Expiration Question

[Acrid]

Hello, I am still deciding whether or not to get into hard cider making. My question is this. Hypothetically:

I just finished making a batch, everything went perfectly, and it tastes great. What is the best way to bottle for the longest lasting.
What is the expiration date on it?


I don't want to make a batch that will only last a month. I want as long as possible until it can go bad. Preferably a year or more. Thanks.

 

[Jacob_Marley]

Shelf life has to do with a lot of factors ... pH, sulfites, the amount of tannin, the amount of residual nutrient left in the cider (& filtration), exposure to light once bottled, oxygen getting in once bottled, oxygen introduced to the must before bottling and during handling, prior-to-bottling sanitation to avoid spoilage bacteria and infection, the temperature at which you store the cider and the changes in temperature while stored, and ABV%.

With ABV% ... every little bit helps and higher abv cider might be approx around 8% or 10% ... the higher the better for storage. The best shelf life for wine is at 12%+ (not surprisingly).

The max shelf life? If it has a high ABV and reasonably high tannin levels, I'd think similar to wine ... though my ciders never get the chance to age.