Making Hard Cider for Long-term (5+years)

[EpicCider]

I am looking to make carbonated hard cider and store it for the long term (5+ years). For all intents and purposes, cider is wine, and I believe that it can age just as well. I want to remove all of the long-term hurdles and allow the cider to age as best as possible. I have a few questions that I would appreciate any feedback and opinions.

• I will be carbonating via beer gun from keg (not via co2 from yeast), this is to prevent sediments long-term (as much as possible).
• I plan on using champagne bottles, corks, and cages.
• I will treat the cider potassium metabisulfite (current yeast) and potassium sorbate (future yeast)

I have the following questions.

1. Would it be more stable to use wine conditioner for any back-sweetening.
2. Are both Potassium Metabisulfite and potassium sorbate needed, and what are long-term effects on taste.
3. Would it be best to filter (gravity or pressured filter) the wine somehow to remove the yeast entirely, then backsweeten?

Any other comments or feedback welcome

 

[schwiz]

One thought, if you are storing long term and kegging already. Why even put it into bottles?

 

[Darwin18]

I'm not really a fan of using wine condition to back sweeten. For my personal taste, it just adds sweetness without any depth or complexity. I'd personally recommend making a concentrate and using that to sweeten with a little bit of oak extract to add depth and complexity.

 

[EpicCider]

One thought, if you are storing long term and kegging already. Why even put it into bottles?

I basically want to store some of each year I produce and see how it ages. You saying I should store an entire keg for each year?

You think the keg's (and it's seals) will stay for 5+ years?

 

[EpicCider]

I'm not really a fan of using wine condition to back sweeten. For my personal taste, it just adds sweetness without any depth or complexity. I'd personally recommend making a concentrate and using that to sweeten with a little bit of oak extract to add depth and complexity.

I agree, I was hoping to use a concentrate, just making sure there isn't a true advantage to wine condition for long-term storage.

Good tip on oak extract. I might even try a few bottles each year with and without to see the long-term play.

 

[RPCidery]

K-meta is a preservative, it keeps bacteria and mold at bay and helps to prevent oxidation. K-sorbate is to prevent renewed fermentation. If you ferment your cider dry, you won't need sorbate. The lower your pH, the less K-meta you need.
For adding oak, I like oak spirals.

 

[Darwin18]

My preference for adding oak is to create an oak extract by soaking oak chips for a few weeks with vodka. It's easier for me to get the cider to my taste preference in a single pint, and then scale that up to my typical 5-gallon batch. Haven't dried directly adding oak spirals - might be good as well.

 

[RPCidery]

I use the oak spirals for wine, and they add a nice barrel-aged flavor. Your extract idea sounds like a pretty precise way to control the oakiness. I may have to give it a shot.

 

[HopSong]

i picked up s package of small oak blocks from my LHBS a year of so ago in hope of using it in a beer.. but never did. Can you give me an idea of chips to vodka you use to make the extract? IOW.. I have a bottle of cheap vodka and a few ounces of chips on hand.. Sounds like a nice idea to try in my next batch.

 

[EpicCider]

I've done a little more research. I am starting to think I might need/should to filter this cider for long-term shelf life.

Anyone have thoughts on that?