First Cider Attempt - Final Results

Raspberry Cider

Side Notes:

I decided to backsweeten with a pound of lactose sugar. This worked GREAT. It was pretty dry to begin with, but this gave it just enough residual sugar to not make you pucker after drinking it. I sweetened a glass a little bit more with some Splenda, which made it way too sweet. One pound of lactose sugar seemed perfect. (I suppose now I can call it a Raspberry Milk Cider...eww.)

I carbed it with 2 cans of Treetop 100% apple juice concentrate. This was way too much. In fact, after 1.5 weeks of sitting in the closet, my bottle caps were bulging!! I had to put all the leftovers in the fridge to stop any active fermentation and prevent bottle bombs. When you pour it in a glass there is a head that fills the glass instantly and to the top. Next time I think 1 can of concentrate per 5 gallons will be perfect for carbing. Especially with cider, a big head isn't too good anyway.

Results

Aroma - Nice and "appley" if that's a word. There is a very faint hint of raspberry, but this is hardly noticeable by smell.

Appearance - Pinkish brown. Since there is much more apple juice rather than raspberry, the raspberry only slightly modified the color. So the majority of the apple juice (yellowish-brown) is coming through.

Taste - Nice! Most people let cider age in the bottle for at least a few months, and up to a year or two. But since we were going to a family gathering, most was consumed within a week or two. Still, it was very good. Time would only age it better. It has a slight yeasty taste to it, which I'm still trying to get out of all my brews (perhaps only with a filter). There is definitely an apple flavor to it (there should be!), and I think this would come out even more without the excessive carbing. The raspberry flavor wasn't as pronounced as I had hoped. Next time I may try a different flavoring (extract perhaps) or I'll just add it to the primary fermenter. I would definitely make this again, but I'd like to split it into two batches and only flavor half.

Aftertaste - Not much of an aftertaste. Fairly clean (other than a slight yeast taste) and finishes pretty dry. Gives a good belch with all the carbonation :)