I made my first two batches of cider this year. This second one being pretty awesome; if its your taste, mouth drying like a red wine. I took 2 gallons of distilled water, 3lbs of light dry extract, pilsner if I remember correctly. Boiled for a hour and the last 5 minutes I added .25 LBS of dried tart cherries and 2 cinnamon sticks. Cooled and added to 4 gallons of sweet cider, UV light pasteurized(1.052). I fermented this with WLP001 because I had several vials of it at the time. The aroma… potpourri is honestly the only way to put it. Super complex but sorta strange to something you wouldn’t expect to drink. I moved everything to the fermenter so the cherries and cinnamon sticks were present the whole time of fermentation. The final beverage is just slightly carbed. I didn’t de-gas and it has been hooked up to 10-12 PSI for a few weeks at 42 degrees. It starts out light, crisp and flavorful on the tongue. Finishes extremely tart almost to the point of seeming acidic. It leaves a lingering finish on the tongue that doesn’t taste quite like cherries or cinnamon but is very nice. Makes the mouth walls feel coated like a bone dry red wine that would pair nicely with cheese does. I believe this dryness is due to tannin extraction from the fruit skins during boiling? Needless to say I like this way of doing things the final product is damn good. I would like to try some beer styles where this comes into play. Like a wheat with lemons and sub it for a large majority of the hop bitterness.
