Just finished my first hard cider, I think it came out O.K. but I’m not sure what its supposed to taste like really. To me it tastes like white wine and I have read that most home brew cider does taste like wine…any thoughts?..on my next batch considering on bottling day adding a Camden tablet, maybe a half gallon of cider, and apple juice concentrate to get a better apple flavor.
Sounds right. Did you add extra sugar at the beginning of fermentation? If so, the next time maybe you shouldn’t if it tastes too strong and winey to you. Backsweetening at the end of fermentation is a good idea to take that strong winey edge off.
Sounds like you’ve done everything correctly. Traditional cider (whether homemade or commercial) is supposed to be quite dry (and carbonation is optional).
If that type of cider is not to your taste (which is perfectly ok…everyone’s taste is different) you can either start drinking it before it has fully fermented out, or backsweeten it (as per Dave’s suggestion) to the level of the modern American style of commercial “pop” ciders. You will probably want to use an additive to kill the yeast activity after sweetening it however.
For the record, I like both types of cider equally (depending on my mood). For the driest of ciders, I prefer no carbonation at all (in the style of wine). By adding carbonation to a dry cider, you can obtain a champagne-like drink.
For medium-dry or backsweetened ciders, I’ll usually add some apple concentrate and a small dose of acid blend (to liven up the flavor a bit), some potassium sorbate, and some mild carbonation.
Yeah I did start off with one full Lb of light brown sugar prior to fermentation, also used brown sugar to bottle carb, back sweetened with Splenda and for a little extra flavor added 1 1/4 tsp of natures flavors apple cider flavor concentrate. It tastes pretty good i think, Just a little too dry…but very tasty, thanks for all the advice.
