sweet apple cider need help
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william_shakes_beer
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Need a lot more info than sweet cider. What have you done so far? Are you looking for an initial sugar addition to boost ABV or something to backsweeten after fermentation is complete? Are yoou looking to cellar this or drink over a period of time or drink it immediately? Bottling or kegging? I have done 4 batches of Cider. Let me help you.
broncosmoker
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Like William asked, there is a lot more information needed.
People need to understand that adding sugar to something DOES NOT MAKE IT SWEET!!!!. Most sugars are fermentable and will simply dry it out and raise the ABV.
If you want to have it sweet you can back sweeten it in a keg. Or you a similar process in a bottle, but you will need to pasteurize it as well, which gets complicated.
A few things that I am currently experimenting with for a sweeter ciders is non fermentable sugars, like sucralose (splenda), Xylitol, Dextrin (Not Malto-Dextrin). Stay away from sweet n lo, equal, or saccharin sweetness as they impart off flavors.
If you want to experiment with straight brewing trying to find the blend for sweetness you can always use/make Belgium Candi Syrup as part will become/is unfermentable and leave a sweet residue style.
There are way to many variables in your question that need to be looked at in what you are wanting.
People need to understand that adding sugar to something DOES NOT MAKE IT SWEET!!!!. Most sugars are fermentable and will simply dry it out and raise the ABV.
If you want to have it sweet you can back sweeten it in a keg. Or you a similar process in a bottle, but you will need to pasteurize it as well, which gets complicated.
A few things that I am currently experimenting with for a sweeter ciders is non fermentable sugars, like sucralose (splenda), Xylitol, Dextrin (Not Malto-Dextrin). Stay away from sweet n lo, equal, or saccharin sweetness as they impart off flavors.
If you want to experiment with straight brewing trying to find the blend for sweetness you can always use/make Belgium Candi Syrup as part will become/is unfermentable and leave a sweet residue style.
There are way to many variables in your question that need to be looked at in what you are wanting.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
IMO, things only get complicated when you are looking for what seems to be irreconcilable outcomes. It is easy to back sweeten cider or wine. You simply allow the yeast to fully ferment your cider dry. That should result in a gravity reading of below 1.000. it might be .996 or even .994. Make certain that the gravity is absolutely stable (traditionally , three readings over two weeks). You rack the cider and allow it to age until it is bright (absolutely clear). You then add K-meta and K-sorbate (both are needed and you need to dissolve the K-meta in a little water as it does not dissolve well in alcohol). After say, 24 hours you can add fermentable sugar and any remaining yeast will not be able to ferment it.
However, you have now for all intents and purposes removed any possibility that any straggling yeast cells will bud or act on sugar so you cannot now carbonate using sugar.
How much sugar to add? That will depend on the amount of alcohol in your cider, the amount of acidity, the level of tannins. The best way to determine how sweet THIS batch of cider should be is to bench test.
Bench testing means that you take say four or five known quantities of unsweetened cider to which you add known but different quantities of sugar. You dissolve the sugar in each glass and taste. If, for example, your sample size is 50 CCs of cider and your sugar is say 5 gms. You add 5 gms to the first glass, 10 to the second, 15 to the 3rd, 20 to the 4th. If 5 gms is not sweet enough but 10 is too sweet, you redo this test. But now you add say 7 gms to the first and 9 to the second. If 7 is not sweet enough but 9 is too sweet then you know that about 8 gms per 50 CCs is what you are looking for.
For the sake of argument , let's say you have 3785 CCs of cider (that is about 1 gallon US) . Divide that by 50 to determine how many sample sizes you have (approx 76) so you need to add 76 *8 gms of sugar to your volume of cider to add 8 gms of sugar to every 50 CCs (or about 608 gms) .. (These numbers are made up: I suspect that adding the equivalent of more than 1 lb of sugar to a gallon of cider will be cloyingly sweet )
It's simpler than it might appear.
However, you have now for all intents and purposes removed any possibility that any straggling yeast cells will bud or act on sugar so you cannot now carbonate using sugar.
How much sugar to add? That will depend on the amount of alcohol in your cider, the amount of acidity, the level of tannins. The best way to determine how sweet THIS batch of cider should be is to bench test.
Bench testing means that you take say four or five known quantities of unsweetened cider to which you add known but different quantities of sugar. You dissolve the sugar in each glass and taste. If, for example, your sample size is 50 CCs of cider and your sugar is say 5 gms. You add 5 gms to the first glass, 10 to the second, 15 to the 3rd, 20 to the 4th. If 5 gms is not sweet enough but 10 is too sweet, you redo this test. But now you add say 7 gms to the first and 9 to the second. If 7 is not sweet enough but 9 is too sweet then you know that about 8 gms per 50 CCs is what you are looking for.
For the sake of argument , let's say you have 3785 CCs of cider (that is about 1 gallon US) . Divide that by 50 to determine how many sample sizes you have (approx 76) so you need to add 76 *8 gms of sugar to your volume of cider to add 8 gms of sugar to every 50 CCs (or about 608 gms) .. (These numbers are made up: I suspect that adding the equivalent of more than 1 lb of sugar to a gallon of cider will be cloyingly sweet )
It's simpler than it might appear.
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Ask your question (or search) in the cider forum.
You will find people on there that do this. When fermentation is complete, they add sugar to both prime and sweeten, and then bottle. Somehow they track the level of carbonation, either by using a plastic bottle for one bottle, or just opening a bottle after a certain period. Once the cider is carbonated to the level they want, they pasteurize the bottles by placing then in hot water on the stove for a certain amount of time to kill the yeast and prevent further fermentation of the sugars.
You will find people on there that do this. When fermentation is complete, they add sugar to both prime and sweeten, and then bottle. Somehow they track the level of carbonation, either by using a plastic bottle for one bottle, or just opening a bottle after a certain period. Once the cider is carbonated to the level they want, they pasteurize the bottles by placing then in hot water on the stove for a certain amount of time to kill the yeast and prevent further fermentation of the sugars.
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