Homebrew - fermentation question

direbadger

Hi guys, I was wondering is it possible to stop the fermentation process when you feel it has gone far enough? I didn't think it was but an online friend was asking me about it and I realised I really didn't know! She's making some drink I've never heard of. It's a type of cider I suppose. You homebrew folks might know what she's talking about. Note: she's American and I suspect cider can mean different things there:

I've got some hard cider in the fridge which has gotten really kickass in the past week, and it's inspired me. I'm going to attempt to make apple jack the way my grandmother actually instructed me: A handful of raisins, two or three cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, and a shot of rum to get it started in the right direction, then stick it behind the woodstove for a week or two. Only, I don't have a woodstove so I've put it in the oven - it's a gas oven, so the pilot light keeps it warm. I just have to remember to not turn on the oven without taking the cider out, first, as it's a plastic jug.

So, can the fermentation be stopped? I think she wants to bottle some of this up and send it in the post to family and friends. I doubt she wants to make a gift of an exploding bottle!
Any advice would be appreciated.

kenmc

Yes fermentation can be stopped, although I've never heard of it being done for beer, only for wine. you can get a fermentation stopper you add to the wine. For Cider, hmmmm I dunno - have never made cider, and all ciders I know are fizzy anyway.
In theory at least she could let it ferment away to a very low FG and when bottling, not add any more priming sugar - that should do the job if she can't get fermentation stopper. Nasty though if it makes flat cider!

noby

Ken, only us Irish, with our limited experience of (good) cider think it should be fizzy.
You want to get potassium sorbate from a home brew shop. As Ken said, it's mainly used in wine making. The alternative is to ferment it out, but your cider will be very dry.

direbadger

Thanks lads, that sounds like what she was looking for.

rubadub

cider can be normal apple juice or fermented so they use "hard cider" to avoid confusion. applejack usually refers to cider brandy.
In the US and canada some people leave cider outdoors in barrels to freeze the slow freezing leaves a core of concentrated cider in the middle which is poured off, high in % and taste. I think the granny just meant a warm place, no need for a oven. It is really a mock apple jack.

starman08

That same practice can be used to make ice beer. have any of you ever tried to make that

oblivious

direbadger wrote: »

Hi guys, I was wondering is it possible to stop the fermentation process when you feel it has gone far enough?

You can add a campden table to kill of the yeast, but the just be careful as your cleaning process has to be good as the sulfur will dissipate and infection can occur

bionic.laura

Agreed potassium sorbate can be used to stop the fermentation. It's used a lot in wine fermentation.

Blisterman

Boiling it, should kill the yeast.

Might affect the taste though, and it won't be fizzy, unless you pump it with CO2.

oblivious

Blisterman wrote: »

Boiling it, should kill the yeast.

Might affect the taste though, and it won't be fizzy, unless you pump it with CO2.

yea I would avoid boiling, they yeast will lysis and the will be other flavor issues

noby

Er, boiling it will drive off the alcohol too, which might defeat the purpose.

BeerNut

starman08 wrote: »

That same practice can be used to make ice beer. have any of you ever tried to make that

I think this ^^^ is why this three year old thread was resurrected. I don't know anyone who's done it, but I think I remember someone (oblivious, probably) saying that the whole eisbier/applejack process can leave you with some very nasty alcohols in the finished product if not done right.