Stopping Fermentation/Bottling

First time cider brewer here. I'll give you a quick run down of what I have, what I am looking for, and finally the questions.

Don't have any measuring equipment yet such as a hydrometer but here is what is in my carboy.

-2.5 gallons local (Roanoke VA) pressed apple juice
-Half cup brown sugar (wanted a little fallish mollassis taste, I know it probably isn't normal)
-Half cup honey
-Champagne yeast

It has currently been fermenting for 3 weeks in my house that stays about 68-72 degrees.

I am looking to have a hard cider that is somewhere between a beer and a wine in terms of alcohol content so that is why I added some sugar instead of just straight juice.

I want the cider to not be carbonated. Therefore, I was going to stop the fermentation/make sure it is done before bottling. I was then going to let it sit for several weeks/months until ready to drink.

In order to make sure my bottles don't blow, what would be recommended? I have read what looks like four different options...
1) Wait until all the sugar is used up by the yeast (may be a strong ABV that needs to sit for a while before drinking)
2) Use potassium sorbate to kill all the yeast (may give a slight sulfur taste)
3) Use a form of heat pasteurizing to kill the yeast yet not burn off the alcohol
4) Cold Crashing for 3 or 4 days (not sure if this will only slow down the yeast and then make my bottle blow later once it heats back up and starts fermenting again)

Is there another option? Or would someone recommend that I do one of these? Keep in mind I'm not interested in carbonating, so I do want to go ahead and kill all the yeast I believe.

Thanks for any advice!

Go with option one (fermentation should be close to done) and an educated guess says you are going to be around 7% abv with those ingedients. Hope that helps!

Thanks. My plan is to keep an eye on it for the next week and then bottle it once the bubbles stop coming through my stopper/U-trap.

drewmey said:

Thanks. My plan is to keep an eye on it for the next week and then bottle it once the bubbles stop coming through my stopper/U-trap.

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That's a very dangerous way to do it. If it's not bubbling, and totally clear, you can rack it (siphon it) to a new vessel. If it's no longer dropping ANY lees at all (sediment), then it might be safe to bottle.

It would be much safer to get a hydrometer.

For a still non-sweet cider, it would be much more beneficial to rack it off of the lees, top up, and let it clear. I would wait until it was in a fresh vessel, and no longer dropping lees after at least 60 days before bottling.

Yooper said:

That's a very dangerous way to do it. If it's not bubbling, and totally clear, you can rack it (siphon it) to a new vessel. If it's no longer dropping ANY lees at all (sediment), then it might be safe to bottle.

It would be much safer to get a hydrometer.

For a still non-sweet cider, it would be much more beneficial to rack it off of the lees, top up, and let it clear. I would wait until it was in a fresh vessel, and no longer dropping lees after at least 60 days before bottling.

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I let my one gallon batch go for nine days in primary before racking to sec. It had little to no airlock activity before racking, and now I have about half an inch from where the bottle starts to curve in of head space. Is this to much empty space? I don't want to top off with extra juice cause I like the taste for the most part and its been a week already. Should I drop some campden in and bottle?

bigego236 said:

I let my one gallon batch go for nine days in primary before racking to sec. It had little to no airlock activity before racking, and now I have about half an inch from where the bottle starts to curve in of head space. Is this to much empty space? I don't want to top off with extra juice cause I like the taste for the most part and its been a week already. Should I drop some campden in and bottle?

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Campden will help prevent oxidation, but it's not magic! If you've got too much headspace, you can try adding some sanitized marbles to take up some headspace.

Yooper said:

Campden will help prevent oxidation, but it's not magic! If you've got too much headspace, you can try adding some sanitized marbles to take up some headspace.

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Neat trick! Thanks!

Yooper: Thanks for the advice. Since this is my first time I am not really willing to take too many risks. Because you say it is a little dangerous, I have decided to kill the yeast by bringing it up to 180-190 degrees in boiling water. Should be easy considering I am rebottling them back in their original half gallon glass containers. According to the sticky at the front of the cider forum, sounds like ten minutes at that temperature should do the trick.

drewmey said:

Yooper: Thanks for the advice. Since this is my first time I am not really willing to take too many risks. Because you say it is a little dangerous, I have decided to kill the yeast by bringing it up to 180-190 degrees in boiling water. Should be easy considering I am rebottling them back in their original half gallon glass containers. According to the sticky at the front of the cider forum, sounds like ten minutes at that temperature should do the trick.

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I've never attempted that. But I think ethanol (the alcohol in the cider) boils off below those temperatures.

What's the issue with waiting for it to be done, though? I don't get that. If you bottle now, even if successful, there will still be a ton of crap that settles out in the bottom of the bottles and each pour will stir that up again. I guess some people wouldn't mind it, but I would find it gross. Just waiting a month, until the cider is completely clear and no longer dropping sediment, means a "cleaner" finished product, no heat to damage it, and no risk of bottle bombs. There isn't any disadvantage to waiting.

Yooper said:

I've never attempted that. But I think ethanol (the alcohol in the cider) boils off below those temperatures.

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Agreed. I'm thinking that if you bring up the temp in your cider (after fermentation) you might lose your alcohol. You'll just end up with Apple-O'doul's. I like mine to give me a sense of invincibility and the charisma of Robert Dinero.

I completely agree that it is just easier and more simple to wait and siphone a second time to remove as much yeast as possible. However, i don't agree about the alcohol thing. Alcohol begins to boil off at 170 degrees whereas yeast tends to die at 140. Also you have to boil alcohol for about 15 minutes just to remove about 50 percent of the alcohol. So i would think having the exterior at 190 would have almost no affect on the alcohol content. By the time the temperature begins to reach equilibrium between the two, the temperature should be less than 170. Then again...Haha this is my first time doing this.

I think i worded it wrong initially. I meant bring up the water to 190, turn it off, put the cider in, wait. Contents in the bottle probably won't reach 170 unless you leave it a long time. But yeah, it will be cleaner, less work and safer the way you mentioned.

drewmey said:

I completely agree that it is just easier and more simple to wait and siphone a second time to remove as much yeast as possible. However, i don't agree about the alcohol thing. Alcohol begins to boil off at 170 degrees whereas yeast tends to die at 140. Also you have to boil alcohol for about 15 minutes just to remove about 50 percent of the alcohol. So i would think having the exterior at 190 would have almost no affect on the alcohol content. By the time the temperature begins to reach equilibrium between the two, the temperature should be less than 170. Then again...Haha this is my first time doing this.

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Ok, if I can't dissuade you, please be VERY careful. Because the cider is young, it will be gassy and will easily blow up when heated. Keep the kettle covered, and keep children and pets out of the area until all are cooled.

Here's the thing- you wouldn't have to worry about "killing the yeast" anyway, if you'd get a $5 hydrometer and make sure fermentation is finished before bottling. Or wait a month. Seriously.

Unnecessarily pasteurizing something that either (or both) time or a $5 hydrometer would fix is really just making a super simple process difficult, time consuming and dangerous.

But you've been warned by people who have only been doing this, I dunno, 20 or 25 years. Once a bottle blows up in your kitchen, perhaps you will be more patient next time.

Be safe.

Ha I am in no way disagreeing with you. You are most certainly right. Currently I have no second carboy to siphon to and no store at which to buy a hydrometer. I will be investing in both very soon. I will be preforming the method you described with future batches because it makes the most sense and I know that it will be worth any extra time waiting.

Side note/question...is it likely that bottles will blow with a cider that has no carbonation? I had no trouble with mine but can see it easily occurring.

I have made flat and carb cider. I have had bad cider where it doesn't ferment and I had to spike it. My two cents: sorbate the ***** up!! I make wine and I don't get sulfur taste.
I would NOT heat it for a million dollars. It will let out aromas, alcohol and flavors you want to retain.
You can rack it, leave most yeast behind, then add enough apple juice that has sorbate ( boil it for safety even if it should be pretty ok not boiled). After all this I would park it in a cold place before bottling. Then bottle it. Now to prevent explosions I put some in a plastic bottle and I would treat it just like you treat your glass ones. I it becomes too puffy, refrigerate again and start drinking ehehh.
Good luck !
Maria