Adding yeast when bottling, if so, when, how much, what container?

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Hi everyone, I started 6 gals of cider 10 months ago. I racked to secondary approx 3 weeks to a month after into 1 gal jugs. I now want to bottle and I would like light to medium carbonation. I plan to back sweeten with monkfruit sweetener. I plan on 12 oz capped beer bottles. It's pretty warm here right now so temp shouldn't be a problem. This is my first time making cider so I have some questions:
  • Do I need to add more yeast to ensure carbonation?
  • If so, how much per gallon?
  • If so, when should I add it and to which container, and how long should I wait to bottle? Should I add to the secondary and then wait some time before re-racking to a clean container to bottle, or add a pinch to each bottle?
  • If so, does it matter which type? I'm not sure what I have left but I can pick some up. Initial SG was 1.062 so I think the final % will be around 8%
  • If I add yeast, do I need to add yeast nutrient also?
Thanks!
 
I think Rish is correct, the yeast already in your cider should still be alive enough to wake up to the priming sugar, even after 10 months.

But if you want cheap insurance, get some wine yeast (EC-1118 is great), measure out ONE gram of it, rehydrate that one gram of yeast in 10 milliliters of warm water, let it set for 15 minutes, then dump that solution, plus your back-sweetening and priming sugar solutions right into the 1 gal jug, mix it gently, then immediately fill your bottles from the jug -- should be about 9 or 10 twelve oz bottles, depending on how full your jug is, and how much trub is at the bottom. You won't need yeast nutrient. Do those jugs one at a time.
 
I think Rish is correct, the yeast already in your cider should still be alive enough to wake up to the priming sugar, even after 10 months.

But if you want cheap insurance, get some wine yeast (EC-1118 is great), measure out ONE gram of it, rehydrate that one gram of yeast in 10 milliliters of warm water, let it set for 15 minutes, then dump that solution, plus your back-sweetening and priming sugar solutions right into the 1 gal jug, mix it gently, then immediately fill your bottles from the jug -- should be about 9 or 10 twelve oz bottles, depending on how full your jug is, and how much trub is at the bottom. You won't need yeast nutrient. Do those jugs one at a time.
Thanks for the info! I have a follow-up question. I added some yeast, really not very much, and 20g dextrose per 'gallon' (full gallon minus sediment and a touch of cider left when racking). All bottled and capped. I am now just reading that I will probably have to cold crash after a few weeks or I could get bottle bombs! I.e. adding the yeast will result in more carbonation. While I get why that might be thought to be the case, at the end of the day, the yeast are fermenting the sugar and producing CO2. Surely amount of CO2 that can be produced is a direct result of the amount of fermentable sugar in the bottle. I.e. if you added 20g sugar and a tiny bit of yeast, you could still get the same amount of CO2 produced as if you added 20g sugar to a TON of yeast, the process would just happen faster.

What am I missing?

And now do I need to go and buy a mini fridge for the garage?!
 
What am I missing?
I don't think you're missing anything. The yeast, either what was left or what you added, can't ferment sugar that isn't there. If all the fermentable sugar got used up in the primary and secondary, then the carbonation level will depend only on how much sugar was added at bottling. This isn't beer, where there's a possibility of using a yeast in the bottles that can ferment things like maltotriose or dextrins that the yeast in the primary couldn't. But that would be a pretty dumb mistake anyway.

So what was your final gravity?
 
I don't think you're missing anything. The yeast, either what was left or what you added, can't ferment sugar that isn't there. If all the fermentable sugar got used up in the primary and secondary, then the carbonation level will depend only on how much sugar was added at bottling. This isn't beer, where there's a possibility of using a yeast in the bottles that can ferment things like maltotriose or dextrins that the yeast in the primary couldn't. But that would be a pretty dumb mistake anyway.

So what was your final gravity?
Ok good! I'll check one in a week anyway to make sure. Ugh I was a total idiot and forgot to check, I got too wrapped up in the racking and bottling. I do have 1 gal left of one of the 3 yeast types I tried so I can check that, which isn't great but will tell me for one. That was the least dry. They are all very clear and dry
 
I was a total idiot and forgot to check
OK then the other questions that might give you a little peace of mind are what carbonation level you're targeting and what kind of bottles you're using. That will tell you how much of a safety margin you have. I always put my bottles in a sturdy container in an out of the way place while they're conditioning. Just in case.

Bottle type
Max. CO2 Volume
12oz​
3​
33cl Belgian​
3.5​
500ml European​
3.5​
Swing top​
4​
Champagne​
7​
PET​
10​
 
20 grams priming sugar for 1 gallon should get right around 2.1 to 2.3 volumes CO2, so as long as the sugar was fully dissolved before adding to the jug, everything should be fine.

@oscillate_wildly -- How much monkfruit did you end up using for each gallon, and how does it (the finished cider) taste?
 
OK then the other questions that might give you a little peace of mind are what carbonation level you're targeting and what kind of bottles you're using. That will tell you how much of a safety margin you have. I always put my bottles in a sturdy container in an out of the way place while they're conditioning. Just in case.

Bottle type
Max. CO2 Volume
12oz​
3​
33cl Belgian​
3.5​
500ml European​
3.5​
Swing top​
4​
Champagne​
7​
PET​
10​
Thanks for all this help and advice! They are in standard 12oz beer bottles, a few in swing tops. I was going for medium carbonation and the sources I looked at suggested 20g/1 oz. From the priming sugar calculator, being conservative about temp, it looks like I would need to add 32g to 0.9g to get to the max 3.0 for the 12 oz bottles. That makes me feel good although I am not sure what the residual sugar could be if it hadn't fully finished fermenting 🤦‍♀️

I did get 10 bottles from a friend and now need to double check that those weren't screw cap!

The thing that concerns me would be, if I did make bottle bombs, that they would explode while carrying the cider from storage under the house to where it will be opened, since I assume that moving carbonated drinks always releases some CO2. The idea of a bottle exploding in my hand is not a nice one
 

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20 grams priming sugar for 1 gallon should get right around 2.1 to 2.3 volumes CO2, so as long as the sugar was fully dissolved before adding to the jug, everything should be fine.

@oscillate_wildly -- How much monkfruit did you end up using for each gallon, and how does it (the finished cider) taste?
Ok thanks, I did a pretty good job of stirring it. Honestly I found it so hard to tell how much to add in because it was still and I found it hard to get an idea of how it would actually taste. So I ended up putting in about a table spoon per gallon of brown sugar erythritol sweetener. Photo attached. I am sure it will need to be sweeter but my thoughts are that I can add sugar syrup when pouring, especially since husband prefers dry
 

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The thing that concerns me would be, if I did make bottle bombs, that they would explode while carrying the cider from storage under the house to where it will be opened, since I assume that moving carbonated drinks always releases some CO2. The idea of a bottle exploding in my hand is not a nice one
Like I said, put them in a sturdy container. It sounds like you probably don't really have too much to worry about, but for extra safety you can:
1) put the entire container into a refrigerator after they're done conditioning
2) wear protective clothing, goggles, and heavy gloves whenever moving them around
3) wear protective clothing, goggles, and heavy gloves when you open the first bottle
4) open that first bottle outside away from other people or animals
 
I generally use 1 tsp dextrose (or glucose) per bottle. I dissolve #bottles x tsp sugar in water to make up a known volume of 5 ml / tsp and boil it. I then dose each bottle with 5 ml of that solution before filling.
 
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