backsweeten/prime/carb/bottle questions

[RoosterBrew]

Hi I am currently fermenting my first batch of Cider and even though it's going to be a while still I want to get a plan for back sweetening and carbonating which is a little confusing since I will be bottle conditioning.

Recipe was 4.5 Gallons TreeTop & just under a pound of corn sugar with Wyeast 3068 (Hefe). The OG was 1.060.

My plan was to leave it in the Primary until i clears (I'm thinking about a month) and the OG will likely be between 1.002 and 1.004 from what I have read about this yeast. Then I want to back sweeten and prime with either apple juice or concentrate. If I add just under a can of concentrate before bottling to prime, will this also add some sweetness? I've heard to do one bottle in a plastic bottle then once its carbonated to pasteurize to stop it from over carbonating or fermenting out the remaining sweetness. Could I instead just refrigerate them when the plastic bottle seems carbonated? If I refrigerate them should I then just age them in the refrigerator. I've heard theses ciders get better with some age, if mine are aged in the refrigerator will this not allow them to mature properly. Could I refrigerate them for a couple weeks then put them in my basement to age?

Sorry for 100 questions, any help or advise would be appreciated.

 

[JtotheA]

Starting at 1.06 is perfect. You have the right idea of adding a can of concentrate to your 4.5 gallons to prime after clearing. In theory, that added sugar would be consumed by remaining yeast and carb but not necessarily sweeten. Depending on how much yeast is still hanging around. I personally like to age in my basement and then move to the fridge.
There's many factors to beware of if you're not planning on pasteurizing. If you read CvilleKevin's sticky at the top, there is LOTS of useful info regarding yeast choices, racking, cold-crashing, etc. I personnally like his style. No pasteurizing, avoids using chems (I think). I've gotten my technique down based on alot of that info. I don't keg any of my cider though. Strictly bottle or drink straight outta 1 gallon glass. When I do bottle, I'm definitely bottle conditioning.
My process is to rack (carefully!) at about 1.05-1.015 depending on what I'm shooting for and then cold-crash for a couple days. This usually happens before 2 weeks as I try to ferment at cool temps. Sometimes I'll even leave some behind to still ferment more dry. I then either bottle from the cold crash or just have on hand to drink still. More often than not, it'll take more than a week to carb even a little due to careful racking. No backsweetening with my process unless I want to speed up the carbing or add in a hint of some different flavored concentrate or just to add a lil more sweetness. I used to backsweeten but now I look at it as a "correction" if something went drier than I wanted it to.
I use high focculating ale yeast most of the time which definitely contributes to leaving the yeast behind when racking. Never had a bottle bomb or a gusher (knock on wood!!), but if anything, sometimes it takes over a month for a good carb. Hope this helps!

 

[Kashue]

Just chiming in to say that, if you have the space, you can also bottle-age in the fridge. And, as an instant devotee to stovetop pasteurizing, it's not as hard as it sounds. I can clear a gallon worth of bottles in about 25 minutes, no biggie. If you have a bigger pot, or more than 1, it's even faster.

 

[RoosterBrew]

So it's possible to cold crash prior to bottling and still get carbonation from bottle conditioning? I do have the space to bottle age in the fridge. When leaving a little sweetness how long do you usually age?