Impatient Apple Cider

After waiting over a month only to be disappointed by my first attempt at apple cider, I decided to do some experimenting of my own. I've found that in just 5 days you can have a gallon of delicious apple cider in the refrigerator to enjoy.

Ingredients

1 gal apple juice
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp Wine Yeast
1/2 tsp potassium sorbate
(Spices are optional)

Equipment

2 gal food grade bucket with lid and airlock
1 gal glass carboy
Funnel
Fine mesh bag


First, I dissolved 2 cups of sugar in a pan with just enough water to cover the surface, next I combined the dissolved sugar with the apple juice in a 2 gal food-grade bucket, finally I pitched 1/8 tsp of Wine Yeast and fastened the lid with airlock.
After 5 days I added 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate to stop fermentation around 5% ABV then filtered the cider into a 1 gal glass carboy using a funnel and fine mesh bag.

The result-fresh apple flavor with a relaxing amount of alcohol. Cheers!

What were your starting and final gravity readings?

Remember that potassium sorbate or nothing for that matter "stops" fermentation. It only slows it. Fermentation will finish out on its own always.

kevinstan said:

nothing for that matter "stops" fermentation.

Click to expand...

I would have to partly disagree with that. Stove top pasteurization kills the yeast, effectively stopping fermentation.

That's good to know...so by adding potassium sorbate and refrigerating the cider I'm just significantly slowing fermentation? Would you recommend stove top pasteurization once it's reached my desired ABV? If so how? (I'm new at this)