Priming Cider with Frozen Juice Concentrate

[arnobg]

Hey all this is my first cider batch and I will be bottling about one gallon. It is quite dry and I would like to slightly sweeten it and bottle prime it at once.

I was going to use all natural frozen juice concentrate but how much should I use for just under a gallon of cider?

I will probably use he pasteurization method after I have reached proper carbonation. Do I need to add corn sugar too?

 

[phug]

I use 55ml of AJC per gallon for priming only for a fairly bubbly cider. corn sugar is not needed, but if you want to retain sweetness you'll have to watch it like a hawk and pasteurize, or chill very low if you're not using EC1118 or another cold tolerant yeast.

Different AJC brands will have different percentages of sugars, but 55ml/gallon will be the ballpark.

 

[arnobg]

Thanks for your help. Any tips on how often to check, every week or two weeks?

I used Nottingham, would chilling be sufficient to stop carbing instead of pasteurizing?

 

[RedlegEd]

Hi. I just got into cider making a little while ago as well, and I've been lucky, mine have all come out pretty nice. There are lot's of really experienced cider makers who can answer your questions, and I know this topic has been hit in other forums, but I'll give you my take.
To answer your last question first, no, I don't think you need to add corn sugar if you're adding Frozen AJ Conc. My last batch (using Nottingham yeast,) I added 1 can of FAJC + 1 can water to about four gallons of fermented cider, so for you ...1/4 can FAJC + 1/4 can water per gallon of cider.) The yeast in the cider should still be able to convert that new sugar to CO2 and bump the ABV. Since mine was also too dry, I sweetened with a non-fermentable sugar (Splenda @ 1/2-3/4 cup per 4 gals.) I kegged most of it, but bottled about gallon into flip top Grolsch bottles, and used one 16oz PET soda bottle to use as my CO2 "gauge." In about 4 or 5 days (testing every day,) the bottle was hard as a rock, I opened it to try the cider and test carbonation. It was wonderfully tasty and fizzy, so I pasteurized the glass bottles by placing them in faucet hot (~130*F) water and slowly heated to ~175*. I'm a chicken, so I kept a splatter screen over the pot (JIC one blew up.) I also had one bottle I filled with water and kept the lid off so I could monitor the temp inside. When it hit 160 (I think that's point where all the yeasts are certainly dead,) I knew they were pasteurized. I killed the heat and let the pot of water with bottles cool, then took them out. I know some people don't pasteurize, they just chunk them in the fridge and keep them cold, thereby suspending any yeast activity. Some folks try to kill them with Campden. I'd rather know for sure they're dead, and there's no chance of them reactivating and making a bottle bomb if someone leaves them out. Hopefully, one of the more learned cider makers will chime in and tell you a better way. Ed

 

[Maylar]

What I do is add enough FAJC to bring SG up to about 1.012. That takes about 1/4 cup per gallon, but varies with the brand. When carbonated to my liking I throw them in the fridge. As long as you let the yeast settle out and the cider is totally clear when you do this it'll be ok without pasteurizing.

 

[arnobg]

I also wanted to add that it has been sitting in primary for 7.5 weeks at this point.

Will there be enough yeast left?

 

[Maylar]

I also wanted to add that it has been sitting in primary for 7.5 weeks at this point.

Will there be enough yeast left?

No problem.

 

[arnobg]

I have been thawing it for a few hours and it seems to be liquid. Should I boil this before adding to my bottling container?

 

[phug]

if it's a fresh container of ajc, once you thaw it, open the container, and toss it in. It was pasteurized when it went into the container. no need to do it again.

 

[nomnomnom21]

Im so glad you asked this. I was wondering the same. Anyone know how to calculate the amount needed for different levels of Carbonation? I want to make a lightly carbed cider(i was using standard beer carb drops that were just too fizzy in the end). Maybe something around 1.5?

 

[arnobg]

Im so glad you asked this. I was wondering the same. Anyone know how to calculate the amount needed for different levels of Carbonation? I want to make a lightly carbed cider(i was using standard beer carb drops that were just too fizzy in the end). Maybe something around 1.5?

I went with 60ml of AJC and got 9 12oz bottles out of the cider that I mixed with that. I am going to test one in 5 more days to check the carb level and I will report back

 

[Quaker]

I've used various frozen juice concentrates (and juices as well) to carbonate my sour beers. I use a priming calculator to tell me how much sucrose is required, then I use the sugar level in the nutrition label on the juice to determine the equivalent quantity to add. Attention must be paid to the serving size when calculating that. To date it seems to be delivering the expected carb level.

 

[GoodBookBrewer]

I am trying something very similar, although I’m doing it with a modified EdWort’s apfelwein, trying to make it sparkling.
It was fermenting and otherwise hanging out in my beer/wine cellar (aka closet) for well over a year, so was totally clear. Racked 5 gal into bucket with 1 can of thawed AJC (seemed like about the right amount of sugar, plus it was easy), mixed, and then bottled.
Kind of an experiment, so we’ll see how it goes.

Part 2 of the experiment is whether regular wine bottles can handle the pressure. That’s all I could get my hands on and I’ll admit, I didn’t think TOO much about pressure as I’m not trying to make champagne-level fizz. Got the corks and cages and all that, but I guess we’ll know in a week or so if they can handle it.

 

[DakotaJoJo]

I am trying something very similar, although I’m doing it with a modified EdWort’s apfelwein, trying to make it sparkling.
It was fermenting and otherwise hanging out in my beer/wine cellar (aka closet) for well over a year, so was totally clear. Racked 5 gal into bucket with 1 can of thawed AJC (seemed like about the right amount of sugar, plus it was easy), mixed, and then bottled.
Kind of an experiment, so we’ll see how it goes.

Part 2 of the experiment is whether regular wine bottles can handle the pressure. That’s all I could get my hands on and I’ll admit, I didn’t think TOO much about pressure as I’m not trying to make champagne-level fizz. Got the corks and cages and all that, but I guess we’ll know in a week or so if they can handle it.

 

[DakotaJoJo]

I know it’s an old post but how’d it go?