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This is my first time brewing hard cider. My cider is a yellow/brown colour, smells and tastes a bit sour (think apple cider vinegar), is still sweet but also has these funky bits floating ontop. I juiced the apples myself, sterilised equipment but did not use a Camden tablet. I used Safale-05 yeast. It has been fermenting in a fermenter with an airlock for 1 month.
Is this normal? What should it look/taste like?
This looks normal. Tartness is normal. Soon it should begin to clear, maybe another couple of weeks. Be aware however that every time you open the lid and look at it like this, your are inviting wild bacteria and yeast including the acetobacter which causes vinegar to enter into the cider to sour and/or funkify it. My advice is to cool it down, into the 50s Fahrenheit if you can (or 12-13 C), and then just leave it alone for at least another 2-3 weeks, before looking at it again.
