Hard Cider Question

[Texas Dan]

I made a 2.5 Gal Hard Cider recipe using 100% Apple Juice, 1/2 lb. Brown sugar and 1 lb. table sugar.
When fermentation completed I added 1/2 tsp. Potasium Sorbate per gal and to back sweeten I added 1 can frozen apple juice and 2 cups Apple Korn which has given me a pretty high alchahol level.

My mistake was that I did not rack the cider off before bottling. It seems to be settling in the bottles.
Wondering if with the high level of yeast that ended up in the bottles if the amount of Sorbate was enough to keep it from re-fermenting excessively. I feel some fermentation wouldn't hurt.

Any thoughts??

[russki]

How long has it been bottled? You may want to open one to see if there's any carbonation. If there is, you may be in trouble... as in "Bombs Away!" trouble...

[Texas Dan]

Last night...
I put most of it in PET bottles and some in flip tops...
But I'm curious if you don't rack do you use more Sorbate...

[russki]

Last night...
I put most of it in PET bottles and some in flip tops...
But I'm curious if you don't rack do you use more Sorbate...

You usually use sorbate in combination with sulphites (1 Campden tablet + 0.5 tsp Potassium Sorbate per gallon) to stabilize cider/wine/mead. It does not kill yeast, but it inhibits further growth. You do this once it's completely clear and it's been racked off the sediment, meaning there's little yeast in suspension. This prevents restarted fermentation once it's backsweetened. If you did not rack at all, all of the yeast is still there, so sorbate will do nothing to prevent renewed fermentation.

If you see PETs staring to get hard, you may need to "burp" the bottles daily, or you may get bottle bombs.

[Texas Dan]

Thanks Russki
I had read somewhere that you use either Sorbate or sulfites, but not both. Since some people are allergic to sulfites, I didn't want to use anything else.
It kind of looks like the Sorbate will be overwhelmed by the amount of yeast.
I will keep a check on PET's.
I wanted to make a hard cider similar to that while growing up in the 40's, but this very dry cider is not it.
What I remember was probably natural cider that had caught a wild yeast and was just starting to turn hard. It had a bite to the tongue but still had the full apple taste.

[joechianti]

I like to "backsweeten" with lactose in the beginning, so that it's just residual sweetness with no further complications. Admittedly, most of the apple flavor goes away during fermentation, and lactose doesn't give any apple flavor to the finished product. But I also like my cider bubbly, so I use apple juice for bottle priming. Just some ideas.