So I have decided to make a cider for the first time. I would like to make a sweet sparkling cider. I plan on making a 1 gallon batch, because I have plans for my 5 gallon carboy. I plan on letting my cider ferment dry and then back sweetening. I've read that it's harder to make a sweet sparkling cider vs a sweet still cider. I've never carbed or pasteurized anything before, so could I add campden tabs to cease fermentation and then add priming sugar to carb? Or would the campden render the priming sugar useless? If I don't carb them how still or flat will the cider be? I may just cold crash them as well and keep them all in the fridge to prevent bottle bombs. If I only make a gallon, fitting all the bottles in the fridge is possible. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Need help with cider
- Thread starter duderay
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campden won't stop yeast. You absolutely need to pasteurize if you back sweeten. If you do not carbonate by back sweetening then the cider will be still..just still, not sure how to explain "how still" though. Note that even if you back sweeten and just keep cold, the yeast will still eat some of the sugars. Cold only slows yeast down, it doesn't kill it. I have some bottles that were part of 5 gallons of bombs. Those in the fridge have carbonated more over 6 months. They were not gushers in the beginning but they were as of this month. So ferment, back sweeten, bottle, chill and drink within a month. 1 gallon is best if you're going to skip pasteurization and knowing what you can consume in a fairly short period is key.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
As long as there are active yeasts in the cider the yeast will consume any sugar you add to back sweeten. Using heat to kill the yeast seems to me to be a bit like using a sledge hammer to crack a peanut. Heat will certainly kill the yeast but it also destroys the more nuanced flavor and aromatic molecules.
If I were you I might
a) allow all the residual sugars to ferment out so that the yeast has no more sugar to consume.
b) add a non fermentable sugar (like Stevia, for example - but they say that Stevia can impart a very specific flavor that you may not want) to backsweeten
c) add a known amount of fermentable sugar to prime the cider - say about 1 oz to the gallon.
You will control the sweetness by adding the amount of sweetness you are looking for and you will know that that sugar will not be converted into alcohol and CO2. AND you will control the amount of CO2 in each bottle because you will provide the remaining yeast with a specific and manageable quantity of fermentable sugar to prime the cider.
If I were you I might
a) allow all the residual sugars to ferment out so that the yeast has no more sugar to consume.
b) add a non fermentable sugar (like Stevia, for example - but they say that Stevia can impart a very specific flavor that you may not want) to backsweeten
c) add a known amount of fermentable sugar to prime the cider - say about 1 oz to the gallon.
You will control the sweetness by adding the amount of sweetness you are looking for and you will know that that sugar will not be converted into alcohol and CO2. AND you will control the amount of CO2 in each bottle because you will provide the remaining yeast with a specific and manageable quantity of fermentable sugar to prime the cider.
GenIke
Well-Known Member
I have. They're fine. I use them to bottle a couple of bottles while the rest goes in kegs. Not really anything special about them. If I was bottling more then a couple of bottles I would just bulk prime with sugar.
Another easy way to backsweeten and bottle would be to use an artificial sweetener like splenda that wont ferment. Then you bascially bottle just like you would beer.
So are bottle bombs less likely when using the carbonation tablets vs sugar to carbonate? I'm only making a gallon, so even losing one bottle would be a lot. I'm sure if I had one explode, the fiancé wouldn't be on board with my home brewing anymore....
pricelessbrewing
Brewer's Friend Software Manager
The carbonation tablets are basically just sugar cubes, I think they're meant to carb to 2.5 or something if I remember correctly?
I don't get the appeal. Bulk priming is extremely easy.
I don't get the appeal. Bulk priming is extremely easy.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
If you add 1 oz of sugar to one gallon of cider to prime you won't create a bottle bomb. Cider has no significant protein so there is no likelihood that it will keep its head but it will be sparkling.
wilson42203
Well-Known Member
No, you won't. The point of pasteurizing (in this situation, anyway) is to kill the yeast and stop fermentation. If you add only the 1 oz of sugar, the yeast will eat it, carbonate your bottles to a specific volume, and then run out of sugar to eat.
If you bottle cider in PET when it's at 1.020, you won't get bombs and no need for pasteurisation, either. You'll get sweet and carbed cider. Give the bottle a little squeeze before screwing on the cap - allows more room for expansion. Leave them at room temperature. When the bottles are hard, pop them in the fridge. They should still be around 1.005 at that point, carbed up and still a bit sweet. They won't continue to ferment too much more while in the fridge, and the yeast will settle and compact after a few more days.
If you use 0,75 litre PET bottles, you're only going to have 5 bottles.
This stuff doesn't need to be complicated
If you use 0,75 litre PET bottles, you're only going to have 5 bottles.
This stuff doesn't need to be complicated
