back sweetning with splenda

[Brinck17]

So its my first time making cider and I plan on bottle conditioning but want to make a sweet cider not a dry cider. I haven't had a bottle bomb yet(knock on wood) and I think that trying to pull off bottle pasteurizing would end poorly for me.

Has anyone had luck back-sweeting with splenda or truvia and had it taste good?

Also how much would you add to a 5gal batch to make it sweet? I am looking for a boozy apple juice sweet like angry orchard. Thanks

 

[Maylar]

Xylitol works for me. No aftertaste. I use about 3 TBSP per gallon for semi-sweet.

 

[Shawn3997]

I add 150 grams of Splenda to a 5 gallon batch when I carbonate. This makes it a little sweet until 4 to 6 weeks when it is fully carbonated and it starts to dry out and get a crisp finish and is nicely balanced. I use EC-1118 yeast and let it ferment down as far as it will go.

Put the Splenda in your bottling bucket before racking as it will de-gas your must and make a mess if you add it last.

 

[Scrumpy!]

I used Splenda for the first time in 2015 and am drinking the results now. I am accustomed to Splenda and it's aftertaste in my morning cappuccino so I knew what I was getting into.

I used Splenda in several batches that were dry at the rate of 1.5g/liter (that would be an oz per 5 gal). After drinking it for a few months, I have mixed feelings about it. The benefits are, no danger of fermentation starting again in your bottles, no "cooked" flavor from pasteurizing, and the ability to add just enough sweetness to offset the acidity of your cider.

The downside is at this rate of addition, I can still detect the Splenda "taste" after a few glasses. So maybe I should be making a higher ABV so I don't care by that third or fourth glass. Or maybe I should learn to live with it like I did with my essential morning cappuccino. As I understand it, everyone has a different ability to taste the difference between Splenda and sugar. Most of the people I have shared these ciders with don't have a clue until I tell them. If I shared a case rather than a bottle, they might eventually catch on.

My advice is to try it in moderation. If you didn't know it was there, you probably wouldn't detect it. Don't try to make a dry cider sweet with Splenda. You can make a dry cider off dry or even medium dry and only you will know. It will be even less apparent if you have a full body fruity but otherwise dry cider.

 

[Grunner]

I've back sweetened with Stevia and Truvia. About 1/4 to 1/3c to a 5 gallon batch using Stevia. Truvia a little less because it tends to be sweeter tasting. Truvia for me at least has a more natural sweet flavor. So that's what I use.