Bottling ????

I've been reading on here for days now and still haven't gotten my answer . Ok so how to bottle cider carbonated or dry doesn't matter to me just trying to get a strait answer to work with can anyone explain this one to me . To give you an idea on taste it's like a dry wine but its far from ready

It would be helpful if you asked your question more fully - it may just be me but I 'm not clear on what exactly you are asking.

One point of clarification - carbonated and dry are not opposites. Carbonated (bubbly) and still (no bubbles) are opposites, as are dry and sweet.

If you are interested in bottling your still, dry cider, its simple - sanitize beer or wine bottles, fill with cider and cap.

If you want carbonated and sweeter than dry, then it gets more complicated. Let us know what you are interested in.

I found several very good sticky's on cider here. Not alot different than brewing beer methods right up till after bottling. Then you have to decide to pasturize or not. "Not" means refridgeration, pasturizing means you can store outside the fridge. There's a wealth of informtion here, just have to look.

lgilmore said:

I found several very good sticky's on cider here. Not alot different than brewing beer methods right up till after bottling. Then you have to decide to pasturize or not. "Not" means refridgeration, pasturizing means you can store outside the fridge. There's a wealth of informtion here, just have to look.

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that only applies to a sweet and sparkling cider, as pappers wrote above. for dry and sparkling cider you treat it exactly like beer.

"that only applies to a sweet and sparkling cider, as pappers wrote above. for dry and sparkling cider you treat it exactly like beer."

That is why I suggested he look at all the information in the forum on the topic. I was being very general, not necessarily specific as he hasn't made any statement that tells us exactly what he wants beyond cider. Notice the first and last sentence in my post... Thanks.

ok

if you want dry, carbonated cider: after fermentation, bottle as you would beer

if you want carbonated cider with any amount of sweetness: option 1 -- after fermentation, back-sweeten with stevia or xylitol in the bottling bucket. then bottle as you would beer. option 2 -- after fermentation, back-sweeten with apple juice concentrate, honey, or other sugar and then bottle as you would beer (including the sugar), but monitor carbonation. after desired carbonation level is achieved (test every couple of days), pasteurize the bottles. option 3 -- before the cider has completely fermented and when it is at the sweetness you desire, bottle as you would beer (including the sugar), but monitor carbonation. after desired carbonation level is achieved (test every couple of days), pasteurize the bottles

If you want still, dry cider: After fermentation, bottle without adding anything and cap

If you want still cider with any amount of sweetness: After fermentation, neutralize remaining yeast with campden & potassium sorbate. Rest 48 hours. Back sweeten with apple juice concentrate, honey, or some other sweetener. Bottle.


Note that if you keg or you have room in your fridge for the entire batch, there are even more options.

All these answers are great! Thanks guys I just am afraid of bottle bombs I am giving these as gifts so I don't want any casualties in there houses my basement fine lol

Ok, these are great answers (not trying to hijack this thread, it's just a good discussion). If I back sweeten, and let it stop fermenting (stable gravity) can I prime and bottle and get any kind of carbonation? Or should I crash, and bottle? I have a batch right now that really needs to age. But I want to have it be carbonated and I also just added some fresh cider after primary. What do I do?

diptherunner said:

Ok, these are great answers (not trying to hijack this thread, it's just a good discussion). If I back sweeten, and let it stop fermenting (stable gravity) can I prime and bottle and get any kind of carbonation? Or should I crash, and bottle? I have a batch right now that really needs to age. But I want to have it be carbonated and I also just added some fresh cider after primary. What do I do?

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If you back-sweetened with a sugar, such as juice concentrate or honey or cane/dorn sugar (as opposed to a sweetner like xylitol or stevia) and then primed and bottled you would get bottle bombs unless you pasteurize after you get the carb level you want. The yeast would eat and eat and eat and eat because you gave them so much food. The yeast don't distinguish between your back-sweetening sugar and your priming sugar.

If I bottled it now, would the flavor profile change to the same extent as if I left it in a carboy for a while? Or will it be stuck?

diptherunner said:

If I bottled it now, would the flavor profile change to the same extent as if I left it in a carboy for a while? Or will it be stuck?

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Age is age, whether in bulk (carboy) or in bottles. Some people prefer one over the other, but positive flavor changes definitely occur either way.

It's all good man ! That's what this site is for but i got a question about pasteurization ? How do you do it when it's bottled since I would like it to be sparkling cider anything in that subject ?

Here's your answer to that one. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/