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cindilynn

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HI everyone, my name is cindilynn and i am new to this site,i come from pennsylvania,a place called elkland ever hear of it ? any way my husband and i started making wine this year i guess you would call it country wine, we have going elderberry, and apple , the elderberry came out great but the hard cider is not sweet enough, it is very strong and it is clear but it needs a little bit of flavoring. any suggestions:rolleyes:
 
Cindilynn....Welcome to a great hobby.

I have not made a hard cider, but I can tell you what I have seen suggested by others. First, did you stabilize the cider by adding metabisulphite & sorbate? If not, sweetening will probably cause fermentation to start up again.

Some people add juice flavoured the same as the cider. IE if apple cider, add apple juice. This adds sweetness & flavour.

If you just want more sweetness, you can add a simple sugar syrup or wine conditioner (basically the same thing).

I guess both of these could be done to a glass of your cider, rather than the whole batch, then you could avoid the suplhite/sorbate addition.

Steve
 
For the cider, I can recommend one of two things.
The first would be to rack it onto a can or two of apple juice concentrate (from the grocery store, make sure it's 100% apple juice with no preservatives or additives). You will then need to let the cider sit for another month or two, as the concentrate will start fermentation back up again. This will add some apple flavor though, if you have the time and/or patience to wait an extra couple months.
Your other option would be to add a non-fermentable sugar to the finished cider. Splenda works well for this. Pour yourself a glass and add just a little bit at a time until you reach the sweetness you desire, then calculate how much would be needed for the batch. You could also just bottle it as is, and add splenda to the bottom of your glass before you serve the cider. This will not add any apple flavor, but will make it taste sweeter.
 

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