Cider vs Beer final gravity - Part II

[JLem]

from an earlier post

The unfermentable sugars in beer are responsible for most of the non-hop flavor, so you want some leftover.

That's what I thought, which brings me to another question:

Do different types of malted barley (and other grains) have different amounts of fermentable sugars vs non-fermentable sugars? If so, can I use this fact to increase a beer's sweetness (maltiness?) by using the right proportion of grains? I'm thinking this is different from hitting a certain OG, which can be done using any number of combination of grains/sugars.

Similarly, can you add some non-fermentable sugars to cider by including some % of grains (+/or DME/LME) and thereby end with a less dry, more sweet cider?

 

[ericm]

yes and yes.

(crystal and 'cara' malts have a relative high proportion of unfermentable sugars (dextrins) in them. If you're doing all grain or a mini-mash, you can also control the proportions of fermentable to unfermentable sugars via the mash temperature).

you can also backsweeten cider with an unfermentable, non-malt derived sugar like lactose.

 

[Dionysos911]

yes and yes.

(crystal and 'cara' malts have a relative high proportion of unfermentable sugars (dextrins) in them. If you're doing all grain or a mini-mash, you can also control the proportions of fermentable to unfermentable sugars via the mash temperature).

you can also backsweeten cider with an unfermentable, non-malt derived sugar like lactose.

What is the process to back sweetening? I'd imagine trying to add unfermentable sugar at the end might be tough to mix in without adding oxygen to the wort.

 

[ericm]

What is the process to back sweetening? I'd imagine trying to add unfermentable sugar at the end might be tough to mix in without adding oxygen to the wort.

you can do it just like adding priming sugar before bottling - boil the lactose in a small amount of water (boiling removes the oxygen dissolved in the water) and rack the cider on top of that (it'd good to stir gently at this point as well to make sure it's fully mixed). there's probably a bit of oxygen introduced, but if you stir and siphon gently, with no splashing, it should be pretty minimal.

actually, if you're really concerned about oxygen, you can just add the lactose before fermentation instead - although it's nice to be able to do it at bottling because you can add it to taste.