Expert: Spencer W Thomas - 8/4/2009

Question
Hello,

What kind of sugars won't ferment? The last batch of cider I made was sooooo bitter because ALL of the sugar fermented even after bottling. Is there a way to add a sugar-substance that WON'T ferment and lose it's taste?

Thanks,
-Dave

Answer
Hi, Dave,

Apologies for my delay in responding to your question.  The most common "brewing" sugar that is not fermentable is lactose. Unfortunately, many people suffer digestive upset from lactose, so it's not an ideal solution, but it will work.  I'm not sure how much you would want to use, as I've not used lactose.

There are several other ways of sweetening fermented beverages.  Which you choose depends, in part, on whether you want your cider still or carbonated.  

Once fermentation has stopped, you can add potassium sorbate to keep it from restarting, and then sweeten with plain sugar.  Caution: sorbate does not stop ongoing fermentation, so you must wait until it has completely finished.  Unless you have a kegging setup where you can force-carbonate, your cider will be "still" (uncarbonated) if you use the sorbate technique.

If you want fizzy cider, a somewhat risky approach is to add sugar to sweeten on top of your normal carbonating sugar, to bottle, let the bottles carbonate, and then refrigerate them to "stop" further fermentation (depending on your yeast, refrigeration may not completely stop them from continuing to carbonate your cider).  If you do this, you will need to keep the bottles cold and to consume them within a month or so, or risk "bottle bombs".

Another possibility is to use an artificial sweetener such as sucralose (splenda), stevia, etc.  These are non-fermentable and can be added to taste. The downside is that some people really dislike the taste of artificial sweeteners.

Finally, you can sweeten the cider in the glass.  If the cider is still you can use plain sugar, but if it is fizzy the sugar will make it foam up.  You can make up a "simple syrup" (http://cocktails.about.com/od/mixology/r/simple_syrup.htm) or simply stir in some honey.

Finally, I wonder if you really mean "bitter"?  In my experience cider is not generally bitter, although it can be very tart (sour) or astringent (puckering). In any case, sweetening it can help to offset all of those characteristics. Good luck.