Pasteurizing cider for kegging

[CodyA]

I have read the thread concerning the stove top pasteurization, but I was wondering if you could do the same by just pouring the cider into a 7 gallon stainless steel pot and keeping the temperature at 140 for half an hour? The reason I would want to do this is pasteurizing the cider before I ferment to kill any unwanted bacteria/wild yeast (using organic wine saps, pink ladies, and golden delicious from the yard) and also pasteurizing after the fermentation to kill all the yeast so that I can back-sweeten then force carb via kegging.

My concern would be what I have heard called "pectinization". Would it permanently cloud my cider? Would it effect the taste? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[LeBreton]

If you used pectic enzyme before fermentation, allowed the cider to clear over time, and racked off the lees before pasteurizing I don't see why your plan wouldn't work since at that point there should be little to no pectin left in the cider. 140 for 30 minutes is overkill IMO, if you heat evenly to 140 then kill the heat you should be fine, letting it sit at that temp for that long is not really necessary. Yeasts very quickly die out at 120.

Alternatively, look into the use of sorbates and sulfites on a dry cider to prevent re-fermentation when sweetening. Less work, no heat, and no risk of haze.

 

[Yooper]

My concern would be the huge oxidation problem. You'd have a big batch of oxidized cider. You definitely don't want any air contact at all, but there is no way to do what you're suggesting without having a HUGE amount of headspace, and oxidation is almost a sure bet.

 

[CodyA]

What if I primed the pot with CO2 prior to siphoning the cider into it, then kept a steady stream of CO2 over the surface of the cider while it heated? Since the CO2 is heavier than air.

The reason I was looking at this option is because I tried using potassium sorbate on a still cider that I back-sweetened a few months ago. Even used a little more than recommended and what ever didn't turn into a bottle bomb was very carbonated.

I'm assuming this method would work just fine for the pre-fermentation pasteurization though, when oxygenation isn't an issue?

Edit: Also, I am borrowing the keg and will be bottling off of the keg using the racking cane trick and storing at room temperature/giving away to friends and family who will be storing bottles at room temp, so cold crashing is not an option.

 

[FATC1TY]

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. My wife and inlaws want some cider, and like it carbed but want it back sweetened a bit, and not quite as dry.

I plan to ferment it out dry, kill the yeast with campden tablets or something, and then back sweeten it with something, and keg it.. Shouldn't carb anymore than I want it to, and I should be able to fill bottles off my keg, already carbed, and give them away/store them that way just fine.

 

[Fuqyu]

I have been wanting to experiment with this as well. I was wanting to stop yeast production to make a sweeter cider (aiming for an Original Sin clone, specifically)so I could hopefully avoid backsweetening altogether, or at least minimize it. What if I let my cider get to the proper FG and then I kegged it in a corny keg. I could then put the corny keg into a 7 gallon turkey fryer pot I have at 160 or so, and leave it for 10-20 minutes; basically attempting to bottle pasteurize but in a keg. Then I can force carb the keg and drink!

I would probably need to do a smaller batch, say 3 gallons or so, to make sure that I could heat it all up enough to kill the yeast. I also wonder, would I want to strain a second time after a couple days to get rid of all the yeast I just killed off?

 

[CodyA]

I like the idea of using the keg as a sort of double boiler... In fact, that would be the same principle as the stove top pasteurization of the bottles, only much easier and no risk of bottle bombs.

You shouldn't need to filter out any dead yeast because you should rack the already cleared cider into the keg you pasteurize in. The yeast cells you are killing are microscopic, kind of like boiling clear stream water. It stays clear, just now sterilized.