I've got apple cider going, OG was 60, using S-04 yeast. I don't want it too dry, I like it medium sweet . I'm wondering what people think is a good gravity to bottle it at, so that it will carbonate and still be sweet. I'm going to do the boil pasteurization method to stop the yeast after carbonation in the bottles.
Thanks for your help.
IMO, you want to ferment the cider dry and then bench test*** to find the sweetness you like (by adding specific quantities of sugar to known quantities of cider) and then you add the appropriate quantity of sugar to the volume of cider you have made -
I would also measure the gravity of the cider after you have added the sugar and so next time you make a similar batch using the same apple juice and the same yeast (and so with the same level of acidity and astringency etc) then you will know what gravity to aim for when you back sweeten...
*** You can bench test by pouring say four 100 cc measures of cider and keeping the first dry , adding say 5 gms sugar to the second, 10 to the third and 15 to the fourth. Make sure the sugar is dissolved and then taste each one. If none are sweet enough then you repeat but start with 15 gms , 20, 25, and 30. If 25 and 30 are too sweet but 20 is not quite sweet enough then you can repeat using 21 as the control and trying 22, 23 and 24 gms. Let's say you decide on 21 gms and you have made a gallon of cider. One gallon = 3.785 L or 3785 cc. You then multiply 21 gms (or whatever your preferred sweetness was) by 37.85 (if you were using 100 cc measures of cider) to find the total amount of sugar you need to add to your 3.785 L
After you have dissolved that quantity of sugar in your cider I would measure the gravity and that now gives you some good sense of how sweet or dry you like this kind of cider. (priming, IMO, increases the acidity so it may taste a little less sweet after it has been primed).
