Carbonate after killing yeast

[Ayresy01]

Hi all, I'm new to brewing cider and I have brewed a couple of Apple ciders but they have been very dry and I would like to sweeten the up. I have been doing some research and found out about back sweetening but I am still puzzled as to how I can carbonate the cider after killing the yeast so it doesn't ferment with the sweetener. I'm wondering if there is an easy way to carbonate the cider after being bottled. Any help would be appreciated

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

If you kill the yeast, you'll need a kegging system to carb the cider. You could also sweeten with an unfermentable sweetener (splenda, xylotol, etc) and prime as normal to carbonate. With this technique, don't kill the yeast. Some people also sweeten with sugar and carbonate for a few days then heat pasteurize the bottles. This is a more advanced technique though...

 

[Ayresy01]

Yeah I have tried using unfermentable sweeteners but i don't find it a very nice taste. Is there a small and relatively cheap kegging system I could use to carbonate the cider or does it have to be a big keg? Yeah I have seen things about people pasteurizing their bottles but it seem too advanced for me just yet haha.

 

[jhespe]

My local brew shop has a system where they allow you to keg your cider in their shop, you may ask around. Other than that, put some adds up in a classified site but yes, there is no useful inexpensive system that I am aware of.
Pasteurizing is simple. Bottle, test after a week daily, once it is as carbonated as you like, place in water that is at least 165 for a couple of minutes.

 

[Bowhunter32]

I have bottle carb'd 3 different 5 gallon batches all bulk aged for different amounts of time. Every batch was ready to pasteurize at 4 days. Ayres01 Do you work at Ayres Associates?

 

[kukubau]

If you kill the yeast, you'll need a kegging system to carb the cider. You could also sweeten with an unfermentable sweetener (splenda, xylotol, etc) and prime as normal to carbonate. With this technique, don't kill the yeast. Some people also sweeten with sugar and carbonate for a few days then heat pasteurize the bottles. This is a more advanced technique though...

I disagree that pasteurizing is an advanced technique. Is very easy to do with a bit of preparation.

 

[Ayresy01]

I have decided to buy a 4l mini keg from ikegger and I'll just do small batches at a time and see how that goes and then I can go from there and no bowhunter32 I do not work at Ayres associates. I have looked into pasteurizing and I'm not sure just yet if I want to take the risk on explosions haha I'll try the kegging and if that doesn't work then I'll look at pasteurizing. I have just been doing mangrove jack cider kits and I find them a bit too dry for my liking but recently I have done a couple of 1litre hard ciders just from juice and I let them ferment for a couple of days then put the lid back on and put them in the fridge and so far I'm really happy with how they are turning out so I'm hoping I can do that in a slightly bigger scale but use campden tables and potassium sorbate to stop the ferment and them put it in the keg and carbonate it from there. But we will see haha I'm currently brewing a cider from pink lady Apple juice and it's looking very promising

 

[Ayresy01]

Thank you all for your thoughts! They have given me a few things to think about. Happy brewing!

 

[MarkKF]

I have decided to buy a 4l mini keg from ikegger and I'll just do small batches at a time and see how that goes and then I can go from there

You can't force carb with the little paintball CO2 cartidges. They're only good for dispensing. Your gonna need a big CO2 tank and a regulator regardless of the keg size. Torpedo makes a 2.5 and 1.25 gal. corny.

 

[JimRausch]

Yeah I have tried using unfermentable sweeteners but i don't find it a very nice taste. Is there a small and relatively cheap kegging system I could use to carbonate the cider or does it have to be a big keg? Yeah I have seen things about people pasteurizing their bottles but it seem too advanced for me just yet haha.

Here's the easiest (yet effective) pasteurization method I've found:
Bottle your cider, priming as usual (I use 1 FAJC can). Bottle one in a soda bottle, squeezing out the excess air before capping. When that bottle is firm (usually 4-7 days) the rest are ready to pasteurize.
Place the bottles in a cooler and fill with hot tap water to prewarm. At the same time, heat up 3-4 gallons of water to 170*. Drain the tap water, and substitute the 170* water. Leave it for 10 minutes or let it cool naturally. Voila- pasteurized.

 

[jhespe]

Awesome JimR. Simple instructions, easy to follow, +1 from me.