sweet cider, trying to stop fermentation

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pincy

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So I've made a few batches of hard cider before, and I've liked them a lot.

This time I want to give some away for Christmas, though, and I thought a sweeter cider would be more appropriate for all my friends and family who may not have the same palate as myself.

5 gallons apple juice
2 lbs dextrose
juice of one lime for some acidity
nottingham ale yeast

I didn't check the O.G. (no idea why, now, probably a little bit of :tank: while I was getting everything ready), but it's been two weeks, the S.G. is 1.010 and it tastes great. I racked to a secondary and threw it in the fridge, but I'm wondering if this will be enough to stop fermentation. It's supposed to get pretty cold around my area in the next couple days (25F low to 37F high) and I'm wondering if putting it outside overnight would be a better idea to get the yeasties all settled out.

But I was also thinking that it might just be better to let it settle out in the fridge and just bottle it and make sure it stays cold until people drink it?

I don't really want to use any chemical stuff in it as I have a few friends who are very sensitive to sulphites and possibly other things I might add to stop the fermentation.

So what I want is (ideally) something I can give to my friends and possible store for a while, but if I have to I can just put a little "keep refrigerated" sticker on the bottles and drink it quick if I have to... (twist my rubber arm!)

Thanks.
 
Have you checked your SG over a period of a couple days at normal fermentation temps? If it's stable then you don't even need to worry about it continuing to ferment, you've hit your FG. Since you're using an ale yeast, and not a wine yeast, that's a possibility. However, it looks like you made a twist on EdWort's Apfelwein, so that means you're probably good to go to dryness...

Have you considered pasteurizing your cider? That'll kill the yeasties quite effectively, as well as most other things. Just be sure to do it safely! And you need to make sure your bottles are carbed already, unless you're kegging and force-carbonating.
 
search on "cold crash" or see page 15 of the sticky.

Notty (as most ale yeasts) flocculates at low temp, so if you rack, crash and rack again, and are careful, you will leave all the yeast behind and dont need to worry about storing cold. I have several cases from last year, crashed at 1.010 or higher that have been at room temp for over a year with no problems

But you cant take shortcuts - you must rack, crash and rack again - if you want to effectively remove the yeast
 
This cider isn't going to be carbed at all (except what little carbonation there is when it's bottled)... So I'm thinking that pasteurization would be a good idea.

Maybe I could run them through the dishwasher the same way I sterilize empties....
 
I just attmepted to pasteurize some bottles i have of cider. Heated the bottles to 160 F for 12-15 minutes and then let cool. I will keep an update for bombs and taste when i test them. gravities were 1.002, 1.012, and 1.02 at bottling time. I used a plastic bottle for each batch to test for carbonation as some other people suggested.
 
Yes, but don't forget that when you move the carboy from the fridge to the counter (or wherever you're racking from) that it's best to leave the cider out for a while to let it settle again. When you move the bottle you will agitate the sediment. Let it sit out for an hour to let it drop.
 
I'm thinking I'm going to just put it outside tonight (expecting lowin the mid to high twenties) and put a t-shirt over it then rack it tomorrow. It was in my fridge overnight but it's only just started to clear; I don't think it's cold enough in there.
 
So I left it outside for four days/nights (temps in between 4.2C and -5.1C... 39.56*F & 22.82*F) wrapped in a towel. It cleared some, but not all the way. No idea why. I didn't heat the juice before fermentation, etc etc.

I went ahead and racked/bottled anyway, then ran the bottles through my dishwasher. Nothing exploded. :) I'm going to crack one open in a couple weeks and pray that there aren't any bubbles in it....
 
sounds like you've done just fine..between sitting outside in Canada in the winter and then running it through a sterilizing dishwasher process those things aren't going to kick back in I wouldn't think.

Dan
 
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