Help me make sure I have my cider steps correct

Wisluggo · 02-08-2012, 12:21 AM

Hi fellow brewers,
I have a batch of cider in the carboy on day 3 of fermentation. It is a batch of 5 gallons with 4# of brown sugar, on Nottingham yeast. Help me make sure I have my next steps correct. SG was 1080

1. Wait until the fg is where I want it to be, then prime and bottle.
2. Test the bottles until the desired carb is reached then bottle pasteurize.

Or I could

1. Wait until fermentation is complete (side question, how far down will nottingham ferment down to?)
2. Back sweeten?
3. Prime then bottle?

Thanks for the guidance!

**DWavs** · 02-08-2012, 12:29 AM

Both examples are correct.

Notingham should ferment down to around 1.000

Wisluggo · 02-08-2012, 12:55 AM

Thank you.

If I want to back sweeten, can I add the xylitol get it to the right sweetness and then add the priming sugar and bottle in the same day?

**DWavs** · 02-08-2012, 01:06 AM

Yes, but be careful with xylitol. Some have reported that it give you the runs. A quick google search confirms this.

Wisluggo · 02-08-2012, 01:13 AM

That would make for an interesting evening.
Other suggestions for back sweetening?

**DWavs** · 02-08-2012, 01:28 AM

Kinda hit and miss with the artificial sweeteners. I tried Truvia by tasting it out of the container and thought I liked it but doesn't seem to do well in the cider.

I have a current batch going and I plan on letting it reach 1.012ish, which will still let it have some natural sweetness, carb it up, and then pastuerize it to kill the yeast.

**DWavs** · 02-08-2012, 01:29 AM

or you could learn to like dry cider...which many do.

**dinnerstick** · 02-08-2012, 06:48 AM

with og of 1.080 if will ferment well below 1.000, closer to 0.990

vze2hnvz · 02-09-2012, 02:18 AM

A test batch I let go to .998, I back sweetened with Stevie. Out of all the sweeteners I've tried, I like Stevie the best. Clean, with no aftertaste. This cider is only a few months old, so I back sweetened on a per-sample basis until it ages a bit. I just started out with cider this year so I'm still on a learning curve. Taking that into consideration, my favorite ones so far (out of about 50 gallons this season) are the ones I arrested fermentation via cold crashing at 1.015 - 1.020, stabilized with Campden and sorbate and then kegged. Next season I will just try repeated cold crashing with no sorbate and see how it goes.