Backsweetening Ciders & Meads
This is generally the time of year that I find myself with10-20 gallons of fermented cider and I have to remind myself how to go about backsweetening. Backsweetening is the process of adding unfermented juice to your cider as much of the time cider fermentation is so complete that ALL of the fermentable sugars are consumed by your yeast. This is great for the production of alcohol in your cider, but not so great for drinking a palatable cider.
So, we add some unfermented apple juice to our cider or honey to our mead. The only problem is the addition of fermentable sugars is going to restart fermentation, so we have to make some additions to prevent the yeast from doing what they do best.
Here is a great article on the American Homebrewers Assocations on the exact process. The primary addition is potassium sorbate (SorbistatK), which will generally prevent the reproduction of the yeast cells. The only step I add is the addition of potassium metabisulfite (Campden). Campbden will add sulfites to the cider which not only acts as a stabilizing anti-oxidant, but also will kill of most naturally occurring wild yeasts and molds.
Here are my typical steps for backsweetening:
- Take a small sample and on a small scale test adding juice in various amounts until you feel you have the desired level of sweetness in your cider. Do the math and determine how much juice you'll add to the entire batch.
DON'T ADD THE JUICE YET - Crush and add Campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite). Check your packaging for dosage, but it's generally 1 tablet per gallon.
- Wait 24 hours - it's rare, but adding Campden and SorbistatK at the same time can occasionally produce a "geranium" like off flavor in cider
- Add SorbistatK. Check your packaging for dosage, but you're generally aiming for 0.5-0.75 grams per gallon.
- Wait for 24 hours to let the SorbistatK do it's thing
- Now you can add your additional juice to backsweeten.
- Enjoy!
Photo credit - American Homebrewers Association
