Botteling after 2 days of fermentation

[Mran556]

This is my second cider the first one was to dry. My plan is to bottle and pasteurize after the correct co2 levels are reached.

My ciders is on the second day of primary fermentation and the Gravity is 1.020 so I cold crashed and want to bottle tomorrow with 4.5 TBS of cane sugar then check it every 24 hours to see when the co2 is right and pasteurize.

Is my plan ok? why does everyone seem to let it finish fermentation and then backsweeten?

Also how will I know when the co2 level is reached? I dont want to drink half of them before I know I would like to reseal them and just have the couple bottles less carbed.

 

[LeBreton]

Buy a couple plastic 500ml bottles of soda, drink one, save the other. When you bottle your cider put some in your empty soda bottle and store it with the rest of your bottles. Now you can get a rough estimate on the carbonation level by squeezing the soda bottle with cider. When it reaches the same firmness as the unopened soda then you can open a glass bottle and confirm the CO2 levels are correct for pasteurization.

 

[kamkamdac]

i never ferment dry, takes to long to age, so i do what LeBrenton suggested every time i bottle and carb. one thing to add though, dont let it carb up to the point where the cider bottle is as firm as the soda bottles. i did that and even at a low temp pasteurization i lost 25% of my cider to caps popping off, and the cider that survived was way over carbonated, kinda like champagne. i would suggest letting it carb till slightly firm.