by blandy » Wednesday Jul 05, 2006 9:14 am
I brewed the Black Rock Cider just as a kit and kilo in the spring of last year, and it was delicious. Bad luck that either you don't like it or something went wrong. If you really want that appely taste to come out more, I reckon putting chopped up apples, apple juice or another can into the fermenter would be good ways of doing it. Watch out, you will not only be adding apple flavour but also more fermentable sugars, so you may want to cur down on the glucose or whatever else you're putting in (then again the added alcohol may be an added bonus, personally I like about 5-6%).
A mate of mine was once brewing in a share-house and they made some cider. They decided to substitute some of the water for apple juice and skip on the glucose. At the last moment one of the housemates decided that the apple juice didn't have enough fermentable sugars in it and put the glucose in anyway. Needless to say, this got referred to as the "death cider."
Other thoughts:
What was you're final volume? I think the can suggests 21L but Brewcraft suggested 18L (I used 18L in mine)
Don't use lactose if you want a dry cider.
Is there enough malt in the #15 kit converter to make it taste more like beer and less like cider?
If you're used t sweet cider then I can understand you describing a dry one as "funny beer." If this is the case, try a good commercial dry cider, I reccommend Mercury Dry (available at DM), although this is just a personal preference.
My cider took a while to age, for about four months it was the flattest homebrew I have ever made, then it took off and now I have to open the bottles over the sink.
I left my fermenter in my other pants