Killing yeast before back sweetening

[S_carve]

So I have a a 5 gal batch of cider from last year that has been sitting in an airlocked carboy since last fall. The cider was fermented with champagne yeast and finished dry months ago. I am looking to make it into a still spiced cider that is sweet. So I want to kill the yeast which is pretty dorment anyway and add spices and back sweeten so it can be served warm come holiday time.

A couple days ago I added campden tabs to the cider in order to kill the yeast. Is this enough? What else can be done? I dont really like the idea of heating the bottles in the dishwasher to stop fermentation.

Also I want to use pasturized fresh cider to back sweeten. Any idea how much to start with?

 

[sloanfamilydsm]

You'll need to also use potassium sorbate to inhibit the yeast. Sulfites alone will not stop a re-fermentation in the bottle. As far as how much to back sweeten, adding unfermented juice up to 10% of the total volume seems to be my ceiling but its a personal choice on how sweet do you want it. Bench trials will be your final answer on sweetening.

 

[Yooper]

As was mentioned, neither sorbate nor campden kill the yeast. Winemakers use campden tablets routinely as an antioxidant, and wine yeast and brewers yeast are extremely tolerant of campden (sulfites). But sorbate is added to a completely clear cider when it's done fermenting, after it is racked off of the lees. Sorbate doesn't kill yeast, but instead inhibits yeast reproduction. That means, if there is a ton of yeast in suspension or in the lees (such as in an active fermentation), the sorbate won't do a thing. So make sure the cider is clear and not dropping any more lees before stabilizing.

The other possibility is pasteurizing (in a sticky in this forum). But I have never done it so I can't say how well it works vs. stabilizing.

 

[S_carve]

interesting. so no real way to "kill" champagne yeast, just inhibit its growth. I did not want to heat the cider at all, even though I plan on serving it warm.

The cider is very clear and has been in the secondary with a small amount of lees for probably 4 months so I assumed the yeast would have died off.

 

[buffalo]

I might have just gotten lucky but a couple months ago i had a batch that sat in secondary for about 5 months and i was able to add some new juice without having any issues. I bottled it after adding the new juice planning on testing a bottle every few days for carbonation and then pasteurizing but it stayed flat and still is today,it tastes pretty darn good also. Like i said i might have just got lucky though,i don't want to be the cause of any bottle bombs.

 

[Yooper]

interesting. so no real way to "kill" champagne yeast, just inhibit its growth. I did not want to heat the cider at all, even though I plan on serving it warm.

The cider is very clear and has been in the secondary with a small amount of lees for probably 4 months so I assumed the yeast would have died off.

The yeast isn't dead, it's just dormant. You can rack off of the lees, and if the cider is totally clear, sorbate and campden should work just fine.

 

[CodyA]

What about freezing the cider? Would the ice crystals kill and destroy the yeast cells? I did this to 2 liters of my very first cider and the damn thing never started back up after I added more sugar to back sweeten and carb. Also did this to some leese from a previous batch of beer and it completely failed when I tried to use it as a starter.

 

[ItsRoz]

What about freezing the cider? Would the ice crystals kill and destroy the yeast cells? I did this to 2 liters of my very first cider and the damn thing never started back up after I added more sugar to back sweeten and carb. Also did this to some leese from a previous batch of beer and it completely failed when I tried to use it as a starter.

Well If, after you froze the cider you used sugar to back sweeten and carb the yeast was doing the carbonating in the bottle. ...that is unless of course you force carbed, then I'm blowing smoke up your o.0

Anyway, OP you use the exact method I use to make my cider, I just don't add the metabisulfite and instead bottle carb and then stove top pasteurize, maybe you'd consider that as opposed to dishwasher? Why if I may ask do you not want to pasteurize the cider?

 

[CodyA]

This was before I got kegging equipment, so yea, I was trying to bottle carb. Did it in plastic 2 liter bottles and while the ones I refrigerated to cold crash restarted in the bottles at room temperature after I added more sugar, the one bottle that I froze did not. That's why I'm assuming that maybe freezing destroys the yeast cells, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[ItsRoz]

Oh I COMPLETELY misunderstood what you said ignore that