What started off as a disaster has actually turned out really nice. I got a new fridge for the garage recently, set it to 3 (5 is the max) and filled it up with my already mature, already primed bottles of OTR Mixed berry. The following week I went out and found most of them frozen solid, with the others not showing much life at all.
Anyway, I found 2 that had carbonated properly and didn't need re-priming so I stuck them in the fridge and popped one open tonight.
Now, firstly I have to say that I brewed this kit in June. It was racked to secondary after 10 days and left to mature until 2 weeks ago. I then primed and, via bottling bucket, racked into bottles. This has meant that the cider has a decent amount of time to round itself off. The only thing I didn't do that I really should have was add the flavour packet at the secondary stage, instead I waited until the bottling stage.
So.. onto the cider itself.
It's CRYSTAL clear. Absolutely spotless. It's a stunning deep red colour akin to curries red cola (I think that may be a Scottish drink lol). It very much looks like a bottle of Jacques. At 1 level tsp per bottle 500ml bottle it's perfectly carbonated so no issues there.
The taste is slightly alcoholic, to let you know you are drinking a cider. It's very fruity, I would say it almost tastes like raspberry jam from a doughnut. The fruit flavour is very nice, but a little bit sweet... again very akin to jacques. There is a slight miss-match on the palate in that the flavouring is sweet, but the cider is dry. This means that there is a slight harshness just after tasting. The initial taste is fine and the aftertaste is fine.. there's just a small in-between time as the cider is going down that there is a bit of a tang to it that feels un-natural. Probably unavoidable with the sachet type additions. The flavour is also a little bit watery. IMO this happens with most kits, beer & cider anyway, so from now on I will always be brewing cider kits with a couple of litres of apple juice or grape juice.
Overall I would compare this cider to Strongbow Jacques Fruit cider. It's not
quite as dry as the strongbow due to the sweeteners but it's a very palateable drink. It's not a traditional cider by any means so if you are a veteran cider drinker this definitely isn't for you. It's more a refreshing alcopoppy cider, one that most SWMBO's would love. I'm really enjoying it as a refreshing beverage, it'll be lovely in the sun.
Other than the slight watered down taste and the very slight harsh mid-after taste I would give this cider a thumbs up. As said, it's not a proper cider but for a jacques/bulmers/fruity cider clone.... it's really good competition.
Oh, I brewed it to 6.5% too.... just so that it has a nice kick
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So you waited 3 months before bottling?..i assume the brew was stored in an air tight container at this stage and did not need any more sugar?.Do you think this had any difference on the finished brew as it dosent really state doing this on the instructions..1 level teaspoon is enough for 500m bottles to get a decent fizz?.I may try this although i will add the flavour before the second racking.
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