Stevia to sweeten Carbonated cider?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
7,732
Reaction score
76
Location
Nanaimo, BC
Has anyone used Stevia to sweeten cider before bottle conditioning/carbonating cider?

I had a batch that was a bit too tart due to using a champagne yeast and didn't want to add splenda since it's a nasty chlorocarbon on par with DDT.

Stevia is all natural, but I'm wondering if anyone has used it to sweeten a batch and what the flavor was like?

Unfortunately we picked some up about a day after I bottled it (doh) so I wasn't able to try it.
 
Haven't tried it, sounds like it's safe in small doses. This from the Nutrition Action Healthletter:



Last year, the scientific panel that reviews the safety of food ingredients for the EU concluded that stevioside is “not acceptable” as a sweetener because of unresolved concerns about its toxicity. In 1998, a United Nations expert panel came to essentially the same conclusion.

Here’s what troubles toxicologists:
brown_block.gif
Reproductive problems. Stevioside “seems to affect the male reproductive organ system,” European scientists concluded last year. When male rats were fed high doses of stevioside for 22 months, sperm production was reduced, the weight of seminal vesicles (which produce seminal fluid) declined, and there was an increase in cell proliferation in their testicles, which could cause infertility or other problems.1 And when female hamsters were fed large amounts of a derivative of stevioside called steviol, they had fewer and smaller offspring.2 Would small amounts of stevia also cause reproductive problems? No one knows.

brown_block.gif
Cancer. In the laboratory, steviol can be converted into a mutagenic compound, which may promote cancer by causing mutations in the cells’ genetic material (DNA). “We don’t know if the conversion of stevioside to steviol to a mutagen happens in humans,” says Huxtable. “It’s probably a minor issue, but it clearly needs to be resolved.”
 
I've heard that report is BS supplied by the chemical industry.

Mostly wondering how the cider tastes with stevia in it?

It's actually approved as a sweetener here in Canada, and in Japan I hear it's the number one beverage sweetener now. Seems they don't like bad chemicals in there drinks. :)
 
Denny's Brew said:
I've heard that report is BS supplied by the chemical industry.

Mostly wondering how the cider tastes with stevia in it?

It's actually approved as a sweetener here in Canada, and in Japan I hear it's the number one beverage sweetener now. Seems they don't like bad chemicals in there drinks. :)

Banned over here in the EU as david_42 mentioned so i've never tried it. It's non fermentable and isn't affected by high acid fruits from what i've read so technically it should be fine. Beats diethylene glycol that found it's way into certain European wines 20 years ago i guess.....;)
 
If you system can handle it, you could give lactose a try. Not sure how much you would need though, as I havn't given it a try yet.
 
Back
Top