Boosting abv

[JohnnyJumpUp22]

So I've made a couple 5 gal. Batches of apple cider and my abv is generally coming out around 5% or 6%. Is there anything I can do to raise the abv to around 12% without totally loosing all the sweetness?

 

[myndflyte]

You could add sugar to it and once it's done fermenting, add potassium sortbate and then back sweeten. If you want carbonation, use lactose to sweeten or artificial sweetener

 

[Jacob_Marley]

I assume by "without totally losing all the sweetness" you are referring literally to the residual sugars in your cider after fermentation that give it a hint of sweetness (?).

Use Lalvin 71B-1122 as your yeast and chaptalize (sweeten the Opening Gravity) up to about 16% or so. The 71B will crap out at an abv of about 12 to 14% and leave you with at least some sweetness.

In general, raising the opening gravity (SG) and consequent ABV% of cider can be done with either sugar, or Frozen Concentrated Apple Juice (FCAJ) like you buy at the supermarket. FCAJ helps reinforce the apple flavor as well. Use FCAJ to raise the opening gravity.

 

[podz]

So I've made a couple 5 gal. Batches of apple cider and my abv is generally coming out around 5% or 6%. Is there anything I can do to raise the abv to around 12% without totally loosing all the sweetness?

No.

In addition, it will strip the apple taste as well as require long aging time.

So, currently, you're not adding any sugar at all? Start with 500 grams for a 5 gallon batch and see how you like that. I wouldn't go over 750 grams, nor would I recommend it.

 

[MindenMan]

Let me ask a dumb question, why would you want your cider with such a high ABV%?
In my experience 12% is apple wine, not apple cider, but I digress...
The most important ingredient in making any kind of cider, or wine, or beer, is patience.
I normally use ale yeast to make my hard cider, but this batch I put together today is made with wine yeast The yeast is said to tolerate 16% alcohol. I am making apple jack with it, and if the ABV does get that high, I will re sweeten it with fajc, and then freeze it. For me personally, if i am going to stash a bottle of a/j for a special occasion, it will need the "extra" sugar up front, so it will become a nectar of the gods (gods' small g). It makes perfect sense to me now, mead has to condition for years to be amazing, and why couldn't apple jack too? My daughter turns 21 in 4 years, and I need to make a special batch with enough alcohol and residual sugar to stand the test of time.

 

[JohnnyJumpUp22]

Thank you all for the input and suggestions they were very helpful. And my primary reason for shooting so high with the abv is mostly just to see how far I can push the cider before it starts tasting bad.

 

[Yooper]

Thank you all for the input and suggestions they were very helpful. And my primary reason for shooating so high with the abv is mostly just to see how far I can push the cider before it starts tasting bad.

I don't know what you mean by "starts tasting bad", as I am pretty sure you want it to taste good or you wouldn't do it.

Anyway, you can go to quite a high ABV and even if it tastes like rocket fuel for a couple of years, it'll age out into an apple wine usually that is very nice. The thing is, apple wine doesn't taste like cider at all- apple wine is usually more like a pinot grigio tasting wine.

If you want an apple mix to taste like cider, you wouldn't add any extra fermentables as it loses it's "appleness" if simple sugars are added. Apple wine is a nice fruity dry wine that doesn't taste much of all of apples, due to the higher ABV and boosting it with simple sugars. It's not bad, but it is totally different.

 

[dallas996]

I know its considered cyser or fortified cider or whatever, but my recipe is 5.5 gallons of organic juice with 3 lbs of local honey added. I use Nottingham yeast and I normally get an abv between 6.5 and 8%. Its pretty much drinkable out of the primary. I always cold crash it in the primary at around 1.010 for a few days (usually ends up around 1.005-.008) then I give it a few days in the secondary to mellow and pitch the K's; then on to a keg for carbing for 10 days or so. It is really drinkable at that point and always a hit.

 

[pkincaid]

I agree, I wouldn't push it too far or you're looking at a long aging time to make it drinkable. I start with 5 gal of apple cider, add 2 lbs of brown sugar and yeast nutrient, I end at about 8%.
I leave it in primary for 2
Weeks, rack to secondary and cold crash for 3 days before adding Sorbate. I don't back sweeten if it's getting kegged, but I do if I bottle it. It's always been just slightly sweet enough on it's own though. And is a hit. So usually in 3 weeks I have a fantastic drinkable cider!

Btw my og is usually around 1.062 and finishes or I stop it at 1.010

 

[bernardsmith]

Apple wine - with an ABV or about 12% tastes incredible after a year largely, I think, because much of the bitter malic caid has transformed to less harsh lactic acids. If you make the wine with a good balance of apple : alcohol (rather than added sugar to apple: alcohol) then the higher ABV is aligned with the fruit flavors and the sugars coming from the apples. My technique is to freeze the juice and I collect the liquid that first thaws - that liquid contains much of the sugar (so I lose about 2/3 of the juice but boost the gravity from about 1.045 to about 1.090 using only the sugar in the juice itself... Never tried this but it may work with commercially sold concentrated juice (I get my juice from a local orchard) - except that such concentrates come from desert (eating) apples....