Trying to find the best way to back-sweeten (first timer)

[kquinn]

So I've been brewing beer for a few years now and decided it was time to make something that the wife and I could both enjoy. She is a huge fan of ciders, with Magners being her personal favorite. Since apples aren't currently in season I made ours with 5 gallons of store bought apple juice, S-04, 1lb of brown sugar, and also mixed in a little pectic enzyme (which I have since learned is unnecessary since this juice was clear from the start), plenty of yeast nutrient, and a little wine tannin.

It's been about 2 months and so far the finished product is promising, just very tart and very dry. I don't have a kegging system to I will be trying to sweeten and then bottle. I was just wondering what everyone's preferred way is to sweeten 5 gallons of cider for bottling. I have read about pasteurizing and using artificial sugars. The problem is I haven't seen any specific amounts that people typically use for either method with success. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[shanecb]

For artificial sweetener (which is definitely the easiest), you just want to go by taste more than anything else. Add what you think might not be enough, taste it, then slowly step it up from there. You can't take it away once it is in the cider, so err on the side of caution when adding until you hit what you want.

 

[macaler]

I finished my first batch ever a month or so ago..(Its already been drank). I racked to secondary (I split into 2 batches). I took each batch and back sweetened one with Concentrate apple juice (1 can) and another with a mixed berry concentrate (1 can) .. Each batch was about 2 gallons.
I personally thought the apple was too sweet but the berry was good. My friends liked both with some liking the apple more.
Next time, I'm going to split into 2 (or maybe 3) smaller batches for secondary and try 1 with splenda, another with apple concentrate (less than 1 can) and then another with some form of concentrate I've not decided on...
I used the pasturization method on this forum where you bring a pot to a certain temp with hot water, place bottles in for x amount of time. I had no bottle bombs.