do i have to wait or can i keg my cider now

[fluketamer]

on 6/8
i put together grahams pub cider

2 gallons of motts juice of half a lime half tsp of yeast nutrient and 1 cup of very dark ( 2 tea bags) tea

5 gm of so4
og 1041


i fermented at 68

that thing took off

its been at 1.009 for the last 4 days it tastes really good but very dry like edworts apfelwien dry which i was surprised at cause i thought the ale yeast would leave some sugar behind

it smells delicious like an apple orchard
instructions say to wait 3-4 weeks back sweeten to taste then cold crash and carb

can i just back sweeten now since it seems done fermenting and cold crash and keg instead of waiting

thanks

 

[Epond83]

What are you planning to use to back sweeten? If it's fermentable, the yeast will go back to work!

I cold crash then treat to kill off yeast then back sweeten.

 

[fluketamer]

i kill the yeast when i bottle i was hoping if i keg it at 35 degrees instead of bottling it would keep the yeast inactive

 

[Maylar]

i kill the yeast when i bottle i was hoping if i keg it at 35 degrees instead of bottling it would keep the yeast inactive

It'll slow down, but not stop. It's OK in a keg though, all that'd happen is more carbonation.

 

[Graham H]

As @Maylar said, if you just add the sugars you’ll get natural carbonation, but a keg can withstand the pressure. The problem for you will be that you’ll lose the sweetness you wanted to keep when you backsweetened. You can either stabilize, wait, then sweeten with a fermentable, or just use a non-fermentable.

 

[fluketamer]

at 35 degrees how can the yeast metabolize sugars?

 

[Graham H]

at 35 degrees how can the yeast metabolize sugars?

Very, very slowly

 

[fluketamer]

graham - do you have a source for that. and are you the graham that designed grahams pub cider if so cool

i just cant imagine a lot of krebs cycle enzymes that function at 35 or 36 or 37 or into the 40's even.

if enzymes stop working then the rate of metabolism you are talking about would be like years and decades not weeks or months within which time i plan to kick my keg.

thanks for the reply

 

[mac_1103]

i just cant imagine a lot of krebs cycle enzymes that function at 35 or 36 or 37 or into the 40's even.

Most enzymes are active over a very wide range of temperatures. For the most part they'll be less active but more stable at lower temperatures and more active but less stable at higher temperatures (until they're denatured of course). We used to do lots of in vitro biochemical reactions on ice back in my lab days. And not that it really matters, but yeast don't use the Krebs cycle to ferment.

 

[Graham H]

graham - do you have a source for that. and are you the graham that designed grahams pub cider if so cool

i just cant imagine a lot of krebs cycle enzymes that function at 35 or 36 or 37 or into the 40's even.

if enzymes stop working then the rate of metabolism you are talking about would be like years and decades not weeks or months within which time i plan to kick my keg.

thanks for the repl

Not the same individual, but now I want to try that cider! My info is only second-hand anecdotal—stories of caution from people who tried to kill off their yeast by cold crashing before bottling, only to create bottle bombs when the solution returned to normal fermentation temperatures. This won’t affect your keg with the same pressure risk, but you will lose sweetness if it does occur.
Not knowing your drinking rate, I couldn’t guess the impact on the final result if you’re able to keep the temperatures low. Unless you plan on drinking “very, very slowly,” you’ll probably outpace your yeast.

 

[fluketamer]

thanks for the replies sorry biochemistry was a long time ago

and yes i plan to kill the keg much quicker then the yeast will have a chance to dry it out. but it will be interesting to note if it gets drier while in keg.

 

[Graham H]

Far better than I—I’ve never studied biochemistry beyond the tangential amount in common high school syllabi.

My brewing knowledge involves a lot of reading and watching, augmented by plenty of errors in the trial & error phase.

 

[mac_1103]

i plan to kill the keg much quicker then the yeast will have a chance to dry it out

In my experience, "drink faster" is almost always the correct answer.