when to stop fermentation?

so my first cider is down to 1.011 as of 20 minutes ago from 1.075 (i think) last tuesday. if i want it to stay a little sweet and land around 1.008 - 1.006 should i put it in the frig now or wait a little longer?

Keep in mind that putting it in the fridge may make the yeast go dormant, but once it warms up, fermentation will fire up again. I assume you know that, but I wanted to make sure you don't have any bottle bombs.

Stopping an active fermentation is like stopping a freight train, in my experience.

It takes chemicals to stop a cider fermentation, not cold. A freight train is a good description. If you want it sweet, it is easier to go dry, chemical it, and then back sweeten.

YooperBrew said:

Stopping an active fermentation is like stopping a freight train, in my experience.

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so i need some dynamite to blow up the f*&^%^&% tracks then?

Yeah, thanks to this site actually, I know leaving bottles out of the frig wouldn't end well. It's only a 1.5 gallon batch so I planned on racking into a gallon jug, putting a air lock on it and putting that in the frig and then putting the rest in a couple soda bottles and hoping for the best. I had intended to order some k-meta or something similar to hit the brakes but completely spaced on it... I'll know better next time I guess.

Putting it in the fridge only puts the yeast to sleep. They will wake up if/when the cider is warmed up again and pick up where they left off. Best to let it ferment to completion and then use chemicals k-meta/k-sorbate to prevent the yeast from further reproduction, then back sweeten.

So is going dry, chemical, then back sweeten the only way or just the best way?
I used the white labs sweet mead yeast hoping it would stop with some residual sweetness but I'm not completely convinced that it will.
I read some crazy crap on the interwebs about bottle pasteurizing in the dishwasher, it sounded pretty off, but I have to ask, is that even remotely a good idea?

This Englishman wrote a book on making cider, so I often point people at his website when it comes to this topic: http://www.cider.org.uk/part4.htm

I realized he didn't talk about pasteurizing on that link. His book says that you need a water bath of some sort. A false bottom to prevent bumping such as a rack to pull the bottles out is recommended. The bottles need to be uncapped and heated to 66 degrees C (not the water, but the cider). Then the bottles are capped, removed, and "laid to cool on their sides to sterilize the inside of the necks and caps." He does say you can alternatively fill and cap them, then lay them in a water bath in which them temperature is brought up to 65 degrees C for 20 minutes. He warns that bottle bursting may happen with this method since they are capped, but I guess doing it in the diswasher would work and protect you.

ByCandleLightWinery said:

....but I guess doing it in the dishwasher would work and protect you.

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and really piss off the wife if one or two exploded...

I might fill a grolsch bottle or two and try the open top method.
thanks for the info/link.

Actually, I think broken glass in the dishwasher ruined my folk's motor, so yeah, dishwasher probably isn't a good method.

Growing up, my mother used to can fruit all the time. She also had some jar tongs that gripped the jar just under the lid. Check around the canning aisle of your grocery store, where the pectin is, and see if there might be any useful gadgets. Or poke around online in canning for some tips. Messing around with 150 degree F cider and trying to cap it...

You could cold crash the cider as you stated earlier for few weeks, and then while its still very cold rack off leaving everything behind and immediately sulfite and sorbate your cider. This is not guaranteed to work but 95% of the time works, not much less then fermenting dry and then stabilizing and sweetening. There are no guarantees as Mother Nature can have her way with living things like yeast!