Question about Fermentaion and bottling

[Noxiousbrews]

I have recently started my first cider. Im using wine yeast because I was told its good for cider however, after some research on using wine yeast, I do not want my F.G. to be below 1.005. I understand I can back sweeten but I don't want a cider that's gonna take all the moister out of my mouth either. Once my gravity is where I want it to be, im going to stop fermentation. My question is once I stop fermentation, should I then bottle right away, or is it good to let it sit on the yeast for another week or two?

 

[MarkKF]

I'd love to know how you are gonna completely stop fermentation at precisely the right moment?

IMHO get the cider off the yeast to clear and then let sit for min 2 months, 6-8 months ideally.

 

[Noxiousbrews]

Potassium sorbate ad possibly a cold crash with it. When my gravity hits what I want I kill the yeast. Yes it will be still but that's fine and I don't really care about secondary and clarity that much. But that being said what will happen to my cider, if anything at all, if I let it sit on the dead yeast for an extra week or two.

 

[jdgabbard]

Well, depending on your OG, the gravity could fall fast or slow. And a sorbets/metabisulfite combo does take time to kill the yeasties. I'm guessing this would be something you'd have to play with.

 

[Maylar]

Potassium sorbate ad possibly a cold crash with it. When my gravity hits what I want I kill the yeast. Yes it will be still but that's fine and I don't really care about secondary and clarity that much. But that being said what will happen to my cider, if anything at all, if I let it sit on the dead yeast for an extra week or two.

Potassium sorbate will not kill the yeast. The lees in the bottom of your fermenter is not dead yeast. Stopping fermentation at some specific gravity is not a simple matter.

I would rack to secondary when you hit your target SG and cold crash. When it stops dropping sediment, rack it again. If you keep it cold you can achieve what you're looking for.

 

[kgressler]

Im pretty new to this but I have a few batches under my belt.
But from reading stopping fermentation is pretty much impossible unless you are using an Ale yeast. Ive stopped one batch using Nottingham Ale yeast at 1.008 by racking and cold crashing a few days. Racked again then bottled and there was enough yeast left to bottle carb with no problems with bottle bombs.
But not knowing your yeast I doubt you are going to stop fermentation.

Your only option would be to try bottle pasteurization. I doubt I would give it a try seems really risky to me. And since the way I've been doing It wont need to bottle pasteurize it and allows me to carb a sweet cider.

 

[Noxiousbrews]

We'll I guess I'm probably better off just letting it go and back sweetening then right? If I back sweeten will that help cut unto the dryness also?

 

[kgressler]

We'll I guess I'm probably better off just letting it go and back sweetening then right? If I back sweeten will that help cut unto the dryness also?

Well if you add more fermentable sugars then you will need to bottle pasteurize.

 

[Yooper]

We'll I guess I'm probably better off just letting it go and back sweetening then right? If I back sweeten will that help cut unto the dryness also?

Maybe you would find this info helpful: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/cider-beginners-508303/

I just copied and pasted from there for the info below (I seem to type it all the time):

First, the term "backsweetening" is often used incorrectly in this forum. The actual meaning to winemakers is to hold back some of the must, before yeast is added, and freeze or otherwise save to backsweeten the wine when done. On this forum, we probably mean "sweetening the finished cider or wine" when that term is used. You won't ever hear me use "backsweeten" that way, though! Anyway, if you want to sweeten your finished cider, you have several choices. A still (uncarbed) sweetened cider is very easy because the cider is stabilized (with sulfites and sorbate) once it is finished and then sweetened to taste. If a sweetened carbonated cider is desired, it can be done in the keg by stabilizing and kegging and force carbing. A sweetened carbed cider done by bottling will require extraneous measures such as bottle pasteurization.

If the cider is finished, and clear, then campden and sorbate will allow you to sweeten the cider. If it's not finished and there are a lot of lees (sediment), it won't do anything.

The way it works is that sorbate does not kill yeast, but it prevents yeast reproduction. So, in an active fermentation when there are hundreds and hundreds of billions of active yeast, it won't do a thing. But once fermentation stops, and the cider clears, and the cider is racked off of the fallen yeast, it can be added to prevent yeast reproducing, thereby not allowing fermentation to begin again (usually). Sorbate works better in the presence of sulfite (campden), so they are generally added together.

However, it will NOT stop an active fermentation and will not work in a cider that is not clear and done fermenting.

If you use this method, and it is successful, you can sweeten to taste without any risk of bottle bombs.

 

[Noxiousbrews]

Thanks a bunch guys, much appreciated! I know stupid noob questions. I'll let it go complete it's process, stabilize, RE-sweeten (better term?), and bottle her up.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks a bunch guys, much appreciated! I know stupid noob questions. I'll let it go complete it's process, stabilize, RE-sweeten (better term?), and bottle her up.

There wasn't a single stupid noob question! There is a lot of misinformation out there, and it takes time to sort through what is correct and it can be confusing.

I don't like sweet drinks (hate soda, for example), but many people do like their ciders sweetened and it's common to sweeten them before bottling.

 

[Noxiousbrews]

Yep, definitely a lot of info to absorb. We'll again I appreciate the help. I have done a few beers now but ciders was kinda different in terms of how it's done and the different processes to achieve what I'm looking for so it's all a learning process.