How much potassium sorbate?

[Gdog]

I'm planning to keg my 1 gallon batch of hard cider. I'm also going to use a can of frozen concentrate to backsweeten it. The keg will stay in the fridge at 40 degrees. How much potassium sorbate do I need for this gallon batch before I keg it? Should I even bother using it? I used safale 04 yeast. Sorry I've never done this before.

 

[Yooper]

I'm planning to keg my 1 gallon batch of hard cider. I'm also going to use a can of frozen concentrate to backsweeten it. The keg will stay in the fridge at 40 degrees. How much potassium sorbate do I need for this gallon batch before I keg it? Should I even bother using it? I used safale 04 yeast. Sorry I've never done this before.

If I was keeping it in the fridge, I"d skip the sorbate. S04 should be totally dormant at 40 degrees.

If you want to be safe, you could use sorbate and campden (sulfite). You need both, as sorbate works better in the presence of sulfites. The typical dosage is 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon, dissolved in a little boiling water, and 1/2 teaspoon of sorbate stirred into that to dissolve, then added to the keg and the cider racked into it.

 

[Gdog]

Thank you! I was wondering what ratio to use. I'm thinking I might just leave it in the fridge.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

If I was keeping it in the fridge, I"d skip the sorbate. S04 should be totally dormant at 40 degrees.

If you want to be safe, you could use sorbate and campden (sulfite). You need both, as sorbate works better in the presence of sulfites. The typical dosage is 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon, dissolved in a little boiling water, and 1/2 teaspoon of sorbate stirred into that to dissolve, then added to the keg and the cider racked into it.

Is the 1/2 t of sorbate also per gallon?

 

[Yooper]

Is the 1/2 t of sorbate also per gallon?

Yes.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Yes.

Awesome! This was perfect timing, as my brewclub is doing a cider press next weekend, and I'm in for 10 gallons. 5 I'll make a cyser from, and 5 I'll make a straight cider and backsweeten.

Congrats, BTW, on the great find of that cider press!

 

[rjthomas21]

I've got my first batch of cider (5G) ready to hit the keg and I have a few questions about sorbate/campden (I'll be gifting some bottles away so I know this is necessary to avoid gifting bottle bombs).

The cider finished fermenting about 2 weeks ago and I've been waiting for space in the kegs to open up. Now that I have space, I was wondering if I should transfer straight into the keg and add the sorbate/campden in the keg or if I should rack to a secondary first to add the sorbate/campden and then wait a few days to put it in the keg?

Also, I've heard some people have had issues with sulfery smells as a by-product of the sorbate. Is this avoidable by adding the appropriate amount of sorbate/campden or does it always appear? If it appears, is there a way to remove it? Could I purge the keg with CO2 to remove it? Does stirring help at all? Or does it just require time to age?

Thanks!

 

[Chachane186]

Sorry for the attempted hijacking here...

Hi there, I know it's a bit late to be posting this but I just transferred my cider from into the keg and added 2 tsp of Young's Potassium Sorbate into it w/o any K-Meta. I read somewhere that this can cause the sulphuric smells and flavours and I am a bit worried about what might happen to it. I can always make another batch but would prefer not to waste this one because of a simple mistake on my part.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!