Halfway through a cider, need guidance

[Kashue]

So a while back I started a concentrate-based cider per this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/ice-cider-384368/

It's in secondary now. I believe the end product has arrested its own fermentation from alcohol content; when I tasted it after a month of primary it was still extremely sweet, with a hard hit of alcohol and a very concentrated, jolly-rancher-esque apple flavor. I plan to leave it sit for a few months to dull the heat a bit, but I'm not sure what to do with it after that:

• Bottle it as it is. This would have to be still since all the yeast is at its limit, the result would basically be an apple cordial. I don't much want to do this, although it would provide me with at least a month's base for apple alco-pop.
• Blend it and bottle it. If you blend a brew that has fermented to the yeast's tolerance but not to dryness, does fermentation start up again? If so I'd be a little scared of gushers, there's a lot of sweetness left. Or maybe it just tastes that way because the sugar is cross-mojinating with the alcohol?
• Blend it then back to aging. This seems the safest, plus I could blend it with almost anything. On the downside I'd have to go buy a 2-gallon jug just for this; It's strong but I don't know that it's strong enough to blend with 5 gallons of juice or similar.

Has anyone else been in this position? If so, what did you do?

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

I would think if you blend with more juice, you'd probably have to inoculate it with more yeast to get it fermenting again. If you reached max alcohol for the strain, I would think they died...not just stalled.

 

[saramc]

Could you share what you actually did, because the linked thread talks of different yeasts, different juice/concentrate sources, ice cider vs jacking?

Also, what was your original gravity and your final gravity?

If you are trying to bottle carb this it may be impossible due to ACV, so force carbing may be only option.

As far as blending that is always an option and I would recommend pasteurization or stabilization with k-meta plus sorbate; though if there is any chance your ACV is low enough to achieve bottle carbing you do not want to add sorbate.

 

[Kashue]

Certainly, sorry. Batch is 1 gallon, 6 tubes of concentrate and topped up the rest of the way with juice. No gravity measured. Fermented in primary for a month with some slight signs of activity at that point but racked anyway to avoid yeast-related troubles. Post-racking there has been no further activity and after a week it has shown a bit of clarification near the top.

I've been pasteurizing as per the sticky about it for about a year without problems so i would probably do that over additives/stabilizers.

 

[saramc]

I say serial rack, degas and clear, allow to age, bottle pasteurize. But since there is no idea about ACV hard to give any advice beyond that; if you opt to blend I would wait until later, perhaps 3-6 months, before starting blending trials.

 

[Kashue]

Yeah, concur. It's super everything right now and needs to sit, plus the longer I wait before I blend the less chance something untoward will happen.