Second time cider questions

[nordoe]

So my first cider i did came out good, but simple. I just added WLP775 English Cider Yeast to 3 gallons of cider I purchased at a local farm. I bottled it with some carb tabs and it was good. This weekend I went to a cider mill and bought 4 gallons of fresh cider with nothing added, it just went under the UV light. The cider was awesome, so of course being a brewer, I had to get the 4 gallons to make hard cider. I wanted to up the alcohol a bit so I am thinking about adding some honey and sugar. I have on hand 3 pounds of NJ wildflower honey and a pound of soft Belgian candy sugar. Should I add them, and if so, what type of yeast should i use? I see a lot of people using dry champagne yeast. Do you think that would be better then the wlp775?

 

[CvilleKevin]

I havent used Belgian candy, but wildflower honey works great. As far as what yeast to use, it really depends on the style you are going for. Champagne yeast will take it real dry. Ale and wheat yeasts are a lot easier to stop with some residual sweetness if that is what you are going for. Since you have kegs, you can cold crash and force carbonate.

 

[nordoe]

I havent used Belgian candy, but wildflower honey works great. As far as what yeast to use, it really depends on the style you are going for. Champagne yeast will take it real dry. Ale and wheat yeasts are a lot easier to stop with some residual sweetness if that is what you are going for. Since you have kegs, you can cold crash and force carbonate.

I am probably not going to keg. I was gonna bottle. I was going to leave in primary for a few weeks. Then take it off the lees, and secondary for a few more weeks. Without cold crashing, do you think I can bottle at that time? My OG turned out at 1.077, pretty high.

 

[CvilleKevin]

In that case, if you want it a little bit sweet, you'll probably want to bottle pasteurize to be safe. Or you can ferment it all the way dry and then just use priming sugar

 

[nordoe]

In that case, if you want it a little bit sweet, you'll probably want to bottle pasteurize to be safe. Or you can ferment it all the way dry and then just use priming sugar

I am sorry, noob question. when you say pasteurize, how do you go about doing that? I saw in the forums a way to heat the bottle to a certain temp, that sounds a little risky. also when you say ferment it dry, is that just waiting a certain period? How do you know when its done? Gravity readings and tasting?

 

[Bombo80]

Check out the sticky thread on stove top pasturization. I am going to try that this year.

 

[oldmate]

Just be wary that you might get a stuck fermentation because of the lack of nutrients honey provides, have some yeast nutrient on hand!