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How to sweeten my Cyder?
I've made a lot of ciders, but all were of the sparkling dry variety, and most had no additional flavoring added. I want to try something new. I have a cider ready for kegging (also a new process - I've been bottling, but want to force carbonate this batch). I want to add some frozen concentrate in order to get more apple flavor. I don't want it to be overpowering, but I'd also like to sweeten it up a little. How much should I add - 1, 2, or 3 12-oz. cans? I'm also adding potassium sorbate to kill any residual yeast. TIA for your input.
thanks
jacab
Hey,
I did a cider this fall and sweetened using the method you've described. My FG was 1.000, and it was incredibly dry. After adding the potassium sorbate and waiting a day, I had 4 cans of concentrate ready. I added 2 cans, mixed well and then took a gravity reading and tasted the sample. I still didn't think it was nearly sweet enough so I added the other 2 cans. So, 4 cans altogether, and each can raised the gravity approximately 4 points. My new final gravity was 1016. I may have added more juice because I also had added some lemon to my cider prior to fermenting. This gave me more tartness, and I had to combat that a little more with the sweet juice. 2 or 3 cans might be plenty for your batch. I would suggest adding 1 can at a time, stir and taste to see what you think. I was really happy with the results. A friend of mine made a batch at the same time. He didn't use the lemon and added 3 cans of concentrate. His was very sweet, and I think his FG was around 1012. Does that help at all?
thanks
joshua
wow, I was just about to ask this exact question. This forum is great.
Can I bypass the potasium sorbate if I just keep it cold? Actually, I'm bringing the keg up for a weekend, and it's cold now. I was going to add two cans, carbonate and serve (it should all be gone over the weekend). If I just keep it cold, nothing crazy will happen, right?
thanks
andrew
to answer your question..YES, if you cold crash your cider for 4 days or so at about 36F, and then just KEEP IT COLD it will not start fermenting again. But you must keep it cold once you cold crash it, or fermentation will start up again
Dan
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