[Ansteorra] Brewing Question: Carbonating Cider

[David J. Hughes]

On 10/4/2011 10:24 PM, Scott Fridenberg wrote:
> I'm just getting started back into brewing.  I have made a gallon of Cider
> using 2 cans of frozen apple concentrate.  It has stopped fermenting and has
> cleared to the point that I can read through it.   I believe that it has
> stopped fermenting because the yeast have eaten all the sugar rather than
> because the Alcohol has killed the yeast.    I would like to be able to
> drink this without worrying too much about my blood sugar, so I had thought
> to sweeten this with a simple syrup made from splenda.  I had also thought
> to add enough real sugar to to let it ferment just enough to carbonate it.
>   I'm planning to bottle it using the 'grolsh type' bottles with the snap
> close lids.
> 
> My question is, how much splenda should I add to get a good flavor, and how
> much sugar should I add to carbonate it?    Should I rack it to a clean
> gallon jug and sweeten that or sweeten in the existing jug and bottle?
> 
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Robert Fitzmorgan
> 


>From what you have written, I assume you didn't take hydrometer readings, so I'll give you less scientific advice.

Usual rule is no more than 3/4 cups sugar (corn sugar for beer, corn, cane or brown sugar cider)  per 5 gallons to carbonate.

For one gallon, dissolve 1/8 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of very hot/boiling water and allow to cool to room temperature.

How much Splenda to use is a matter of how sweet you want it to be.
Slightly sweet would be 1/4 cup or less, Classic Coke sweet would be about 2 cups.  For a first batch, I would suggest going with no more than 1/3 cup.  In any case use twice as much hot water as Splenda to make your syrup.

Decant/siphon the cleared cider off the lees (to avoid off flavors from sitting on the dead yeast) into a clean container, 
Mix in your syrups and bottle. (Carefully check the gaskets on the flip top bottles and dampen with a little water to ensure a good seal.)
Store the bottles in a dark closet at room temperature for at least 3 weeks, six is better as cider is notoriously slow to carbonate.

Check one bottle after 3-6 weeks to make sure it came out right.

Usual rules for natural carbonation, don't disturb the lees at the bottom of the bottles, drink from a glass or mug, not from the bottle unless you like the taste of dead yeast.

David Gallowglass, who just bottled two gallons of gruit style honey ale on Sunday.



Benjamin Franklin never wrote or said "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." 
Dr. Franklin was, however, a wine drinker, and he wrote--

   " We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it". --Letter to Abb� Morellet (1779)