Is 1.010 to high to bottle?

My next batch is currently sitting at 1.010.
I would like to bottle and carbonate without pasteurizing.
Is 1.010 too high even if I'm using Grolsch bottles?

CMcPherson said:

My next batch is currently sitting at 1.010.
I would like to bottle and carbonate without pasteurizing.
Is 1.010 too high even if I'm using Grolsch bottles?

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Maybe. It depends on how long it's been at 1.010, and how clear it is, and what yeast strain it is, and the current ABV. If you used ale yeast and it's been clear for a month, it's fine to bottle. If you used wine yeast and it's still not clear, it'll probably explode.

It's been at 1.010 for two weeks and been clear almost from the start (I've got my clarification routine down pat).
ABV = 6.5%
I'll Pasteurize just to be safe.

If you cold crashed at 1.010 (I think you said you were doing that) and racked off the lees, the cider will start up again when warmed up to room temp. I've known people to bottle in champagne bottles at 1.010 but you have to expect mega carbonation (4-5 volumes of CO2).

I did cold crash.
I would like to bottle it with natural sweetness rather than back-sweeten.
Pasteurizing will be needed I guess.
At what SG can a cider be safely bottled without Pasteurizing?

CMcPherson said:

I did cold crash.
I would like to bottle it with natural sweetness rather than back-sweeten.
Pasteurizing will be needed I guess.
At what SG can a cider be safely bottled without Pasteurizing?

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It depends on where it finishes, which yeast strain was used, where it started.

For example, with a yeast strain like S04, the cider might naturally stop at 1.004, but with montrachet it would likely finish at .990. That's too big of a difference guess, and if the one with montrachet was bottled at 1.010, there would be bottle bombs. If the one with S04 was bottled at 1.010, it's be very well carbed but probably not have bombs.

To guarantee no bottle bombs, ever, I just let the cider finish and then either sweeten or not (I hate sweet things) and take it from there. Halting fermentation can preserve some sweetness but oftentimes it creates more problems than just letting the fermentation finish and then controlling the amount of sweetness and carbonation.

Okay... back to the drawing board.

Yooper said:

Maybe. It depends on how long it's been at 1.010, and how clear it is, and what yeast strain it is, and the current ABV. If you used ale yeast and it's been clear for a month, it's fine to bottle.

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CMcPherson said:

It's been at 1.010 for two weeks and been clear almost from the start (I've got my clarification routine down pat).

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Oops... you were talking post fermentation yeast clearing and I was talking pectin haze clearing.

Long time lurker, first time posting.

From what I understand from reading the "Results from juice, yeast and sugar experiments" sticky and from my own experience making cider if your SG has been at 1.010 for two weeks, you can bottle it, but you won't get any carbonation.

CvilleKevin explains it very well. Cold crashing effectively removes the yeast from the cider. Some yeasts work better than others. I have mostly used Nottingham and one time I used WLP002. With Nottingham, I can rack, cold crash, rack again, and then let it sit at 68°F with no further fermentation of the cider.

If you are at a cold temp and holding 1.010 for two weeks, fermentation may start again when you warm up the cider.

If you want to have a naturally sweet carbonated cider in the bottle, I think the only way you can do it is to cold crash to stop fermentation, verify fermentation will not start again at warm temps, keg to carbonate, and then bottle from the keg.

If you can't get cold crashing to stop your fermentation after bringing the cider back to room temp, you will have to pasteurize, keg carb, then bottle.