Xylitol and back carbonation

[PapiMauri]

Hi all,
I've read different things on xylitol and carbonation. One website said xylitol adds sweetness but has no effect on carbonation, while another said xylitol creates a nice fizz. I'm planning on back-carbing. Should I add both xylitol (for sweetness) and sugar for carbonation?

And one more question: once cider has been bottled, should it be consumed within a certain time period?

Thanks!
-M

 

[dinnerstick]

carbonating only comes from one direction, there's no back carbing, no front carbing. you can front-sweeten, i guess you could call it that but i wouldn't, ie leave some residual sugar in the cider by actively or passively stopping fermentation, or back sweeten where you ferment to dry and add some sugar back. xylitol, as far as i know having never used it, except in smints where it is delicious, is non-fermentable; therefore it can't contribute to carbonation. if you add it to a dry cider at bottling as a sweetener you will also need to add some fermentable sugar for the fizz. so to answer your question, yes. if your cider is completely finished fermenting then add the xylitol to the point where you like the taste, and use a beer priming calculator (online) to determine how much sugar to add. or the poor man's trick of a teaspoon of table sugar per normal sized (beer) bottle.
it should be consumed when it tastes good. it should generally improve with age unless it was really ballsed up and oxidized, but you never know until you know. try some soon, keep some until later, see what you like, do it again

 

[PapiMauri]

Thanks, very helpful If I do want to keep the bottles un-opened for a few months, is pasteurizing the way to go so that carbonation doesn't continue to increase?

Edit, New Question
Ok, from a different thread I've read that if I let the cider ferment to dry, add priming sugar for carb + sweetener for taste, there is no need to pasteurize. Does that mean I can keep the bottles un-opened for a long time without making bombs?

 

[smegger]

If your fermentation has completely finished before you bottle you should not have any problems with bottles exloding providing you do not over-prime the bottles.

Pretty much once the priming sugar has been consumed by the yeast that should be it. As the last guy said, xylitol is not fermentable so it shouldn't have any effect on carbonation. You should be able to leave the bottles without any explosions. I highly recommend using one of the priming calculators online and maybe even mixing the priming sugar in a bottling bucket to ensure even distribution.