Why is carbonating cider different than beer ?

Little confused on why you need to pasteurize cider if adding any fermentable sweetener but not beer.
We know to use a certain amount of sugar to carb beer without creating bombs why not cider ?
Why is it different?
Thanks, have my 1st 5 gallons cider in primary .

Cause there is non fermentable sugars in beer. if you added more fermentable sugars in beer you would have the same issues.

I think I have the same question in a sense of the op, think he means when bottling we add corn sugar to bottle condition but you always hear it's a no no to bottle condition cider with out pasteurizing.

Is there an easy way to bottle cider to get carbonation with out pasteurizing or are you always at risk of bombs with that?

You only have to pasteurize if you're making sweet cider, and you're not using some non-fermentable, like lactose or xylitol.

For dry cider, wait until fermentation is complete, add priming sugar, and bottle. The yeast will eat the sugar until the cider is dry again, and your cider will be dry and bubbly.

1fast636 said:

I think I have the same question in a sense of the op, think he means when bottling we add corn sugar to bottle condition but you always hear it's a no no to bottle condition cider with out pasteurizing.

Is there an easy way to bottle cider to get carbonation with out pasteurizing or are you always at risk of bombs with that?

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Cider is just like beer with carbonating- add the proper amount of priming sugar and (just like beer) it will carb properly. There is no reason to pasteurize or anything like that normally.

The issue comes with people wanting to both sweeten AND carbonate their cider. The yeast can't be told that some of the sugar is for carbing and some is for sweetening- the yeast will ferment the added sugar. That's why some people pasteurize- they want a sweetened and carbonated beverage.

For a dry carbonated cider, no need to pasteurize. For a still (noncarbed) dry cider, no need to pasteurize. For a sweetened still (noncarbed) cider, no need to pasteurize. It's only when fermentable sugar is added for sweetening AND the cider is to be carbed naturally by the yeast is when something like pasteurization need to be done to stop the yeast.

I'm not an experienced cider maker by any means (5-6 batches of Ed Wort's Apfelwein) but I bottle carb the apfelwein just like beer.

Ferment to completion, add sugar to desired level of carbonation and then bottle.

It was my understanding, you pasteurize when you *don't* ferment to completion, i.e. when you want some residual sweetness in your cider. You kill the yeast before they eat all the sugar.

Edit to add:

D'oh!!! beaten by burninator and Yooper... I guess I should refresh before posting

The carbonating part is not different. The difference is that beer finishes sweeter than cider does and matches the commercial product. Most commercial ciders are very sweet, and the cider will never finish anywhere near that level of sweetness without a lot of intervention.


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I too did not type fast enough

Ah I got it now I was under the assumption it was not the same process. Sweet looks like I will have a happy wife in a few months after I get this cider going with 001

OK so sweetened and carbonated is where the issue is. If you want it sweet and carbonated then you have to stop the yeast by pasteurizing it to keep it sweet.

Thanks everyone ! Was having brain cramps over this being a newb to cider.

OR: Have a friend who is moving out of state give you his keg setup that he never used and force carb

I finally got around to playing with the keg and everything seems to be working correctly. I just need to clean it out and off I go! Still debating on carbing a cider, skeeter pee, or a brown ale kit I've been sitting on for a while.

Apple_Jacker said:

OR: Have a friend who is moving out of state give you his keg setup that he never used and force carb

I finally got around to playing with the keg and everything seems to be working correctly. I just need to clean it out and off I go! Still debating on carbing a cider, skeeter pee, or a brown ale kit I've been sitting on for a while.

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Not entirely. If you're making a dry cider sure. If you're making a sweetened cider you'd need to either sulphate (or sulphite), pasteurize, or something to prevent the yeast from kicking into gear again. Suppose you could also go to the point of giving your yeast alcohol poisoning and then they couldn't ferment the remaining sugars. Without doing any of those you'd end up in the same situation.

Zepth said:

Not entirely. If you're making a dry cider sure. If you're making a sweetened cider you'd need to either sulphate (or sulphite), pasteurize, or something to prevent the yeast from kicking into gear again. Suppose you could also go to the point of giving your yeast alcohol poisoning and then they couldn't ferment the remaining sugars. Without doing any of those you'd end up in the same situation.

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no, that's not necessarily so. Most keg folks have fridges. Almost all yeast strains are dormant at fridge temps, so fermentation restarting is not an issue.

I was thinking of making it still with potassium sorbate and metabisulfite, sweetening to your liking, then force carbing