Fine tuning my cider

Tigcraft · Jun 25, 2024

Bit of a head scratcher, done three to four kits and pretty much fine with a small hiccup in the last but nothing serious then I made my first ‘natural’ brew from three Aldi carrier bags full of mixed unknown apples and that was a whole new experience.
Towards the point of bottling I put some finings in and wished i didn’t as it was clearing by itself although very slow. I lost quite a bit because the finings left a big area of ‘fog’ at the bottom of the DJs. I then bottled the lot with a spoon full of sugar in each one but I’m sure I over killed the remainder yeast. A month or so later I tried my first bottle and although I got the taste exactly where I wanted , it was flat as a fart and too sweet!

. Over time it’s become really tasty and the sparkle appeared at last. Last night I had another (9 months down the line) and very sparkly but now very dry.
Is there a way to fine tune these brews so there’s some consistency?

jof · Jun 25, 2024

I haven't cracked cider yet.
Part of the problem.is how seasonal it is.
You get one go in the autumn & really have to wait for the spring to know how it turned out.

What I've had moderate success with is those tiny coffee sweeteners, but depends on how sensitive your taste buds are. Will you detect it as artificially sweet?

MashBag · Jun 25, 2024

Use the cheap powder sweetener in all the supermarkets. Big yellow tub. Think its maltose or sucralose. No after taste. Avoid stevia.

Glass test with a 10% w/w solution. Easy maths then for the whole batch at bottling.

Tigcraft · Jun 25, 2024

MashBag said:
Use the cheap powder sweetener in all the supermarkets. Big yellow tub. Think its maltose or sucralose. No after taste. Avoid stevia.

Glass test with a 10% w/w solution. Easy maths then for the whole batch at bottling.

Would that be in conjunction with the spoon of sugar that goes in the bottles to give it the fizz?

jof · Jun 25, 2024

Yes.
But you don't have to use a whole spoon of sugar. I use 1/2 a spoon for gently sparkling rather than super fizzy.

Line up a few bottles at bottling time & use different quantities of sugar. Remember to label them so you know when to try them. Then next time use the quantity that gave you your preferred level of fizz.

MashBag · Jun 25, 2024

Tigcraft said:
Would that be in conjunction with the spoon of sugar that goes in the bottles to give it the fizz?

Yup

Twostage · Jun 25, 2024

Sounds like the finings had dropped a lot of the yeast which would have slowed carbonation right down. Wouldn't have expected nine months though.

As above getting sweetness right is a challenge. I've even resorted to adding sugar at pouring time ashock1

. Now I tend to just drink it dry, but I think the last batch which I pressure fermented in a pressure barrel had a bit of natural sweetness. Good excuse to sample some later.

Bzee · Jun 25, 2024

I love my cider dry as a bone

Tigcraft · Jun 25, 2024

Thank you all for all the comments, without forums we’d be stuck some times.

Twostage · Jun 26, 2024

Twostage said:
Sounds like the finings had dropped a lot of the yeast which would have slowed carbonation right down. Wouldn't have expected nine months though.

As above getting sweetness right is a challenge. I've even resorted to adding sugar at pouring time . Now I tend to just drink it dry, but I think the last batch which I pressure fermented in a pressure barrel had a bit of natural sweetness. Good excuse to sample some later.

Nope, it was dry.

old dog new tricks · Jun 26, 2024

well i can't offer first hand experience as my cider is made from fruit juice.

If trying to adjust the sweetness as suggested powered sweetener will not ferment and will not be used by the yeast.

don't know if relevant but when making wine especially fruit wines I stop it before fermenting dry to keep the sweetness and flavour for rose for example, i do this by adding fermentation stopper for wines (sure those in the know will suggest a cheaper alternative) let it age and either keep it still or carbonate it.
2 options use a soda stream or drinkmate gets very good write up, I have not tried yet.
or add small amount of sugar and yeast i use EC1118 for this just a small sprinkle(much easier to use a 2nd bucket and add priming sugar and yeast) it uses the sugar you added and creates bubbles, you will get a bit of settled yeast but works well for wine so should be same for cider, the risk is too much yeast it continues to ferment to dry

Twostage · Jun 26, 2024

old dog new tricks said:
well i can't offer first hand experience as my cider is made from fruit juice.

If trying to adjust the sweetness as suggested powered sweetener will not ferment and will not be used by the yeast.

don't know if relevant but when making wine especially fruit wines I stop it before fermenting dry to keep the sweetness and flavour for rose for example, i do this by adding fermentation stopper for wines (sure those in the know will suggest a cheaper alternative) let it age and either keep it still or carbonate it.
2 options use a soda stream or drinkmate gets very good write up, I have not tried yet.
or add small amount of sugar and yeast i use EC1118 for this just a small sprinkle(much easier to use a 2nd bucket and add priming sugar and yeast) it uses the sugar you added and creates bubbles, you will get a bit of settled yeast but works well for wine so should be same for cider, the risk is too much yeast it continues to ferment to dry

Never thought of using the soda stream.

old dog new tricks · Jun 26, 2024

Twostage said:
Never thought of using the soda stream.

Never tried it myself but some swear by it for making fizzy wine

Bzee · Jun 27, 2024

Ive used a soda stream in my early days to carb beer i was too impatient to wait for. Got very foamy and would gush out of the bottle when diaconnecting fromsoda stream seemed tk get better if you moved it about it and the left it for abit

old dog new tricks · Jun 27, 2024

Read good things about the drinkmate as you can leave the pressure head in the bottle chill it to help retain the co2 then release the cap that makes a lot sense

Tigcraft · Sep 12, 2024

MashBag said:
Use the cheap powder sweetener in all the supermarkets. Big yellow tub. Think its maltose or sucralose. No after taste. Avoid stevia.

Glass test with a 10% w/w solution. Easy maths then for the whole batch at bottling.

Well made a small batch of apple cider and I’m getting close to this point of deciding it’s sweetness. Took a picture of these babies at my local Aldi. For a gentle sweetness how much is good for a 15ltr batch? Although you said stay clear of stevia why exactly and what about the other two in the pics?

Tigcraft · Sep 12, 2024

On another note, what would a batch of cider be like if only brown sugar would have been used?

Cwrw666 · Sep 13, 2024

Tigcraft said:
Well made a small batch of apple cider and I’m getting close to this point of deciding it’s sweetness. Took a picture of these babies at my local Aldi. For a gentle sweetness how much is good for a 15ltr batch? Although you said stay clear of stevia why exactly and what about the other two in the pics? View attachment 103806

Stevia gives a noticeable liquerish flavour. Definitely don't use it.

old dog new tricks · Sep 13, 2024

go yellow , i use the powder version mixes easier

as for how much well that really down to taste and how long you let your cider sit for? if drinking right away might need more if leaving to age i generally need less. I would start with half teaspoon per ltr, draw off a sample whatever size you want and ratio it down add sweetener until you are happy with it, but as said it will smooth out with age as well so decide if you want sweet or just take the edge off? I find the small amount of sweetener brings out the flavour without becoming sweet and sickly

MashBag · Sep 13, 2024

old dog new tricks said:
go yellow , i use the powder version mixes easier

Snap

Fine tuning my cider

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