Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t taken Cider Quiz #1, click here to take it before exploring the answers. You can tap or click on the picture in each answer to open a related article.
Question #1: How can you create a cider with some residual sweetness?
Let’s explore each answer.
1. Keeving: Yes, it can be used to create residual sweetness but, it’s not the correct answer.
Keeving is a traditional French process that removes nutrients and yeast to create a stable cider with some residual sweetness.
2. Back Sweeten with Non-Fermentable Sweetener: Yes, it can be used to create residual sweetness, but it’s not the correct answer.
Cider fermentation can naturally produce non-fermentable sweeteners like glycerol, but you can also add others like erythritol, xylitol, or stevia to produce a stable sweet cider.
3. Back Sweeten and Pasteurize: Yes, it can be used to create residual sweetness, but it’s not the correct answer.
Heat is another method of creating residual sweetness in cider. Add sugar and heat up the cider to a temperature that will kill the yeasts and bacteria that can process these sugars.
4. Add Pear Juice: Yes, it can be used to create residual sweetness, but it’s not the correct answer.
Adding pear juice to your cider blend has the ability of creating residual sweetness. That sweetness comes from the higher level of sorbitol that most pears have in comparison to apples.
5. All of the Above: This is the correct answer.
As you can see, all of these processes are capable of creating a cider that can have some residual sweetness.
There are also methods like filtering or adding preservatives. Most require some level of either planning ahead or intervention during the fermentation process. It’s important to understand your method and any risks associated with residual sweetness. Bottles can break and send cider everywhere, but they can also not break and still send cider everywhere. I bought a commercial cider once that fermented the residual sugars. Even very cold, the cider erupted out of the bottle creating a mess when opened. Understand the logic behind the process you plan to use and work to maximize its effect while minimizing its risk.
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