Hot or cold - Pasturize question??

[Sonesen]

Got myself three one gallon batches of cider going, Blueberry, raspberry, and regular.
I was researching good methods back sweetening them and then i stumbled into pasteurization.

Is this (pasteurization) needed if i am going to completely dry out the cider and use carbonation drops and back sweeten?

Is pasteurization used for long haul storage? which i can understand, if the ciders were to last longer than a month...

I know you can cold crash to kill the lonely yeast that is left behind... i personally rather run that route since i'm in Alaska it's cold AF here.

Seems like everything else in the world/internet, there is always too much information.

I guess end point i want to get to.... is when and why should i hot pasteurize?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Blacksmith1]

To get a sweet bottle carbonated cider. Dry and carbed you won't need to. Stabilized and sweetened you won't need to. Stabilized and sweetened and force carbed you won't need to.
The yeast won't stop eating sugar when you try to carb sweet cider in a bottle. They just keep going till they finish the sugar, the bottle explodes, or you kill them.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-with-pics.193295/
I don't think the cold actually kills yeast.

 

[bmd2k1]

Unless you keep cider cold.....ie)low 30s F

Do it ALL the time.

Cold crash then keep in fridge.....ciders with FG 1.03ish.....no chems. Works great for moi - a sweet cider & no chem fan[emoji12] Using D47 wine yeast & S04 ale yeast [emoji106]

If I want carb...I toss in bottle & leave at room temp for 30days....

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[RPh_Guy]

If I want carb...I toss in bottle & leave at room temp for 30days....

A month to carbonate??

 

[bmd2k1]

Nice Round # [emoji111] -- prob good 2 good b4 that...but haven't tried em [emoji12]

How long u go?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Uh, my bottles carbonate in about 3 days.

 

[Blacksmith1]

I'm thinking his yeasts are lounging around on the bottom of the carboy at that point. Low 30's would require a freezer for me.

 

[bmd2k1]

Uh, my bottles carbonate in about 3 days.

[emoji106]

I'll run some tests this fall/winter -- see if I can narrow down my optimal carb window -- given my protocol -- Cheers [emoji111]

 

[CKuhns]

Is this (pasteurization) needed if i am going to completely dry out the cider and use carbonation drops and back sweeten? If you want it carbonated in the bottle by adding carbonation drops (Sugar) and more sugar to sweeten for your taste. Then the only way I know of doing that is to pasteurize once bottled and carbonated OR once carbonated place in the fridge and drink within a relatively short period of time.(Risky IMO but a practice by others on this forum) . IMO - You must completely stop the yeast from eating the remaining sugars by posterization. With that said, if you ferment dry (1.000 or less) add carbonation drops (sugar) and use a non-fermentable sugar or sugar substitute for sweetness then you may not need to pasteurize. I have been using a small amount of Xylitol for residual sweetness in bottled mead with some success. Ciders I just ferment almost dry and keg.

Is pasteurization used for long haul storage? which i can understand, if the ciders were to last longer than a month... Don't see why not.

I know you can cold crash to kill the lonely yeast that is left behind... i personally rather run that route since i'm in Alaska it's cold AF here. I live in MN and my experience has been that cold crashing will not necessarily kill them. (Not as cold as AK but pretty cold none-the-less.) It will allow them to drop out of suspension a lot quicker and will make them really sluggish but they will "wake up" and or eat remaining sugar if warm enough, in-fact some yeast given enough time (Weeks to months) even in a cool environment will continue to slowly eat the remaining sugars.

Seems like everything else in the world/internet, there is always too much information. True here too!!! Everyone seems to have a preferred practice or protocol. You must wade through the plethora of information and figure out what works for you.

I guess end point i want to get to.... is when and why should i hot pasteurize?
When - If you want to bottle carb and leave some remaining sugars for sweetness. (Excluding non-fermentable sugars / sugar substitutes.)
Why - To truly kill the remaining yeast so they don't eat the remaining sugar once carbonated to your liking and cause the bottles to over carbonate or worse explode.

Thanks in advance. - Your welcome - Other responses may differ, i certainly am no expert so take it for what its worth...

 

[Sequoiacider]

Cold crashing will remove a lot of the yeast, but without Pasteurization there will still be enough live yeast cells left to eat up any additional sugars you add, resulting in bottle bombs and geysers if you added more sugar than needed for carbonation.

If you want a Sweet and Sparkling cider without the potential for bottle bombs and geysers, then you will have to do in-bottle pasteurization once they have reached your desired carbonation level. There is a Sticky on this forum with excellent instructions.

To answer your other question, pasteurization is only needed for Sweet ciders. Dry Ciders do not need pasteurization regardless of intended length of storage time.

A different route you can take if you want a Sweet and Sparkling cider without the need for Pasteurizing is to back-sweeten at the time of serving. Bottle your cider Dry with only the amount of priming sugars added for your desired carbonation level. When serving, add a bit of Sugar/Honey/Agave/Maple/whatever to your glass, then pour the cider over it.