Newbie - help re cider that’s too dry!

[Cider Wraith]

Somehow I stumbled into making ciders with ideal residual sweetness with added fruit tastes. It's probably because I'm doing something wrong. Keep experimenting and see what seems comes out to your liking

 

[teddyearp]

@sbpsychology2018, do not blow past "and though it pretty much stalls the yeast, if you do get some bubbles, you'll like it. And swing tops tend to fail before the bottle 'bombs', IMHO."

Notice that the suggestion is filled with phrases such as "pretty much", "if you do get", "tend to fail before the bottle bombs".

Thank you so very much for your awesome critique. I suppose I should qualify my opinion. Because anyone knows that a forum post is just that. My opinion comes from reading plenty of threads/posts here and elsewhere, but I suppose the most important part of my opinion, is my experience. I haven't bottle conditioned past 35 psi and I don't think I've cold crashed my cider for longer than three-four months.

I suppose the best thing to say is Your Mileage May Vary, or YMMV, IMHO.

 

[madscientist451]

Can anyone tell me the simplest way to sweeten this cider without starting fermentation again or ending up with a man cave full of exploding bottles…

There are two simple, foolproof methods I've been using for years:
1. Blend "in the glass": Pour yourself a glass of cider then add what you want to suit your taste. Things I've tried include frozen apple juice concentrate, simple syrup made with water and honey or sugar or commercial cider which is usually way too sweet for me but works great as a blending material. Around here, commercial cider is somewhat expensive, (compared to making my own) so I stretch out the blending material as much as possible.
2. Sweeten a small amount of cider and keep in the fridge. I re-use 1.5 L screw top wine bottles and add about 200ml of frozen apple juice concentrate from Walmart. I keep the bottle in the fridge and it usually lasts for a week or less so even if it starts to ferment a little, its not a problem.
Don't forget that you are home brewing. You don't have to make a shelf-stable ready to use product like a commercial manufacturer.
You can doctor up and change your beverages as you see fit or to suit individual tastes of your guests.