Hello,
I am wanting to make my first batch of Hard cider (sweet) and have read a lot of different methods... I was trying to decide between these two options...
Option 1: Stop fermentation early (preserving?). I figure when I take the OG of store bought cider it will be around 1.05 or so. So I was thinking if I add brown sugar to get it up to 1.08, and then ferment til about 1.02-1.035, it should still be sweet and the abv would be about 6-8% if my calculations are correct. At this point I would either bottle it and let it sit a few weeks to a month or rack it to a secondary and let it sit a few weeks to a month before bottling.
Option 2: Add little to no sugar prior to fermentation, and the OG would be around 1.05 or 1.06, let it ferment out and still be around 6-8% abv, and then I would back sweeten with a can of juice concentrate or something.
I am using WLP720 Sweet Mead yeast and would be stopping fermentation with campden tablets/potassium sorbate.
My goal is to make a sweet hard cider, something that tastes similar to store bought cider with a bit of an alcohol kick to it.
I would like to use option 1, but I'm not sure if it could smell strong of sulfur if I stop fermentation early or if there are other negative affects to doing it that way?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I am wanting to make my first batch of Hard cider (sweet) and have read a lot of different methods... I was trying to decide between these two options...
Option 1: Stop fermentation early (preserving?). I figure when I take the OG of store bought cider it will be around 1.05 or so. So I was thinking if I add brown sugar to get it up to 1.08, and then ferment til about 1.02-1.035, it should still be sweet and the abv would be about 6-8% if my calculations are correct. At this point I would either bottle it and let it sit a few weeks to a month or rack it to a secondary and let it sit a few weeks to a month before bottling.
Option 2: Add little to no sugar prior to fermentation, and the OG would be around 1.05 or 1.06, let it ferment out and still be around 6-8% abv, and then I would back sweeten with a can of juice concentrate or something.
I am using WLP720 Sweet Mead yeast and would be stopping fermentation with campden tablets/potassium sorbate.
My goal is to make a sweet hard cider, something that tastes similar to store bought cider with a bit of an alcohol kick to it.
I would like to use option 1, but I'm not sure if it could smell strong of sulfur if I stop fermentation early or if there are other negative affects to doing it that way?
Thanks in advance for any advice.