Sweet cider by blending with dextrin-heavy wort?

[McKnuckle]

Hi cider makers,

All of my posts are from the beer side of HBT, but I've made cider about once annually for a while now. So far, I've only done it with plain orchard cider or with an addition of honey.

I had an idea to retain some residual sweetness in this year's cider by blending it in a specific ratio with high-gravity wort, mashed very high to be minimally fermentable. Then I would use moderately attenuative ale yeast, like Safale S-04, to ferment.

So let's say we take one gallon of 1.050 cider and blend it with a quart of 1.101 wort, the latter made with a high percentage of crystal malt and mashed at 162ºF.

The cider to wort ratio is 4:1. Let's say the cider completely ferments out to 1.000, but the wort portion ferments to 60% attenuation, leaving it at 1.038 if it was by itself. Blended together though, we'll have an FG of around 1.008. Yes, there would be a blend of flavors of course, but perhaps it would be rather nice. And the plus side might be a more beer-like head retention in the glass.

Does this sound like an interesting experiment, or a fool's errand?

 

[VikeMan]

It sounds like an interesting experiment, and I'd expect it to work like you described.

If you keg, have you considered back-sweetening with apple juice concentrate? That works well and has the advantage of not diluting the apple flavors. The disadvantage is that to keep the keg sealed, the cider will necessarily be carbonated, at least minimally, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

 

[McKnuckle]

Thanks, I think I'll experiment, then. I do keg, but only for beer. I prefer cider to age in bottles for, well, years frankly. I don't drink it nearly as often. I have some that's more than 5 years old that I've been drinking this fall. It's clear as a bell and bubbly like champagne.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Sounds like you're in graf(f) territory.