Sweetner

Boundaryman

I have just sampled my first brew of cider that was put into a pressure barrel 3 weeks ago,clearing fine,nice head all in all very good if you like a dry cider.Can I sweeten slightly at this stage.

What do you recommend I use and how much for a full 40 pints,I only what a slight increase in sweetness, OR will things improve if I leave it until end of March (further 2 weeks)

Boundaryman

Just checked product description (Brewmaker Cider De Luxe) and it says Medium Dry,so can I tweek it a little towards sweet or read the label more carefully next time..??

Boundaryman

Can I use store bought artificial sweetner ? Any to avoid ?. How many teaspoons are required for 5 gall.

Don't want to spoil a full brew by adding too much.

Help please

HBO_Staff

The problem with opening the barrel to sweeten the cider is that it allows the pressure out and gases to escape, and also risks contamination the more you play around with it. It can be sweetened with a sweetener but if you do decide to do it we strongly advise to add only a little at a time as it can really make a difference, just a few drops well mixed in and then sample, and repeat until you get it right - you cannot remove the sweetness once it's been added! A wine sweetener would do the job, they come in 50ml and 500ml sizes;

http://home-brew-online.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/sweetner-for-wine-making-50ml

The other way would be to sweeten as you drink it, sweeen to taste a small amount at a time and drink that, rather than having to open the barrel now

Boundaryman

Think I will leave well alone,as I said it's clearing fine a nice head,but just that tiny bit too dry for me.Will change the kit next time (and read the info).Well there's only 5 gall to drink!!! Any ideas for a kit that produces a medium sweet cider and NOT medium dry.

Thanks again for advise..

HBO_Staff

Most ciders tend to be medium dry, the Finlandia tastes sweeter to us than most of the others and is very popular, but a few drops of sweetener added to the bottles or barrel before sealing up will sweeten it a little bit more

Boundaryman

Thank you,so the answer is sweeten a little "before" kegging or bottling..

Boundaryman

Can store bought artificial sweetner granules be used or must it be a liquid wine sweetner ?

HBO_Staff

As long as the manufacturers instructions say they are suitable then we can't see why not, but it will be down to the limitations of the particular product so if in doubt we would check with the maker of them