Extremely dry cider at 1006 fg

[TrappistBeerFan]

I've recently done my first ever brew which is a cider that finished fermenting at 1006.

This is the driest cider I have ever drank. It's not unpleasant but mouth puckeringly dry.

Out of interest can any body tell me how much sugar or how to work out how much sugar there is per litre when the fg is 1006?

Hydrometer charts seem to start at 1010.

My friend is a diabetic so it would be handy if I could let him know the exact sugar content when he comes over to try it.

One of my favourite beers, Duvel has an fg of 1002 and is nowhere near as dry as my cider. Is there something I could do next time to make it less dry without adding sugar or sweeteners after the fermentation?

Cheers






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[MyPencil]

what was the SG? Also what brand apple juice did you use? Did it have ascorbic acid in it? What kind of yest did you use? Did you add sugar? Post the recipe.

 

[Gitmoe]

1.006 isn't that dry for cider really. Most of my ciders when properly fermented drop to 1.000 or even the .996 range. A lot of commercial ciders run in the 1.020 - 1.030 range. That's what I refer to as super sweet. I'd call 1.006 off dry. You're probably getting the puckering effect from high acid content, most likely malic acid. If you're getting a mouth drying effect that's high tannins with too little acid to balance. Sounds you would prefer a back-sweetened cider...

 

[TrappistBeerFan]

I used apples that my neighbour had in storage, a mixture of eating and cooking.

The sg was 1055.

I did not add any sugar.

I used a pack of youngs cider yeast, not sure what the strain is.

I did not add any other ingredients or additives.

It had pretty much finished fermenting at 1006 so I bottled it with a small amount of sugar in each bottle.

It is very dry and also has a vinegary taste to it.

It's actually the vinegary taste that bothers me more, as I actually like very dry drinks.




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[Gitmoe]

If you didn't use any sulfites to control wild yeast / bacteria that would explain your vinegar taste. Most likely caused by acetobacter but possibly a by product of a wild yeast. If it's acetobacter bacteria that's what makes vinegar into vinegar. The batch will taste more and more like vinegar as time goes on. If it's a by product of wild yeast, that flavor will age out but be prepared to wait a long time. I've had batches with the same flavor that were completely wild fermented. I like to do wild batches which means no sulfites, no pitched yeast, just let nature do its' thing. The batches with the character you're referring to eventually aged out but it took 9+ months in the bottle....

 

[oljimmy]

Hi trappist,

The answer is fairly simple, and it probably doesn't involve acetobacter and vinegar. Puckery-dryness in cider is largely a result of sugar vs. acid. You used cooking and eating apples, which are quite often very acidic, and at 1.006, nearly all of the original sugar is gone. Odds are, the acid is swamping the sugars in your mouth and producing the "puckery" taste. It should slowly improve with age, but an overly acidic juice is very hard to turn into a very smooth cider.

Welcome to cider... it's a harsh drink to make precisely because so much depends on what you start with. If you use Lavlin 71b yeast and ferment to total dryness then backsweeten with low-acid AJC +pasteurize, you can reduce the acid.

 

[TrappistBeerFan]

Thanks for the advice guys.


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