BeerBorg

ive an apple cider (hard) that is starting to clear. it will be 2 weeks ferment time on monday. ive read that if i want to stop the fermentation at a desired level of sweetness that heat is a good way to do it.

i cant use sulfites. im not a fan of chemicals. would this process work?

put the fermenter in the fridge for a couple days to drop the yeast out of suspension.
rack to another fermenter and let sit a week.
rack to mason jars, cover with lids, then immerse in a pot of cool water.
bring the water to 160F. turn off heat and let them cool to room temp.

1. will that kill the yeast?
2. will that cause off flavors? theres no hops to worry about it.
3. would that be enough heat to kinda sorta pasturize the cider?

thanks in advance... oh btw i used red star wine yeast.

-z-

What you are talking about is "stovetop pasteurization". You need to get the cider inside those jars above 160F. I would heat the pot up to 170F, kill the heat, cover and let cool down. Now, I would not recommend using mason jars, as they won't seal until they cool down, potentially allowing alcohol to evaporate. Any reason you don't want to use beer bottles?

only got 1 gallon to bottle. was going to use 2 x 1/2 gal mason jars. i was doing an experimental cider. ive got the BALL jar plastic screw tops which ive been told form a good seal for storage.

ive been doing experimental brewing with hobo wines, meads and ciders in very small batches. that way if they come out tasting like poop it's not a lot of loss.

thanks... will try the stovetop technique. gonna have to back sweeten first though. after only barely 2 weeks the cider is totally dry. another reason i need to murder the yeast.

Wines and such can get incredibly dry. Maintaining or restoring sweetness is a desirable art, or science, depending on how good you get at it. Stopping fermentation before it stops itself is a related art or science. Each artist develops their own techniques. I suppose you won't go in for campden tablets, either, given your position on chemicals? I feel similarly on that, but I'll do what I need to do sometimes. I've been known to manipulate a batch of wine back and forth many times before I was truly happy with it, but I can be incredibly stubborn and surprisingly patient in the process. One thing I didn't know about 30 years ago was lactose. Just learned about that recently. Lactose is a wonderful secret weapon. You can either add it up front or in the end, and that works wonders. This may or may not be practical, but sometimes I stop fermentation by bottling the wine while it is still mildly sweet and carbonated by simply bottling it with little or no priming sugar and putting it straight into the fridge. Then I drink it straight from the fridge. Sometimes I let it warm up just a little before drinking, then sometimes I don't. If I feel the need to make any adjustments after tasting the first bottle, I just do whatever I think needs to be done to make it better. The more things you try, even if they don't work, the more tricks you pick up. We learn from mistakes, so I don't mind making mistakes at all.