How can i sweeten my hard cider after fermentation?

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deanh89

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Hi I've made a hard cider it fermented for 7 days now it has stopped, but when I tasted it its quite dry and not sweet at all is there anyway I can make it a bit sweeter?
 
Would it work if I freeze it then let it defrost and add sugar or will it start to ferment again?
 
Hi I've made a hard cider it fermented for 7 days now it has stopped, but when I tasted it its quite dry and not sweet at all is there anyway I can make it a bit sweeter?

Depends on what you want to end up with. Do you want a still cider or a carbonated cider? I presume you do not have a kegging setup.

1. You can always sweeten the cider with a non-fermentable sugar like Lactose, or Splenda, or Xylitol. You can sweeten to taste, none of these will restart fermentation, you can bottle and end up with a still cider.

2. You can backsweeten with fermentable sugars, such as dextrose, or adding apple juice concentrate. You can halt the fermentation process by bottling and immediately stovetop pasteurizing. This will give you a still cider.

3. You can backsweeten with fermentable sugars, such as dextrose, or adding apple juice concentrate. Fermentation will start back up, and if you bottle, you will have a carbonated beverage. Let it sit untill the desired level of carbonation is acheived, then stovetop pasteurize.
 
Cheers mate, I think I'll add some Splenda and bottle it to keep it still, it's my first time brewing do I want to keep it quite simple
 
So say I decided to backsweeten with fermentable sugars and I want it to be a lightly sweet sparkling cider. How long after bottling should I wait to pasturize? And what is the best way to do so?
 
So say I decided to backsweeten with fermentable sugars and I want it to be a lightly sweet sparkling cider. How long after bottling should I wait to pasturize? And what is the best way to do so?

When bottling, fill up a soda bottle with cider. Every now and then give the soda bottle a squeeze, when it feels rock hard then it's time to immediately pasteurize your glass bottles. For more detailed instructions check out the pasteurization sticky at the top of the page.
 
Hi Thanks for the info was wondering if it would be possible to sweeten with non-fermenting sugar for taste and then bottle with a fermenting sugar for carbonation?

I am new to this and have just done my first brew of cider, its finished at a good 5.5% but horribly dry. I would like to have it sparkling but am not keen on the pasteurisation.
 
Hi Thanks for the info was wondering if it would be possible to sweeten with non-fermenting sugar for taste and then bottle with a fermenting sugar for carbonation?

I am new to this and have just done my first brew of cider, its finished at a good 5.5% but horribly dry. I would like to have it sparkling but am not keen on the pasteurisation.

That would work, though people will warn you away from artificial sweeteners, and encourage you to cold crash your cider instead. Most would say that they don't taste as good, or add off flavors to your cider.
 
Cold crashing slows down the growth of the yeast, but not completely kills them. There are many here that use unfermentable sweeteners in their ciders. Pasteurizing bottles is easy if you use your BK, and bring the temp up slowly. The standing answer is, ..."there is always Splenda..." Ask the guys in the cider forum about using non fermentable sweeteners
 
Camden tabs DO NOT kill yeast. Fermentation would most likely start again.

All I've ever seen on these forums and the advice I got from my LHBS would be to use campden tablets to kill the yeast... Can you clarify and source the information for us? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd love to make sure I have the right info.
 
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