Back sweeten hard cider

[Timmyb1980]

I am brand new to brewing. I have 5 gallons of hard cider bubbling right now. I plan on bottling this weekend. I used 5 gallons of Apple juice, 2 lbs of brown sugar, nottingham ale yeast. I wanted to sweeten it with some boiled down apple cider syrup, but don't want exploding bottles. Trying to stay away from stevia/Splenda fake sugar. Any thoughts suggestions? Thanks for your help/advise.

 

[JimRausch]

Hello Timmy, and welcome to the forum!
As a 1st time poster, you probably didn't realize there's an entire cider section which is filled with all the info. you could possibly need. And very knowledgeable people. Keep scrolling down past the beer section and you'll find it.
But, to answer your question, if your cider is bubbling on a Thursday, almost absolutely certain it won't be ready to bottle by Saturday. Ciders do tend to take some time, it's not unusual for them to ferment slowly for 3 weeks or more. If you bottle too soon, while it's still actively fermenting, you risk getting exploding bottles(see 'bottle bombs'). When it's completely finished, you can bottle with no sugar(still cider) or plain sugar(for a dry bubbly cider), or frozen apple juice, or fresh cider, or I suppose some boiled down apple cider syrup( haven't read about that one yet). But, you have some time to do some research. Good luck!

 

[Toga]

If you are going to bottle it and want it sweet, you need to prevent the yeast from kicking off another fermentation. Of course this eliminates the ability to carbonate it naturally in the bottles. Potassium Sorbate AKA "wine stabilizer" works well to prevent the yeast from eating the sugar solution added to sweeten the cider. Your homebrew shop should have it if they sell wine making supplies. Add per the directions on the package when you add in your sugar/condensed cider syrup. I back sweetened my last batch the same way with boiled down condensed cider n dark brown sugar. It was awesome. If bottling it I recommend doing this in a secondary vessel or keg and let it sit for a week or two after sweetening and adding sorbate to endure no fermentation is going to take place to avoid bottle bombs.

 

[NTexBrewer]

Here is the link to the Cider Forum
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/

Here is a link in the cider forum about pasteurizing your bottles if you want to have back sweetened carbonated cider
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

I have personally back sweetened cider using Splenda and doing the Apple Cider Concentrate, pasteurization method to have sweet carbonated cider, and definitely prefer the Splenda route.

If you pasteurize make sure you are using new beer bottles with pry caps. I had three regular green glass bottles explode during the pasteurization process.

I agree with JimRausch that your cider may not be finished fermenting and even if it is finished fermenting it is best to rack it off the yeast and let it clarify for a while.

 

[Timmyb1980]

Thank you so much for all the advise. I'll post what I did and how it turns out for anyone interested.

 

[solbes]

I would not advise the bottle pastuerizing method, so soon after jumping into the world of fermenting beverages. Although it can work, you really need to know what you're doing to avoid flying glass. As far as I know, thats the only way to bottle back-sweetened and carbonated cider (outside of kegging).

As said before you can backsweeten, add Camden & Sortbate to suffocate the yeast, and then bottle still (without carbonation). Or you can add 2/3 cup of sugar to 5 gallons of fully fermented cider and bottle, giving you a carbonated but fully dry cider (as the live yeast eat up the xtra sugar).

Ciders take time, to do it right takes months before the apple flavor really comes out and pops. 3 months at least, with 6+ months being optimal. Agree with poster above waiting at least 3 weeks in fermenter before doing anything with it. Just leave it sealed up and those yeasties will go to work and finish up.

 

[Timmyb1980]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to split the batch. Half carbonated half still. With the carbonated my friend said I should dump some corn syrup in. How much per 2.5 gallon batch? The other 2.5 gallons will be treated with sorbate and sulfite then add Apple cider syrup that I will boil down.

 

[MarkKF]

Never heard of corn syrup. I use 3/4 cup brown sugar, cane sugar or corn sugar in 5 gal. 1/2 cup if kegging.

 

[JimRausch]

Agreed, don't use corn syrup. I've read posts where it leads to strange off-flavors.
For a 1/2 batch carbonated, I'd use 1/2 can of frozen apple juice(I've done 2 cans for a 5G batch and it was overcarbonated. 1 can per 5G was perfect). You get the fermentable sugars plus a little bit of apple flavor. You can add the other 1/2 can to the still batch for a little extra flavor as well.

 

[Wolfbayte]

I have personally back sweetened cider using Splenda and doing the Apple Cider Concentrate, pasteurization method to have sweet carbonated cider, and definitely prefer the Splenda route.

I agree with JimRausch that your cider may not be finished fermenting and even if it is finished fermenting it is best to rack it off the yeast and let it clarify for a while.

^ This. We love our cider with 1/2 cup Splenda and 5 oz corn sugar added at bottling to 5 gals apple cider.

Let it go (let it go, ...., stupid song) for at least 4 weeks. It will be worth it.

Enjoy

 

[Timmyb1980]

For the still batch I have potassium sorbate and Camden tablets. That should stop the yeast? I was afraid to use a can of Apple juice concentrate because I thought o might get exploding bottles. Good chance they won't explode? I have some apple juice I was going to boil down to a syrup, but folks on this forum said if I add that I'd get exploding bottles. Would frozen Apple juice be diffetent? All you guys rock! Thanks for helping me out.

 

[Timmyb1980]

It actually stopped bubbling a week ago.

 

[JimRausch]

If you added any type of sugar when fermentation wasn't finished and then bottled, you would risk bottle bombs. But after fermentation is complete you can add a controlled amount of sugar and bottle safely.

 

[JimRausch]

Sulfites(Camden) and Sorbate won't stop an active fermentation, but they will prevent new yeast reproduction. So, typically when using, the finished cider is racked off the lees(sediment), treated and sweetened, then either racked again or let sit for a couple days to make sure fermentation doesn't kick back in.

 

[bernardsmith]

Don't disagree with the spirit of what others have been suggesting but what you need to do is know (and so measure) the specific gravity of your cider. That is the only - the only - way of knowing whether there is still fermentable sugar in the cider for the yeast to turn into CO2 and alcohol and the issue of exploding bottles arises because you bottle and trap the gas which is still being produced and so place the bottles under increasing pressure.
I am sure you know that once every last gram of available sugar has been used up then if you stabilize the cider (as others have suggested ) and then add a known quantity of (even fermentable) sugar none of that sugar will ferment. Similarly, if you know when (because you have measured) there is no fermentable sugar left and without stabilizing you add a known quantity of fermentable sugar you can carbonate and be confident that the bottles will not explode (because the amount of sugar you are adding cannot result in a quantity of CO2 which will explode the bottles.
Wine yeasts can ferment dry any reasonable amount of sugar without any problem - so you are looking for a final gravity of below 1.000 (1.000 is the nominal gravity that water has. Alcohol is less dense than water and so is lower. A mix of water (your cider with no sugar) and alcohol - the apple juice fermented - should be less than 1.000 - about .996 or even lower.
Fermentation does not work to a factory clock or a train schedule. It's organic and will dance to its own drum beat. An hydrometer - not a calendar is the only way to know what is happening and what to do next.

 

[MarkKF]

So what's the deal with Ale yeasts that finish at 1.000-1.004? Are they done?

 

[MindenMan]

If you have the time and patience, let the cider rest until it is clear on it's own; I wouldn't bypass using a hydrometer though. I also agree with earlier posters about aging cider whether it be still or carbonated. The longer you wait the better the possibility of top-notch hard cider. I make a lot of applejack and I can tell you from my own experience, aging makes a huge difference in both flavor and mouth feel.

 

[MarkKF]

Just legged two carboys of cider. I back sweetened with one cup xerosweet xylitol per 5 gal.

Last time I used 1/2 cup and it wasn't enough.