Apfelwein backsweetening

I made a batch according to the apfelwein recipe, but used Strawberry Kiwi juice instead. I've not sampled it yet, but it's about 3 months old. It's already in a keg, carbonated, and chilling in the fridge.

Could I open it up and dump in a gallon or so of juice to backsweeten it? Would I be safe to stir with a big spoon (sanitized) after adding the juice? It seems like it would be safe, as the keg will already have CO2 in the head space.

I don't want to ruin it, but I think I'd like to sweeten it up for a party I'm having next week. I'll of course sample it first to see if it needs it. I'm just thinking on how past batches turned out pretty dry.

Give a try to what they do in Europe...

Keep the batch full strength...then blend with juice, or Sprite, or Carbonated Water, or whatever. They even make Cocktails with Apfelwein...adding Apfel Snapps, distilled spirits, Juice...

Experiment...and if you find something really great...let us all know about it.

It will sweeten...lower the alcohol for longer sessions...and you can experiment without being stuck with 5 gallons of a failed attempt.

The frozen juice cans work well. Pick a flavor, dump one or two in the keg and shake.

-OCD

Unless you've killed off the yeast, adding any natural sweetener will induce additional fermentation. Granted, if the AW is chilled, fermentation would be substantially retarded and adding this flavoring prior to a party would probably be just fine.

I like the idea of offering true AW for those who like a dry cider and then offering mixers of different flavors for those who want to doll it up a bit.

Maybe I'll try mixing it with Sprite, as suggested above. Sounds like a safer solution and allows for individual preferences. Thanks!

You can use Splenda or Lactose if you want to back sweeten a keg.

B

bad coffee said:

You can use Splenda or Lactose if you want to back sweeten a keg.

B

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Agreed..though I prefer Splenda as Lactose has a bit of a creaminess to it.