Does aged cider still need potassium sorbate?

[Chetr]

I have 4.5 gallons of apple cider made with Red Star Champagne yeast that's been sitting in a corner of my basement in a 5 gallon carboy for 2 years now. The cider was made from fresh pressed juice from a local orchard, and them treated with Campden tablets prior to starting fermentation. The cider was racked off twice along the way and is now a dark, clear cider that smells fantastic. I will admit that the crappy little airlock on it has gone dry on several occasions, but the cider shows no signs of any sort of sickness. The ABV should be about 9%.

I would now like to backsweeten the cider with some apple juice and maple syrup, and add a little cinnamon, then carbonate it in my 5 gallon corney keg. I had planned to used potassium sorbate to stabilize it first, but the more I read about off flavors and other potential issues with sorbate, the less sure I am about using it. I also read somewhere that a cider left to age for a substantial amount of time will result in all the existing yeasts dying off.

Can I get away with backsweetening and carbonating without using potassium sorbate? Any other input would be helpful. I'll be pressing another round of cider this weekend and need to get this carboy emptied out and the cider into my belly...

 

[barnaclebob]

Are you adding sugar to carbonate? Or do you want it to be sweet and carbonated?

What does it taste like now? I personally wouldn't add any flavoring if it tastes good now.

 

[Chetr]

I'm adding the sweetener (juice and maple syrup) for sweetening. I will force carbonate it with CO2. It too dry and a little too hot for me and my wife to really enjoy on a consistent basis.

 

[phug]

Pull off a small amount as a sample to add your sugars to and watch for signs of fermentation. If you have any year sediment in your carboy you'll have a higher likelihood that it will take off again.


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[microbiology]

I would think that if you bottle and pasteurize you wouldn't need sorbate OR if you kept the keg cold. Otherwise the yeast could wake up and start fermenting in your bottle/keg.

My GOD though - how do you let it sit for 2 years without drinking it?

 

[Chetr]

A local cider maker recommended I batch age it. He said stick it in a corner of the basement and forget it. So, I did. With 2 years invested in it I'm understandably concerned about screwing it up. Which makes me gun shy about doing anything with it. Now I've got another apple pressing scheduled for this weekend and I need to get it out of the carboy to make room. Time to process it and drink it.

I think I will just sorbate it, back sweeten it to taste, then transfer it to the keg and decide if I want to suspend a cinnamon stick in it or not.

 

[barnaclebob]

That seems like a good plan