stop fermentation?

[carcas]

I have made a cider and it has already gone through primary and secondary fermentation but it is still fermenting. It has been in secondary for two weeks. How to I stop fermentation. It is ready to drink and tastes and smell delicious. Dead yeast keep appearing at the bottom of the jugs it is fermenting in. and the airlock still shows signs of bubbling.

 

[Whatsgoodmiley]

Campden is used to halt further fermentation in wine by killing or stalling the yeast. I'm sure it'll have the same effect on your cider.

 

[Maylar]

It's very difficult to stop an active fermentation. Best advice is to let it complete its course and deal with the taste afterward.

I've never done this, but you can stop it by cold crashing then racking off the sediment and filtering under pressure. But that's outside the capabilities of most of us.

Campden (potassium metabilsulfite) does not kill yeast.

 

[Yooper]

Campden is used to halt further fermentation in wine by killing or stalling the yeast. I'm sure it'll have the same effect on your cider.

Campden does not halt fermentation at all- it's used as an antioxidant by winemakers, not as a way to kill yeast!

If it's fermenting, it's not done.

 

[Whatsgoodmiley]

I thought winemakers add Campden to wine so they can sweeten wine without the fear of the added sugars being fermented?

 

[Yooper]

I thought winemakers add Campden to wine so they can sweeten wine without the fear of the added sugars being fermented?

No.

The substance that is used is potassium sorbate. It doesn't kill yeast either, but it inhibits yeast reproduction. It works better in the presence of campden (sulfite), but it's not required.

The thing with sorbate is that since it only inhibits yeast reproduction, in an actively fermenting wine (or cider), it doesn't do anything at all since the yeast don't need to reproduce. It's only used successfully in a completely finished and clear batch that is racked off of the lees (which are full of yeast cells).

 

[BeeDeeEff]

No.

The substance that is used is potassium sorbate. It doesn't kill yeast either, but it inhibits yeast reproduction. It works better in the presence of campden (sulfite), but it's not required.

The thing with sorbate is that since it only inhibits yeast reproduction, in an actively fermenting wine (or cider), it doesn't do anything at all since the yeast don't need to reproduce. It's only used successfully in a completely finished and clear batch that is racked off of the lees (which are full of yeast cells).

So if you wish to stop a fermentation before it goes dry, would you have to do something else, like cold crash + racking, to halt the fermentation? Then would the yeast population be low enough such that you could use potassium sorbate and sulfite to store cider with remaining fermentables at room temperature?

 

[Yooper]

So if you wish to stop a fermentation before it goes dry, would you have to do something else, like cold crash + racking, to halt the fermentation? Then would the yeast population be low enough such that you could use potassium sorbate and sulfite to store cider with remaining fermentables at room temperature?

Maybe. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it stresses the yeast enough to cause significant off flavors.

Much more dependable is to let fermentation finish, rack a couple of times if needed, and then use sorbate before sweetening the batch to where desired.

 

[Whatsgoodmiley]

Thanks for the correction!

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Maybe. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it stresses the yeast enough to cause significant off flavors.

Much more dependable is to let fermentation finish, rack a couple of times if needed, and then use sorbate before sweetening the batch to where desired.

What should the timeline be if I want to age the product a few months?

Should I go:

A: Ferment Dry → Age → Stabilize → Sweeten
or
B: Ferment Dry → Stabilize → Sweeten → Age

? or does it not matter

 

[Maylar]

Age then stabilize. You want as much yeast as possible to drop out before final racking and sweetening/bottling/kegging.