Cider v1.0

Just finished my first cider experiment batch.

• 3 gal. UV pasteurized juice, no preservatives OG 1.050
• Pitched Wyeast 4766 10/24/09
• Fermented @ 64 F
• Gravity 10/26/09 1.040
• Gravity 10/28/09 1.030
• Gravity 10/30/09 1.020
• Cold Crashed 10/31/09-11/01/09
• Bottled 11/02/09
• 11/03/09 Checked "carb tester" plastic bottle (others are glass) - very firm, gravity 1.015
• Bottle pasteurized @ 160 F for 10 min in water bath on stove
• Warm then cool water bath in sink
• Pop a top and enjoy

It's noticebly less sweet at 1.015 than 1.020 but very enjoyable. Next time I'd use KC Superclear during cold crash. It's cloudy right now but not sure if pasteurized cider would clear anyway. With heat pasteurization, I may have some pectin haze too, but it's tasty.

All in all a good 3 gallon experiment.

That looks like a good way to do bottle conditioning without the bottle bombs.

Are you going to keep the glass bottles at room temp? I'd be very interested to hear how they work out over time, in terms of staying stable after the water bath.

Did you notice any different in taste between the test bottle in plastic and the ones you heated?

Ooh, interesting technique! I'd also like to know how the cider tasted after pasteurization. Different at all, whether good or bad?

I also like the idea of a "carb tester" plastic bottle. I hadn't read that, before. When I finally do a carbonated batch, I'll definitely adopt that... and maybe this whole technique!

Kev and Gil,

The technique is from this older post:

Pasteurization methods to stabilize bottled fermented apple cider

I'd also like to know how the cider tasted after pasteurization. Different at all, whether good or bad?

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It turned out great. I opened a chilled glass bottle of cider tonight with dinner. It tasted just like the plastic bottle carb tester, off dry with a nice blend of crispness, tart and apple.

Are you going to keep the glass bottles at room temp? I'd be very interested to hear how they work out over time, in terms of staying stable after the water bath.

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I'll keep them at room temp and keep the experiment going. I also want to see how they taste over time. With pasteurization, they should be able to keep for quite a while. But I also think they'll mellow at the same time. It was a successful first batch.

Thanks guys.

About a week and a half after heat pasteurizing this cider, it tastes even better. The process definitely locked in carbonation and the apple flavor at FG 1.015 without any bottle bombs. I'm going to save the rest for Thanksgiving. I think my mom's going to love it.

Did you submerge the entire bottle during the pasteurization charesty?

When I heat pasteurized, I submerged the bottles 1/2 way to 3/4 depending upon how many were in the pot at the time. Just experiment with how many you'll be pasteurizing at a time with cool water in the pot up to the level of 1/2 to 3/4 up the bottles. Then when you heat up the water you'll know how high it'll go.

It works real well. The cider I pasteurized tastes great. I didn't notice any difference from before and after. And no risk of bottle bombs.

Good luck.

Thanks charesty. Did you happen to backsweeten any?

Nope, I cold crashed at 1.020 when there was still some apple sugar in the cider. Between the cold crash and bottle carbing, the final gravity was 1.015 and remained there after the pasteurization.

charesty said:

Nope, I cold crashed at 1.020 when there was still some apple sugar in the cider. Between the cold crash and bottle carbing, the final gravity was 1.015 and remained there after the pasteurization.

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I noticed that after I posted, thanks...duh! I plan on using your technique as soon as tomorrow but I do plan to backsweeten slightly using 100% apple juice concentrate. I am intending on carbonating but I'm not sure if the small amount of concentrate I use will do the trick or if I should add some priming sugar. I guess I'll resort to trial and error.

I tried this method on roughly 4 gallons of cider I had in my secondary for a month. It seems to have worked pretty well with only one detonated grenade. I syphoned one gallon at a time, using different ammounts of concentrate to backsweeten and priming sugar for carbination and I'll report my findings after a few months time. Problems that I encountered that others may want to consider.
-My understanding of this is too keep the temperature at 160 through the entire 10 minutes. The problem is that the temperature seems to drop 10-15 degrees once the bottles are submerged. I found that if I raised the temperature to roughly 170 the temperature sank near 160 after the bottles were sank.
-Set aside a few hours to complete this project unless you have a crock the size of the Grand Canyon. I'll reconsider starting this project as late as I did next time. I was cleaning up well after midnight.
Otherwise it will be worth the time spent, I just hope I have the patience to let these suckers age!

How long did it take your cider to carb up before you pasteurized?

When did you get a grenade, before, during, or after pasteurization?

charesty said:

How long did it take your cider to carb up before you pasteurized?

When did you get a grenade, before, during, or after pasteurization?

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I added my priming sugar just prior to bottling and paturizing so I have no idea how the carbonation is. I'll give it a few weeks before I crack a bottle.

I use Genesee Cream Ale pounder bottles and I was able to fit 6 in the crock I was using. What happened was, I had one loner bottle left over to be pasteurized. I placed the bottle in and my thermometer read 180 so I dropped the temp, ultimately too low. I had to heat the bath again and the sucker sat in for far too long. I removed the bottle and noticed the carbonation filling the head room of the bottle. I threw it in the sink and the bottom blew off like a rocket. It was my mistake, I learned a lesson about checking the temp before throwing a bottle in.

I hate to break this too you my friend, but you needed to pasteurize after carbonation. See below:

• Bottled 11/02/09
• 11/03/09 Checked "carb tester" plastic bottle (others are glass) - very firm, gravity 1.015
• Bottle pasteurized @ 160 F for 10 min in water bath on stove

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In my process, I carbed in glass and one bottle in plastic. I checked the plastic bottle every 12 hours until the bottle firmed up. Then I knew the cider was properly carbed.

I pasteurized so that I could lock in carbonation without the fear of bottle bombs. I'm sorry to tell you but you probably killed your yeast before any carbing took place. You will have a still sweet cider but no bubbles dude.

Hmmm, yeah. I was a bit unclear on the priming part. On the bright side, I do have a couple of cases of hard cider. I'll drink just about anything but they will still be tasty.

Learning something new everyday on the big HBT! Seriously, this thread and the other on using heat to kill the yeast before the cider is bone dry but after it's carbed in the bottle is exactly the piece of information I needed and has pushed me over the edge - I think I'll try a cider over the holiday.

One question - if you bottle when the gravity is at about 1.020 there is no need for priming, right? Plenty of sugar still there if I'm understanding your process right. Thanks!

but they will still be tasty

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You bet they will!

I'm bringing some of my cider up to Thanksgiving in NH.

One question - if you bottle when the gravity is at about 1.020 there is no need for priming, right? Plenty of sugar still there if I'm understanding your process right. Thanks!

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Exactly. I didn't prime with sugar and let the cider carb up on the sugar still left in the bottles with a gravity of 1.020.

Good luck

charesty said:

You bet they will!

I'm bringing some of my cider up to Thanksgiving in NH.

Good luck

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Thanksgiving through Christmas in New England just has such an appeal to it. I have a friend outside of Boston, maybe someday I'll make it happen.

I still have a gallon and a half of still, I was gonna give to my buddy's old man. I may give him a 12 pack of pounders and try your method again. I'll check that with my hydrometer and go from there.

If you try again, the plan of attack is:

• Bottle and use at least one 16 oz plastic soda bottle
• Use the plastic bottle as your "carb tester" to determine when the cider is properly carbed. A firm plastic bottle means a good carb. Check every 6-12 hours.
• At a high gravity, say 1.020 to 1.018, the cider should carb up fast since there'll be lots of sugar to convert.

Then go with your original pasteurization process. What you described seemed very sound.

Enjoy your holiday

Thanksgiving through Christmas in New England just has such an appeal to it. I have a friend outside of Boston, maybe someday I'll make it happen.

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I used to work at a few "tourist magnets" in Jackson, NH during the winter. I had three jobs at the time; ski instructor, bartender, and 'Sleigh Ride Coordinator'. I would gather up the people for the next sleigh ride, serve hot cocoa, maintain bonfires, and serve ice cold, sometimes frozen Freixenet to the VIPs. It was butt ass cold some nights but people went crazy for that experience.

The best part of the job was cruising through the woods at night on a snowmobile or 4wheeler to blow out the lanterns. All in a days work.

yeah I'm pretty biased, but I wouldnt want to be anywhere else but NH for the holidays. or pretty much any time for that matter. Lakes, mountains, ocean, orchards, ski areas all within an hour or so of each other. love it.

Now I'm a Masshole, a flatlander visitor to my own homeland. I'll be back someday.

Charestry, how have these held up over the last couple months? Did they only bottle condition for 1 day? I am very interested in bottling my cider fairly sweet and carbonated, and your post looks to be a great way to do it. Any input is appreciated.

The cider held up very well after the pasteurization. I have 3 bottles left that I'm not going to touch in the interest of science. One bottle is in my fridge and I can see it clearing slowly. The other two are in a cool part of the cellar.

Here's the keys:

• I never primed my cider, I let the sugar in the cider carbonate the bottles
• Fill a "carb tester" plastic bottle with cider to determine how carbonated the bottles are; you want a very firm plastic bottle after 1-2 days or however long it takes for a firm bottle.
• Put a towel into the bottom of the pot as a buffer for the bottles; you don't want the bottles touching the metal pot
• Heat your water bath to 190-200; it will recover more quickly after putting the bottles into the bath. You want about 160 for pasteurization
• Pasteurize at 160 for 10 minutes
• Take bottles out of the water bath and put the bottles into a sink and slowly cool them; start with hot water then cool that with cold.

It's probably a good idea to let these condition in a fridge for a week or so to let the CO2 reabsorb into the cider. I can imagine that the heat forces the gas out of the cider and into the neck. Cold temps will help the CO2 get back into your beverage.

Good luck.

Thanks for the info. Did you rack before and after crashing or leave in the original carboy? I've already racked mine then crashed and racked again. Now it has very little activity (every 4 minutes or so). I imagine ill need to prime it.

Looks like a great method. I have a few questions though, help is greatly appreciated:
1. What was the reason for the cold crash? Could you not have bottled when you reached your target SG?
2. Does the cold crash just temporarily halt the yeast/fermentation?
3. If you want a secondary fermentation/malo fermentation how would you accomplish? Would you cold crash and rack, wait a few weeks, then add more yeast?

Thanks!