Can I Backsweeten AND Bottle Prime?

Williams 728
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.
BrewOnBoard

BrewOnBoard

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
204
Reaction score
7
So I get the basics of bottle prime/carbing and I get the basics of adding K+ yeast killer and then sugar to backsweeten.

What I can't figure out is, if I want to back-sweeten my cider and then carb it in the bottle how do I do that? Since I'm doing this on a sailboat I don't have room for a corny keg. Is my only choice dry carbonated cider?

Can I force carb with a TAD or something similar? I'm about to start a batch of cider and I'm not sure how to carb it...

BrewOnBoard
 
Use an artificial sweetener like splenda to sweeten, don't kill off the yeast, then regular sugar to prime/carb. Smooth sailing
 
Parker36 said:
Use an artificial sweetener like splenda to sweeten, don't kill off the yeast, then regular sugar to prime/carb. Smooth sailing
Click to expand...

That could work except I HATE artificial sweeteners. I know lactose can work too but my sailing-hottie is lactose intolerant....

Hmmm........

BOB
 
I would just make a kick a.. dry cider, and see if your sailing hottie likes it. If not, mix it with some seven up, sprite or what ever soda she likes.
May I also point out it is just bad ju-ju to use a hottie as an excuse and not post pictures. :)
 
Kauai_Kahuna said:
I would just make a kick a.. dry cider, and see if your sailing hottie likes it. If not, mix it with some seven up, sprite or what ever soda she likes.
May I also point out it is just bad ju-ju to use a hottie as an excuse and not post pictures. :)
Click to expand...

Hmmm.... Perhaps the most workable idea yet. After all a shandy is good on a hot day, why not sprite/cider. I could possibly even bottle it with some soda-water, though that would likely water things down too much....

Thanks for the ju-ju reminder. I'll have to see if she'll let me post a picture.

BrewOnBoard
 
splenda's #1 ingredient is dextrose. dextrose is fermentable last i checked...i used a bit too much and nearly had a bomb. in one day a plastic bottle was rock hard.

i read here all the time splenda is non fermentable, so you have now been warned. all i used to carb and backsweeten a dry ass cider was splenda. it does not have a diet aftertaste on the bottles i used very little (4 packets per 22oz bottle). i used 10 packets in one bottle, that was the almost-rocket!
 
Depends on the splenda product you use. If you use splenda, the actual porduct, it is unfermentable. Some of the baking splenda and some of the individual packets are mixed with other sugars, so you have to make sure you use the correct sweetener.
 
hmm.

i had no idea there were two splendas.
i bought a box @ the grocery store, and looked at the ingredients, hence my post above. this one was for like coffee or tea, little .5 gram bags.
 
Granular slenda does not contain dextrose. The other contains such small amounts that I doubt it can cause a bottle bomb. There is one type of splenda that is blended with sugar. It is noted on the package and that could cause a problem.
 
Personally I can taste Splenda, and it's not a good thing. Stevia is more hit or miss - too easy to overdo, at which point it's horrid, but can be acceptable (to me) in small enough amounts.

However, given a lack of fancy equipment, the easy solution to this problem with simple equipment (and real sugars) is to sweeten and bottle, test bottles until you get the carbonation you want (starting with a plastic bottle or two to let your know some of that without opening any) and then pasteurizing the sealed bottles in a hot water bath to kill the yeast.
 
Ecnerwal said:
Personally I can taste Splenda, and it's not a good thing. Stevia is more hit or miss - too easy to overdo, at which point it's horrid, but can be acceptable (to me) in small enough amounts.

However, given a lack of fancy equipment, the easy solution to this problem with simple equipment (and real sugars) is to sweeten and bottle, test bottles until you get the carbonation you want (starting with a plastic bottle or two to let your know some of that without opening any) and then pasteurizing the sealed bottles in a hot water bath to kill the yeast.
Click to expand...

Now there's an interesting idea.... How exactly would I do that? Put full (carbonated) bottles in water and heat to 170deg or so? Wouldn't that cause them to explode?

BoB
 
I,ve asked about this before and never seem to get an answer from one who has actually done it. If you have successfullly done this please give me the details. I've read that you put it in H20 and bring it up tp 160 degrees and hold it for 3 iminutes and then take it out to cool. Some say bring it to a boil and pull it out of the bath right away. My concern is how the heat will change the taste of the cider.
 
BrewOnBoard said:
Now there's an interesting idea.... How exactly would I do that? Put full (carbonated) bottles in water and heat to 170deg or so? Wouldn't that cause them to explode?

If it did, most commercial beer would never get off the assembly line. It's filled, capped, and then sprayed with hot water for a sufficient time to pasteurize it, at least according to some bit of TeeVee documentary I wasted a few brain cells on watching. After that they put the labels on. I think the brewery in question was Yuengling.
Click to expand...
 
I am thinking about the same thing... Carbed and sweetened cider. I was planning on priming sugar and lactose at the same time just prior to bottling. I just don't know how much lactose to add for my 3 gallon batch and whether or not this is the right way to go about sweetening?
 
That is the right way to go about sweetening a bottle carbed brew. For lactose, because everyone is different, take out a measured sample, say 4 oz. Add some lactose to that until it is the sweetness you like. Then you just calculate how much lactose would be equivalent for the whole batch, add it and you're good to drink!
 
Thank you Tusch for the quick response. I only have 4oz. of lactose so I may be picking up some more or only sweetening part of the batch (1.5-2 gallons) depending on "my taste".
 

Similar threads

F
Treating cider before backsweetening
Replies
3
Views
480
Fixerman
F
F
A few questions on treating, force carbonating and bottling temps
Replies
4
Views
634
Fixerman
F
F
How low can you go?
Replies
3
Views
328
Fixerman
F
Z
Bottle Carbo experiment
Replies
10
Views
930
Zrloth
Zrloth
S
First time
Replies
10
Views
855
Raptor99
Raptor99
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top