my cider has too little 'bite'. It taste a bit sweet, and lacks bite. It has an alcoholic content of 5% by volume which I don't really want to change much. Should I be looking at different strains of yeast, different apples, or take a look at my whole productionline? I have tried different blends of apples, but none so far have generated a good result.
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Many orchards in the Midwest that grow mostly dessert apples will often blend in a small percentage of crab apple juice. This will increase the acidity level, tartness and tannins in an uninteresting base cider. I have also used liquid wine tannin in small amounts to give the store bought cider some character. You can also use tartaric or malic acid after fermentation to lower the pH and offset the sweetness and brighten the flavor. |
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I've used tannin or acid blend to increase tartness, if this what you mean by "bite". Both of these were available at the home brewing vendors that I frequent. Made a cactus pear cider with these that has a nice edge. |
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Unless you're pressing your own cider, you're probably forced to use a sweet cider. To get 'bite' you need sourness or tartness. A lot of the best hard cider apples are very sour. Perhaps you could try adding some citric acid, tartaric acid, or some lemon juice? |
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