gravity was about 1.010 at that time. To my surprise, the Safale kept slowly fermenting. I cold crashed for about 3 weeks then removed from the fridge to find the gravity at 1.004 (corrected for temperature). Before kegging, I tasted the cider, and to my surprise, it tasted like water! No hot flavor, no tartness that you usually get when fermenting a cider dry. So I finally figured out, that all the other ciders I had used in the past had added malic acid or ascorbic acid. This cider however, had neither. So, I added 9 grams of acid blend and 1/2 gallon of the Zeigler cider to backsweeten, and BINGO! PERFECT flavor. It should also be noted that I forced carbed to about 8-7psig in my keg. Not sure if the CO2 also added an appreciable amount of carbonic acid. So if you don't force carb, you may want to add a tickle more acid blend.
Thought I had a dud there for a minute only to find this to be the best batch of cider i've made in 5 years. Lesson learned that pH REALLY affects the flavor! I pH matters! Also, it should be noted, that if you use more sour apple cider, you probably won't run into this problem, as the more sour apples have more acid inherent in them. But tasting the zeiglers all natural cider, you can clearly tell this cider was made from sweet apples, not sour.
I know the winemakers on here are laughing at me for making such an amateur mistake on the pH, but it's the first time I've ever had this issue and just thought i'd share it.
