First cider, read through the posts but still have questions

[pfooti]

Hehe, yeah that would work too. I was talking to my wife about the ginger ale problem, and she said - "I'll just put a little simple syrup in the glass when I drink it". Simple is easy.

[Dike]

Well I bottled both the ciders the other day and had a taste of each. They each finished a little below 1.000. The apple cider definitely has some off flavors, but I can't put my finger on what they are. At first I thought it was the meaty flavor of autolysis, but I'm not sure.

The Strawberry Apple cider, however, came out fantastic. The strawberry flavor really comes though, even after the fermentation process. It's not overpowering, but it's definitely a nice touch. I'll be making this again for sure!

[AdamWiz]

I'm a little late on this, but next time you make cider, try sweetening it by adding some xylitol when you rack to secondary. It is sold at most health food stores(the brand I have used is called "xylosweet") and I have even seen it at some more mainstream grocery stores. It is unfermentable as far as I have been told, it worked well for me. Add about 2-3 tablespoons per gallon of cider. I also have added just a tiny bit of apple flavoring at bottling if I feel there isn't enough apple flavor left after fermentation. I think I have added something like 1/4 oz. to a gallon for just a little extra hint of apple, nothing overpowering. Funny thing about cider: we don't expect our beer to taste like barley, we don't expect our wine to taste like grape juice, so why do we expect our cider to taste like apples? But I like a bit more "appleyness" than is normally left after fermenting. I have heard that stevia sweeteners are unfermentable as well, but have never used any. Hope this is of some help.

-Adam