I couldn’t tell if I had cider here, or stale old apple juice.
So I ciphoned off a sample, only a couple ounces really, and I drank it.
Oddly enough it (TOB) tasted like unsweetened pears. It wasn’t half bad, though it still had the cloudy look of Addlestone’s. I was worried that it would be too sweet, and its not. Not harsh, not bitter, with a little tingle on the lips. Kinda Pear wine in nature. Not as carbonated as I thought it might be.
SO I let that sit in me a few hours with no ill effects, and I had a similar sized taste of TCS. It was more like scrumpy, but it too wasn’t sweet at all. Almost like that taste you get with green apples sometimes. I thought it would be smoother based on the taste I had a day or so ago, but it seems its still fermenting in the bottle. I need to put it in a cooler location for at least a couple weeks.
Once I’ve gotten a second opinion on it from Doyle, and I’ve adjusted the taste to more like we expected it to be. I still don’t know why I didn’t get a huge roiling head of activity in the must like the guides said I would, even after adding a pint of apple juice to the mix. Probably the combination of lower temperatures and the variety of yeast.
Doyle and I are going over to Elkhart to visit the home brew store in person, maybe I can pick up some tips there.
But pleasant or not, it IS cider my friends.