Back sweetening cider and carbonation?

Hello All-

New member here with a question regarding my first attempt at cider.

I've made a 5 gal batch using fresh un-processed juice from the local orchard. The primary fermentation is now complete and I've racked the cider into the secondary.

The taste and aroma of what I have so far is quite good, but I'd like the final cider to have a bit more sweetness. I'd also like to bottle carbonate it as well. Are there any good techniques to do this without having to keg?

I've thought about back sweetening with a non-fermentable such as Splenda, Stevia, or maybe lactose. Does anyone have any experience, insight, or recommendations that may help?

Thanks in advance.... Cheers!

When ever I see that question, I point them to Andrew Lea's website. He wrote a book on craft cider making. http://www.cider.org.uk/part4.htm

Read that over, then post again if you still have questions.

Thanks for the reply and the link. I read over the text and it's an interesting and informative read! From what I gather, my options are:

a) Stabilize the cider, sweeten as desired, bottle and leave the cider still.
b) Sweeten with a non-fermetable, prime and bottle for a carbonated beverage.
or...
c) Stablilize, sweeten as desired, then keg and force carb it.


Perhaps it would be a good to invest in a corny keg and get more serious??

drjlove said:

Perhaps it would be a good to invest in a corny keg and get more serious??

Click to expand...

the answer to this is always YES!