Sweetening, carbonating, and bottling?

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.
all three my friend. how do I backsweeten, carbonate, and bottle a cider? i've done all three separately before, but never all three in one brew...my aim is to have a sweet, sparkling, bottled cider. :)
 
I'm just a beginner (my brew pot is still on it's way... haha) but I'd think putting in some unfermentable (lactose?) and also your normal priming sugars should get that done.
 
Here's the most effective way to do it:

1) Once you are ready to bottle, backsweeten your cider with 1 quart sweet apple juice/apple cider per gallon of fermented cider. Just rack on top of it in the bottling bucket so it mixes like you would a priming sugar solution.

2) Bottle

3) Here's the tricky part. You need to "time" the carbonation so you get a nice carbonated cider, but don't get bottle bombs. On my first try, I had good luck carbing at room temp (around 74 for me) for 10 days.

4) COLD CRASH! Put it all in the fridge at under 40 degrees and let it condition for 2-3 weeks or longer.
 
The much simpler way that I use now is just to backsweeten with natural juice, force carb and condition in a keg!
 
I personally haven't used Xylitol though I have read it works well. Since it isn't a 0 calorie sweetener it doesn't have that same twang to it that so many artificial sweeteners do supposedly. I plan on using it the next time I make a cider.
 
The much simpler way that I use now is just to backsweeten with natural juice, force carb and condition in a keg!

This is true, but I mainly make 1 gallon batches, so not least wasteful idea :p

Cold crashing might not be great, because I give stuff out as gifts a lot. Not a bad idea for at home though!

cheers for your ideas... :)
 
Back
Top