Review of Cider

Normally I stick with beer, having only done 3 batches (one mead, and two cider) of other types of fermented drinks. Although branching out can be a good thing for the experience of trying it and learning something new, it's likely that one needs to have at least a few batches of a particular type of drink before the product starts to be really good. And, it can be frustrating for me to try something that doesn't come out as well as most of my beers. None of my non-beer beverages have been great, and sadly, this cider may be the worst of my three attempts.

Appearance: Very clear golden yellow. This glass was from the bottom of the wine-bottle, and had a little bit of yeast stirred up into it. No carbonation bubbles, as intended.

Aroma: Not sure what it smells like. I just smells. I think I detect some sulphur and sour apple smells. Doesn't smell like apple cider should smell.

Taste: Again, a faint hint of appley-ness but lacks good cider characteristics. It doesn't stay sour, but does have a sulphury quality. There's no alcohol burn or strong boozy notes. Quite dry, as expected since the final OG was around 1.000 or less.

Mouthfeel: Thin. No carbonation. Very dry.

Overall: Well, it's drinkable, at least to me. I don't really know what to make of it other than to say that it doesn't really taste like it should. It needs more sweetness, more apple like quality, and more overall good taste. Sadly, I made 4 gallons of it and may have to dump some. I suppose it happens to all homebrewers once in a while.

Cider #1 Review

I have recently been branching out from beer into other fermented beverages besides beer. In October 2013 I started a cider, and lasted weekend I started a mead. The cider was actually ready and drinkable in mid-December 2013. After only a week in the bottle it had a bit of a nasty sulfur note, but by January that seems to have mostly disappeared. I've heard that cider tends to age pretty well, so perhaps this tasting will be a further improvement.

Appearance: Pale yellow and translucent. (Even though it doesn't come across in the photo.) Almost zero foam on the surface. Lots of small carbonation bubbles cling to the side of the glass. It could be mistaken for nearly flat Champagne or a glass of white wine.
The color is much light than that of the opaque, coppery-brown pre-fermentation cider. How does fermentation change the color and transparency of the cider?

Aroma: I still get a sulfury not from the yeast, and not a whole lot of apple-like smell. The Champagne yeast does seem to have imparted a kind of white-wine like smell that may obscure the apply quality. Still my wife said that it did have a sourish apple smell. She and I do seem to have differently calibrated noses.

Taste: It doesn't have a strong taste, but I would say this it does have a nice apple taste, and like the nose, some white-winey notes. It does not have a sour bite at all - the campden had its intended effect. I get almost no sweetness. It's very dry, as I was told to expect with Champagne yeast. Also the flavor seems to improve a little bit as it warms. It doesn't have any boozy note in the taste as it is likely around 4%-5% ABV.

Mouthfeel: Low carbonation. It's doesn't have a big body but fortunately doesn't seem thin and effervescent, like highly-carbed Champagne can. The aftertaste does seem to have an apple quality.

Overall:  A pretty dry, low carbonation cider, with some apple flavor and quite some similarity to white wine. Some sulfur in the nose.

As yet, this cider is young. I will need to keep a few bottles around to see how it taste after a year of aging. I will probably make some cider again, though perhaps use a less attenuative yeast, and some sour apples. The sourness can accentuate the apple flavors.

Cider #1

My wife and I went apple picking last weekend and brought home a bunch of apples, some apple cider donuts, an apple pie, and a 1 gallon jug of fresh pressed apple cider, which fortunately had been stored at refrigerator temperatures. The orchard store also had some hard cider for sale, but since I like to ferment stuff at home, I figured, why not see what I can do with a $7 jug of fresh, unpasteurized cider.

9/5/13 - Bought cider, and stored it in the fridge.

9/7/13 - Put 1 tablet of campden in the cider to kill any wild yeasts and reduce / kill the bacteria in the cider, let sit in the 65F basement. Measured the gravity of the cider using my new refractomer. I don't have distilled water for use in calibrating the tool, but my tap water measured 0 Brix. The water is pretty light in mineral content, so I think that's about right. The reading was 11.25 Brix or 1.0452 OG. 

9/9/13, 6:45pm - Transferred cider with a funnel into a sanitized 1-gallon jug. Dissolved some yeast nutrient and 2 Tbsp honey in very hot water, and added it to cider. Pitched 1/3 packet of Red Star dry champagne yeast, and swirled the jug around to mix with the yeast into the cider. Placed the jug in the 65F ambient air in my parents' basement. Since I don't have any peptic enzyme, I will just add it later as it can be added after fermentation is complete without causing a problem.

Now I need to wait... a long time. Cider is apparently best after a long, cool fermentation. But at least the process of brewing cider is much easier than all-grain beer brewing.

9/10/13, 6pm
Cider was slowly bubbling. A small krausen had formed on top. The fermentation does not seem to be as vigorous as most of my beers.

11/11/13
Cider is now very clear, at least at 65F. The yeast appears to have all settled to the bottom. I transferred it off of the yeast cake into another jug, leaving most of the yeast behind. A tiny bit remained. It tasted OK, but had kind of a sulfury smell.

12/3/13
Bottled with table sugar, going for about 2.25 volumes. I didn't add any yeast, but stirred up some of the yeast that was at the bottom of the growled. The temps down in the basement are around 60F, which I hope is not too cold for the yeasties to eat the sugar and produce some carbonation over the course of a couple of weeks.