Minimum alcohol content

[SOTC]

Is there a minimum alcohol content that needs to be reached to "preserve" your cider? For instance to keep it out in the canning cupboard rather than in the fridge? Or can you just bottle it when it tastes good if cold crashed or pasteurized?

 

[roadymi]

Depends on how long your talking.....a few months or a few years? Proper pasteurization should preserve it indefenitely from spoiling.......can't guarantee the flavor will hold up forever though. A 5-6% abv cider should be good in the pantry for 6 months or better if handled with good sanitation practices.

 

[SOTC]

Thanks. I thought I had heard 5% before. Just didn't want to bottle it too soon only to find out it spoiled

 

[ericc]

I pressed some cider yesterday and afterwards tried making what I've seen called ciderkin or water cider: after pressing the pomace I put the pomace in a large pot and then added just enough boiling water to wet it all the way to the top after smashing the part on top down into the wet part below (which was still a lot of water, probably about half the volume of the pomace.) I was surprised how sweet the ciderkin was, right at 4% potential alcohol.

That's less than the 5% recommended above, but I'm wondering how long something with less sugar/alcohol would keep and what would happen to it when it went bad. And would it be the same with ciderkin that was as low as 1% potential alcohol? Is storage life just exponentially proportional to alcohol content or something like that? If cider or water cider with insufficient alcohol does go bad what would the signs be? Would it just taste bad? Would there be foodborne illnesses to worry about? Would it be as safe as any cider as long as it was still actively fermenting, though?

Thanks for anything you can share!

 

[Dland]

I've had barrel fermented hard cider that sort of worked it's way toward vinegar after a while. Was surprisingly drinkable when partially vinegar, kind of like switchel. After time it got more vinegary, and less drinkable, but I imagine it was still safe to drink.

When I used to make bulk hard cider in whisky barrels, I usually fortified with honey to get up past 10% ABV, this tended to make cider more stable, storage wise.