Fermenting done, now what

[ArtV]

i know this probably the 1000th such post, but after reading and re-reading so many threads on what to do to achieve a mildly sweet cider I am still at a loss.

Bottle pasteurizing seems dangerous for the someone as inexperienced as myself and I am concern about the effect heat has on flavors. The sulfite/sorbate route makes sense but I notice some here do not like to use chemicals. Can I try bulk pasteurizing with a one gallon sample?

I want some cider for 4th of July so I would like to start whatever path I should take as soon as possible. I do not care about it being sparkling though it would be nice, it is not necessary.

I have two 5 gallon batches to work with and both have been aging for about 6.5 months. One had brown sugar added and I used champagne yeast while the other had no additional sugar added and I used an ale yeast.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[javalin]

If you want a sweet sparkling cider you'll have to use some artificial sweeteners (splenda) add your priming sugar, and bottle.

If carbonation takes a back seat to flavor, I would recommend pasteurizing (heat to 150F for 10 min) and sweetening with apple juice concentrate.

 

[stella_tigre]

We've been going the route of bottling dry sparkling cider and then sweetening in the glass with frozen AJ concentrate as preferred. Advantage is that not everyone has to have sweet or dry, it's personal choice. Depends on the yeast and its attenuation; EC1118 (champagne yeast) needs more glass-sweetening than Nottingham (ale yeast,) for instance. Also FAJC adds back a little apple taste, especially for the EC1118.
I haven't bulk aged that long before bottling - your yeast may be gone - so you may want to test a small batch to see if you need to add a little more yeast. If you want sparkling dry you can add about 1 oz (28g) sugar per gallon, either as bottling sugar or FAJC.

 

[Maylar]

The simplest safest way to get a mildly sweet cider is to add a non fermentable sugar like Xylitol at bottling time. I find that 3 tablespoons per gallon works well. If you also want it sparkling, you can also add fermentable sugar as a primer according to published quantities. Getting carbonation before July 4th might be a stretch though, depending on what yeast you used.

I hate artificial sweeteners and diet sodas so believe me when I say that Xylitol tastes just like sugar.

 

[ArtV]

I may try to stove top pasteurizing with at least a few gallons of my cider and try different ways to sweeten in one gallon carboys. Does this make sense?

The other 5 gallon batch I have I may go with the sulfite/sorbate route and post results. I guess there is really no exact recipe because there are so many different methods posted here that it can be overwhelming to the newbie.