Cider question

[ed71]

Ok made my first batch using 1 gallon from a used distilled gallon jug. Went to store bought 100% apple juice no preservatives and threw in a wine yeast Lalvin Kv-v1116. gravity reading shows 1.000 but Im thinking my hydrometer is off since the stuff is bubbling a small bit. I poured a glass and tasted and it tastes dry. My question is.........what does hard Cider supposed to taste like? Dry,Sweet, Sour, or somewhere in between? Ive never tasted hard cider in my life and not about to go to store and spend like 6 bucks. Everyone I ask personally tells me they recall it being sweet. But Im thinking they got regular cider mixed with hard cider.

Ed

[TheDarkSide]

With that yeast, it will be dry, almost metallic tasting. It can go below 1.000. You can always backsweeten it a bit or a lot depending on how sweet you like it. I use about 2-3 cans of apple juice concentrate to backsweeten most of the time.

You'll need to keep it cold, filter out the yeast, or stabilize with chemicals...otherwise the yeast will just eat up what you added. I stabilize mine with Campden and Sorbate K.

A lot of the commercial stuff in the store is kept sweet to appeal to the female market.

[spiderwrangler]

I use about 2-3 cans of apple juice concentrate to backsweeten most of the time..

Which would be way too much for his 1 gal...

I like a drier cider myself, so usually don't backsweeten as I want a dry sparkling type cider. I'll add other things to the juice or during the ferment to get more complexity of flavor... other juices, spices, sugars, etc.

[ed71]

Thanks guys...then I haven't lost my mind. Friends of mine keep telling me the stuff is sweet. I usually like my wine dry also. But in the end it didnt matter...I just sucked the whole gallon down even though It was cloudy. Good stuff to get drunk off of.

Ed