Ginger Cranberry Hard Cider

-5 Gallons of Apple Juice, Tree-Top Brand
-2 cans of Apple Juice Concentrate, Tree-Top Brand
-~3/4 Gallon Cranberry Juice (12 cups water, 9 cups cranberries / ~2lbs honey, 6 tbs fresh ginger, dried orange peel simmered ~30mins)
-Yeast Nutrient
-Pectic Enzyme
-Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast

Primary Ferment: ~2 weeks
Secondary Ferment:
Bottle Condition:

Original Gravity = 1.060 (aiming for ~7.88%abv)
Gravity after one week* = 1.022 (4.99% abv)
Gravity after two weeks* = 1.000 (7.88% abv)
Final Gravity = .998 (8.14% abv)

Taste after one week: Still really sweet, w/ strong amounts of cranberry flavor -- maybe too much, and good, pink coloring. Very subtle ginger notes; mostly just an after-effect, and not really noticeable up-front. Still really cloudy. Fermenting really slowly, but is progressing. Clean overall taste, not much yeasty flavor. Apple flavor is sort of bland and just sweet; maybe needing more tannin from skins, and store bought juice isn't quite enough. Continued drying & aging should help clarify and sharpen the flavors. Aroma is pretty negligible.

**Taste after two weeks: The sweetness has nearly totally fermented out, w/ good alcoholic sharpness. Has a pretty strong ginger flavor; good pink coloring still (though pretty cloudy overall). Leaves the mouth feeling dry and puckered... Overall, rather dry and tart. Decent apple notes upfront, and then bitter after taste. The yeast is still present, and some aging should mellow that out. Still thinking that the overall apple tone is somewhat flat, and that additional apple tannins would help -- though I think the freshly juiced cranberries added the needed tannins, just not apple-y ones...

[Next time: 1) Just use pre-packaged cranberry juice... 2) Add in a few fresh squeezed / pressed apples for a more robust apple flavor, especially sharp flavored apples.]