Non fermentable method of back-sweetening cider.

[Dave70]

My current batch finished dry as buggery. Almost champagne like and a little mouth puckering.
Beside lactose - I really don't like it - is there any other way to add a little sweetness? If the only way is to decant and sweeten in the glass, so be it. But the idea is to crack the bottles, add a little essence (or whatever) than re cap.

 

[manticle]

Never tried it but some people swear by bottle pasteurisation. Pretty sure there is a how to on homebrewtalk.

 

[vykuza]

There's also stevia - though I can't say I've tried it in a cider.

 

[Airgead]

Bottled, not much you can do other than lactose or artificial sweeteners. If you keg and can keep the keg cold you can use whatever you like.

If it's already carbed in the bottle and you don't mind losing a bit, you can add some sorbate to inhibit the yeast and sweeten with whatever. That will work provided there isn't much yeast in the bottle. You can also add so2 to further stabilise.

 

[superstock]

I've just had a go at pasteuring a small batch of Pear & Apple cider. I allowed the original to ferment right out and added fresh juice to sweeten. I had a 300ml PET bottle as a guide for carbonation and when it was hard I pasteurised using my Big W stock pot. Was leaving it to chill for a few days before trying. I did notice that after cooling there seemed to be some floaties in the bottles. Don't know if this is yeast or pectins,
Will try a bottle tonight and report.

 

[GalBrew]

I have used 'normal' aspartame based Equal before. It works ok, just need to be very careful to not overdo it. I have also tried Stevia and it was so foul I dumped a 19L keg down the drain.

 

[superstock]

I have used 'normal' aspartame based Equal before. It works ok, just need to be very careful to not overdo it. I have also tried Stevia and it was so foul I dumped a 19L keg down the drain.

I tried Equal & Stevia and didn't like the aftertaste. Lactose was OK but you had to use so much of it to get a result and some people are intolerant so giving it away was a problem. Splenda was good for me but some people can detect it. Also there is a difference in the sugar content of Aus made and UK made Splenda. UK Splenda is what seems to be on the shelf at the moment.

 

[GalBrew]

Yeah, Splenda has quite a bit of dextrose in it. If you could just buy the sucralose alone it could be a good sweetener for cider.

 

[Dave70]

Bottled, not much you can do other than lactose or artificial sweeteners. If you keg and can keep the keg cold you can use whatever you like.

If it's already carbed in the bottle and you don't mind losing a bit, you can add some sorbate to inhibit the yeast and sweeten with whatever. That will work provided there isn't much yeast in the bottle. You can also add so2 to further stabilise.

I was thinking about actually re kegging and adding something like a decent blackcurrant concentrate to taste. Pain in the arse, but it's not exactly flying off the shelves at the moment.

 

[sp0rk]

If you don't like Splenda/Stevia/etc, give Norbu a try it's another natural sweetener
I found it didn't have all those nasty flavours that stevia does

 

[superstock]

I've just had a go at pasteuring a small batch of Pear & Apple cider. I allowed the original to ferment right out and added fresh juice to sweeten. I had a 300ml PET bottle as a guide for carbonation and when it was hard I pasteurised using my Big W stock pot. Was leaving it to chill for a few days before trying. I did notice that after cooling there seemed to be some floaties in the bottles. Don't know if this is yeast or pectins,
Will try a bottle tonight and report.

Got home tonight and realised it's only 3 days since I pasteurised and I had put them in the fridge. Took a couple of bottles out and left on the bench at ambient. Will leave for another week before I try and report.

 

[Airgead]

I was thinking about actually re kegging and adding something like a decent blackcurrant concentrate to taste. Pain in the arse, but it's not exactly flying off the shelves at the moment.

Might be easiest. Pain in the arse as you say.

Or you can just leave as is and serve with a shot of whatever in the glass. that gives you some variety.... blackcurrant, apple juice, honey, ....

 

[manticle]

Whisky

 

[Airgead]

Actually... try brandy and a touch of honey.

I make an apple liqueur that way. Fantastic stuff.

Might give it a go with some jamesons next time and see what happens. Or maybe not... i know what would happen then. The missus who hates whisky wouldn't drink it.

 

[indica86]

No. Using the right yeast can make a big difference. A good fruit wine yeast can leave the illusion of sweetness.
Age can also help the pucker factor.
I have considered adding a few 100g of crystal to a cider to see if that helps.

Unless you pasteurise a whole batch, sweeten and force carb then it is not possible without shitey chemical/ "natural" sweeteners.

 

[Airgead]

No. Using the right yeast can make a big difference. A good fruit wine yeast can leave the illusion of sweetness.

71B FTW!

 

[contrarian]

The best result I've had was from back sweetening into a keg with 2L of nice apple juice. Would only work for bottles if you could carb in the keg and then bottle from that. I will certainly think about that for my next batch of cider as I currently have a keg taken up by cider that lasts a lot longer than any of the beer taps.

I've got one of the carbonation caps from keg king that would be great for PET bottles and I wouldn't mind having a few litres of those around, especially coming in to the warmer months.

 

[Dave70]

Whisky

Blah..cold. The wife will never go for that.

Actually... try brandy and a touch of honey.

I make an apple liqueur that way. Fantastic stuff.

Might give it a go with some jamesons next time and see what happens. Or maybe not... i know what would happen then. The missus who hates whisky wouldn't drink it.

Getting warmer.


Apple schnapps perhaps?
Visited Wildbrumby distillery with a mate last we were down that way and grabbed a bottle of Pink Lady schnapps. Talk about cloyingly sweet. A shot or two in a schooner of cider would certainly do the trick.

Gotta admit though, had I not been the designated drinker from about Cooma, I may have thought twice before forking out 40 bucks for a 500ml bottle of 18% apple juice. Next time ALDI.

 

[Airgead]

Their sour apple schnapps though... Very nice.

My apple liqueur is 2 parts cider to one part brandy. Add honey to taste (I use about 100g for 5l). I age mine for a few months but it tastes pretty good right away.

 

[NealK]

Has anyone tried using juice with preservatives to back sweeten after fermentation? Would the preservatives stop it from fermenting?

 

[MartinOC]

Off the cuff, how about malto-dextrin? Might not actually "sweeten", but would give some perceived body/sweetnes?

Der! 'Just realised how old this question/thread was....

 

[superstock]

Glad you brought it back. I realised I hadn't reported on my pasteuring attempt.
The pasreurising appears to be a sucess, with a slightly sweet cider. However even though the control PET was hard I had not left it long enough and there is only slight carbonation in the poured cider.

 

[Airgead]

Has anyone tried using juice with preservatives to back sweeten after fermentation? Would the preservatives stop it from fermenting?

Unfortunately no. The preservative isn't bonded to the juice molecules you just added, it disperses right through the cider. Once you add that preserved juice to the bulk of the cider, the preservative is diluted as well. So it will no longer be strong enough to prevent fermentation.

If you want to use preservatives, you need to add them in sufficient quantity to the bulk of the coder. That's what you do when you use sulphites and sorbate to stabilise cider.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Zedit]

If you don't like Splenda/Stevia/etc, give Norbu a try it's another natural sweetener
I found it didn't have all those nasty flavours that stevia does

I've read mixed reports about Stevia. It sounds like the flavour can vary depending on the brand and formulation (granulated, drops etc). Most of what I've read has been from o/s so I'd bee keen to get an Aussie perspective so I know which brands to try or avoid. I'm curious about this "Norbu" too, never heard of it but I'll give it a go. I'm not trying to make lollywater, just take a little edge off the dryness (without using lactose, artificial sweeteners or mucking around pasturising).

 

[superstock]

I find Splenda the best. At least I can't detect it.

 

[Aces High]

Im glad this thread came up again, ive got this exact dilemma right now

Ive gotta make some cider for friends who don't have kegs, although I do.

Would it work if I fermented it out to dry, put it in a keg and back sweetened with apple juice. Then add a Camden tablet to stop natural fermentation. Then gas up and bottle off the tap.

Im thinking this might be a good way to get the carbonation right and manage the sweetness with some consistancy

 

[brzt6060]

Im glad this thread came up again, ive got this exact dilemma right now

Ive gotta make some cider for friends who don't have kegs, although I do.

Would it work if I fermented it out to dry, put it in a keg and back sweetened with apple juice. Then add a Camden tablet to stop natural fermentation. Then gas up and bottle off the tap.

Im thinking this might be a good way to get the carbonation right and manage the sweetness with some consistancy

Yes.

 

[Zedit]

What would happen if you were to use use more sugar than the abv capacity of the yeast? I'm sure that someone would've mentioned if this were a done thing, but I'm curious whether this would result in residual sugar once the yeast has done it's thing.

 

[Yeastfridge]

What would happen if you were to use use more sugar than the abv capacity of the yeast? I'm sure that someone would've mentioned if this were a done thing, but I'm curious whether this would result in residual sugar once the yeast has done it's thing.

You almost answered your own question. Yes there would be residual sugar if the yeast can't ferment all the sugar.
It would be 9-18%abv depending on the yeast though, and probably taste pretty terrible.