Pasteurized?

[Cammyg]

Hey guys, if I want to do cider with just juice and s04 yeast, is it okay if the juice is pasteurized?

 

[bembel]

Yes. That's a great place to start. The pasteurization will have killed any harmful bacteria and wild yeast, and by using a packaged strain you will get a nice clean fermentation.

 

[RedlegEd]

Yes. That's a great place to start. The pasteurization will have killed any harmful bacteria and wild yeast, and by using a packaged strain you will get a nice clean fermentation.

+1^. I buy 4 gallons of the Costco Apple Juice which is pasteurized, and then finish the cider by back-sweetening or adding additional flavors (e.g. lime or raspberry) before kegging. As bembel said, "That's a great place to start." S-04 is good, as is US-05 or Nottingham. Of course, there are lots of cider yeast strains available as well. If you just use the juice (without added sugar,) I've found my OG to be around 1.048 - 1.050, which yields about 6.6% ABV if you let it attenuate to ~1.000, which will be pretty dry. There's lot's of good info here on HBT on cider making, so take advantage of it. Good luck!

 

[Cammyg]

If I were to back sweeten or added raspberry flavouring or concentrate, would I need to let that sugar ferment or would I want to bottle it and boil it to stop it from fermenting? Don't want to end up with bottle bombs!

 

[Cammyg]

I've read a few methods on how to stop fermentation once it has reached the ideal sweetness

 

[RedlegEd]

It depends if you want a still or sparkling cider. If still (i.e. non-carbonated,) you can use a non-fermentabele sweetener (Splenda or Stevia.) after all fermentaion is complete. I know some folks use Campden tablets to kill the yeast, and others just refrigerate. If you want sparkling (carbonated,) sweeten to taste with a non-fermentable, but you'll need to bottle with enough fermentable sugar to carbonate (without creating bottle bombs.) The forums have some good techniques to use. When I bottled, I always used a couple of 16 Oz soda bottles as a gauge. I tested every few days, and when they got rock hard, I'd open one to check carbonation. If it was to my liking, I'd pasteurize the rest. Again, there are some good techniques outlined, but be careful as putting pressurized glass bottles in hot liquids can be dangerous if not done properly.