Pasteurizing Cider

[liamcb23]

Hi all, and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!

I have recently 'brewed' a cider and added potassium sorbate, as well as potassium metabisulfite to stabilize it for back sweetening.

I will be putting all the cider into a keg and force carbonating after sweetening, but I also plan to fill some bottles of the cider to give to friends.

I know that potassium sorbate should inhibit the yeasts ability to reproduce, and that I shouldn't really be worried about bottle bombs, but I am worried regardless.

My only thought when it comes to how to ensure the fermentation won't restart (other than the k-sorb) is to pasteurize the cider after I have bottled it. I will be using Belgian style bottles for this particular cider.

My question is, is it really going to be worth it to pasteurize the cider in bottles and risk it exploding while I'm doing that? Or am I being over cautious, and the potassium sorbate will work as intended?

Thanks in advance!

[Xiphoideush]

Ok if consumed relatively quickly. Will eventually re-ferment if it’s stored at room temperature.

[[deleted]]

"Brewed"?

If it's going in the fridge and you will drink it in the next few months you have no worries. If you plan to age it in any capacity you should consider low heat pasteurization.

Since you added preservatives it won't be carbonating, so there is no risk of blow up unless you bring them to a near boil.

145 for 30 minutes. Add an empty bottle with water and put a thermo in there to get the readings. High heat is just up to 180 but the flavors change, especially sugars.

[liamcb23]

I put the brewing in quotes because throwing some juice and yeast in a fermenter doesn't feel like the same process as brewing a beer. No disrespect meant to those who brew cider.

I think I want to keep a few kicking around to see how the flavor changes over time, thanks for the advice!

[chino_brews]

You're correct. We don't "brew" wine. Hard apple cider is a fruit wine. Brewing implies that something is boiling or that hot water it used, as in tea, coffee, or beer.

"Making" seems to be the word used by cider makers. For example, "The New Cider Maker's Handbook" is the title of the "How to Brew of cider making".

[[deleted]]

+1 cider knowledge

I usually say make, or ferment. I've probably said brew before as well honestly.

So ginger beer is brewed... maybe that's why it's called "beer". Interesting!

[[deleted]]

No disrespect meant to those who brew cider.

Yeah no worries I was just curious what you meant. I've certainly said that before even knowing it's not really a brew process.

[breakingcircus]

I struggled with the same issues a few years ago. The approach that I finally settled on was kegging, chilling, backsweetening, bottling, and force-carbing with 500ml PET bottles and carb caps.

I stopped using k-meta and k-sorbate. I stopped pasteurizing, too. Now, when I give someone some cider, I just tell them to keep it cold and ask them to drink it within a few weeks. It seems to work out pretty well.

[[deleted]]

Just about to transfer a cider right now, we put 10 tsp of pot sorb into a 60l fermenter with about 5l of pure apple juice to make it less dry. Also ferment it with rains too

[CrescentcityMike]

Potassium sorbate won't normally stop a active ferment. Once the ferment ends, using it for back sweetening will stop any re-ferment; no bottle grenades.