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« on: November 24, 2012, 10:07:15 am »
If you are not kegging this or do not have a kegging system in place, you will not want to use any more sweetener than you already have (frozen concentrate). When you bottle, the remaining yeast will eat up the sugar in the sweetener and you'll blow your bottles.
I do not use any acids in mine but I have always added pectic enzyme to help clear the cider. The best advice I have for cider is to be patient. I feel they take a good 3 months to mellow out and get where you want them. As for the headspace and oxydation, If you had an active fermentation, you should have co2 built up in the headspace. However, if you're removing the bung to check from time to time you need to be able to flush that space with canned co2. Personally, at this point, I would not add fruit to the cider to reduce the headspace. I think the risk of contamination outweighs the risk of oxydation.
If you're not kegging, you can either have your cider sweet or carbonated but its hard to accomplish both. If you want to carbonate it, it will remain dry. If you want it sweet, you can add sorbate to the must to kill off the active yeast and then backsweeten it to taste. However, if you do this, the cider will be still.
Hope that helps and good luck. Ciders are awesome in the winter and spring.
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