Fermenting dry vs. ????

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five0matt

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I see alot of recipes that say ciders will ferment out dry. Would sweet be the opposite of dry? And if so, wouldn't you always ferment until it is complete, which if I understand, would be dry and then backsweeten?
 
Sweet is the opposite of dry, for both wine and cider. Some yeasts will ferment out more than others, but most sweet ciders either have their fermentation arrested somehow or the cider gets backsweetened later.
 
Thanks for the info. If bottling, I think it would be best to probably backsweeten a little before carbing and bottling to prevent bottle bombs. I usually like mine dry anyway, but I was looking at some options to maybe make a split batch, half sweet half dry.
 
you can stop your cider and bottle it at any sweetness you like. Simply bottle, allow a little more time for carbonation then you can pasteurize to kill the yeast. You're left with a sparkling cider, at the sweetness you want it at, no yeast to make more co2.
 
you can stop your cider and bottle it at any sweetness you like. Simply bottle, allow a little more time for carbonation then you can pasteurize to kill the yeast. You're left with a sparkling cider, at the sweetness you want it at, no yeast to make more co2.

So to do this, just bottle with the priming sugar let it carb, then pasturize and it will still keep the carb?
 
Yes exactly, I have to admit that if you're not experienced with brewing in general, it's not the safest of practices.
 
Thanks for the info. If bottling, I think it would be best to probably backsweeten a little before carbing and bottling to prevent bottle bombs. I usually like mine dry anyway, but I was looking at some options to maybe make a split batch, half sweet half dry.

Hi Matt. Sometimes sweet-ish beverages are called "semi-dry", also.

If you are a new cidermaker, you might take a look at www.makinghardcider.com - its a great resource. Info on pastuerizing is in a sticky on this subforum. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I read through the sticky, I think the first few batches I make, I'll probably do a few dry and backsweeten a few, then once I get the hang of it, may try the pasturization route.
 
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