To sweeten or not to sweeten?

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So do you or don't you?

  • Hell yeah I sweeten!

  • I like it dry.


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Damian

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Hi, everyone. I'm very new to cider and I am just about to put down my 1st batch. I'm wondering if most people sweeten their cider or do most people let it ferment out and carb it up?
 
Dry and sparkling. I make higher alcohol % ciders, so if I wanted still(wine) I'd just go for that.
 
Don't mean to hijack (although that's exactly what I'm doing)...

What's the best way to sweeten? I'm guessing unfermentable sugar, but what adds sweetness and a little body without flavor? Anybody know a good amount for a 1 gallon batch?

Thanks.
 
Sweeten and carb. I make 5 gallon batches and sweeten with 3-5 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate (and sometimes caramel syrup) then stove-top pasteurize. For 1 gallon, I'd use between a half and whole can of fajc, but browse Pappers' stove-top pasteurizing thread first. There are other options, like the non-fermentables you mentioned.
 
Keith66 said:
Sweeten and carb. I make 5 gallon batches and sweeten with 3-5 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate (and sometimes caramel syrup) then stove-top pasteurize. For 1 gallon, I'd use between a half and whole can of fajc, but browse Pappers' stove-top pasteurizing thread first. There are other options, like the non-fermentables you mentioned.

So you force carb?

I'm not ready for a 5 gallon batch, and brewing a gallon and putting it in my 5gal keg seems absurd. Planned on bottling, so I think I'm going to go with maltodextrine or lactose. Anyone have good experience with one or the other (or both)? How much? Thanks.
 
Sorry, no, I sweeten then bottle on the same day, then allow it to carb in the bottles for a few days, then pasteurize to kill the yeast and stop fermentation. Pasteurizing involves putting the pressurized bottles into 190° water which can have obvious risks. Nonfermentable sweeteners avoid this risk.
 
Keith66 said:
Sorry, no, I sweeten then bottle on the same day, then allow it to carb in the bottles for a few days, then pasteurize to kill the yeast and stop fermentation. Pasteurizing involves putting the pressurized bottles into 190° water which can have obvious risks. Nonfermentable sweeteners avoid this risk.

I see. I have heard of this method, but I didn't understand that you were doing it that way. Thanks.
 
Freisste, let me direct you to a couple good threads.

Upstatemike started a thread called Caramel Apple Hard Cider, which starts with a specific recipe, but has tons of general apple cider information. Like most long threads it gets repetitive, so no need to read all 105 pages.

Another great thread is Easy Stove-Top Pasteurizing With Pics by Pappers. It too has lots of good info, and no need to read all 82 pages.

I've made a handful of apple and other ciders based largely on the info in these two threads. If you have any other questions I'll do my best to answer them.
 
Thanks for the info, Keith. Really good stuff. I'll keep these within reach when I formulate my final recipe. I'm still planning on a somewhat sweet sparkling cider, but I'm a little nervous about the pasteurization. I had hoped to process it a little more like beer - end up with the body/sweetness of the final product, add fermentable sugar based on volumes of CO2 desired, bottle and forget about it. Hence the maltodextrine or lactose. Just don't know which to use or how much.
 
Hi, I've decided to go with semi-sweet. If I bottle at 1.008, wait until carbed and than pop in the dishwasher, will this get me close?
 
Hi, I've decided to go with semi-sweet. If I bottle at 1.008, wait until carbed and than pop in the dishwasher, will this get me close?

I think it will. I've fermented mine all the way down to 0.995 before backsweetening, and 0.995 doesn't taste as dry as you'd think, so 1.008 should still have some sweetness to it. Of course it also depends on the juice and yeast, and I'm still experimenting in that area. As for the dishwasher, I've read accounts of that working, so it's worth a try. I might try it next time. I personally would store in the garage afterward just in case.
 
Thanks Keith, would you call Magners semi sweet. That is what i am aiming for.
I picked up the apple juice fresh from the orchard today. tastes nice but it's very dark.
 
Some people use the dishwasher and can get away with it, I just don't trust that the dishwasher will do the job, specially if you want to bottle age/condition. My cider with 2 months in the bottle taste 10 times better than they did younger.
 
Thanks Keith, would you call Magners semi sweet. That is what i am aiming for.
I picked up the apple juice fresh from the orchard today. tastes nice but it's very dark.

Never heard of Magners. I've had Woodchuck, Widmer, and a couple other American ciders, and they're pretty sweet. Dry Blackthorn and Strongbow are both British, and I consider them semi-dry I guess. I'm probably way off though. Make sure that fresh juice is pasteurized. If not, you'll need to use Camden to kill any natural bugs in it.
 
Some people use the dishwasher and can get away with it, I just don't trust that the dishwasher will do the job, specially if you want to bottle age/condition. My cider with 2 months in the bottle taste 10 times better than they did younger.

Regardless of what you want to do with it after it's pasteurized, if the dishwasher doesn't do the job, you'll know in a few days when the bombs start going off. I haven't heard of this happening to anyone though. And I expected my ciders to improve with age, but the first one a day after pasteurizing tasted the same as the last one a couple months later, at least as far as I could tell.
 
Hi Keith, Magners also goes by the name of Bulmers. By far my favorite cider. The bitterness is very close to beer. Not sure how they manage that.
 
I've used the dishwasher to pasteurise on many brews and strongly advocate this method. I recommend using the longest hottest setting you have, usually Intensive or something like that.

I have stopped a brew (Upstate Mike Caramel Apple Hard Cider) at 1014 and backsweetened as per the recipe - the dishwasher stopped that. The flavour still improved in the bottle as time went on.
 
I've used the dishwasher to pasteurise on many brews and strongly advocate this method. I recommend using the longest hottest setting you have, usually Intensive or something like that.

I have stopped a brew (Upstate Mike Caramel Apple Hard Cider) at 1014 and backsweetened as per the recipe - the dishwasher stopped that. The flavour still improved in the bottle as time went on.

Thank you! Dishwasher it is!... on the Sanitize setting.
 
My intensive setting runs for 2 hrs and I get a bottled 6 gallon brew done at once.
 
My cider is in the dw as we speak/type. I had to tilt or lay the bottles on their side, but they're in there, all 57 of them. I set it on normal wash, high heat, and sanitize. If that doesn't do it... ... ... If that doesn't do it, I'll find out soon enough! I just hope I don't get any bombs in the dw. At 1.030 it carbed in just 48 hours! No gushers, but almost. Stay tuned!
 
Keith66 said:
Freisste, let me direct you to a couple good threads.

Upstatemike started a thread called Caramel Apple Hard Cider, which starts with a specific recipe, but has tons of general apple cider information. Like most long threads it gets repetitive, so no need to read all 105 pages.

Another great thread is Easy Stove-Top Pasteurizing With Pics by Pappers. It too has lots of good info, and no need to read all 82 pages.

I've made a handful of apple and other ciders based largely on the info in these two threads. If you have any other questions I'll do my best to answer them.

What he says.
 
Just a word of warning, I pitched a big starter to 11 gallons of fresh juice. It was at 1.008 after 5 days. I bottled at 1.008 and after 30 hours I had gushers and had to pour all 100 bottles back into the fermentor. Will aerating the cider whilst pouring it back into the fermentor have any adverse affects on the cider?
 
damian I think you'd be better off recaping, and adding extra sugar to each to reach the desired level depending on the SG of the bottles. Pouring that much cider is almost a guaranteed oxidation mess.
 
Hi Randzor, unfortunately i have already poured it back into the fermentor. As soon as i loosened the caps it starter pouring out. Fingers crossed it is drinkable.
 

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