Sorbitol 70% liquid

[alphacento]

Hello all,

I have purchased some Sorbitol 70% in liquid form. I would like to sweeten my cider into a Medium - Dry one (far closer to dry than medium). Pretty much I just want to smoothen up the dryness a little bit. In my last brew I used 6 tablespoons of Splenda for 4 gallons and now I want to try Sorbitol.

Does anybdy has experience with Sorbitol? How much should I use per Gallon to achieve a medium dry Cider?

Thanks in advance!

 

[tonyhibbett]

Apparantly, Splenda is far superior to basic sorbitol, which is so last century!

 

[alphacento]

which is so last century!

I guess that I am just old fashioned :) I have used Splenda with the last batch (which is still maturing) but I have read several comments against it and its not very healthy principal that I decided to try something else for the future.

Did you experiment with both?

 

[tonyhibbett]

I must admit that my information is not based on experience, since I prefer my cider and wine, and for that matter tea and coffee, dry. Ideally, maturation in oak takes out any roughness in the taste of any young brew, but a useful shortcut is glycerin and french oak chips. Glycerin is slightly sweet and smoothing, while oak chips impart a hint of vanilla and a deeper colour. The cheapest glycerin is from Boots and should be added at the rate of 5 ml per gallon, up to 25 ml. Traditionally drowned rats were left to ferment in the cider, giving a similar effect and the pulp was pressed through straw. While I am not keen on dead rats in my food, I have added leftover cooked lamb to fermenting wine and barley straw to cider with no ill effect.
Cider is not my preferred drink, it was just the obvious thing to do with the huge glut of apples I had this year and although it was ok, it was clear that, unless using cider apples, you can't make a decent cider from just 1 variety of apples, any more than you can make decent wine from supermarket grape juice.

 

[alphacento]

Thank you very much for the tips. I will try sorbitol and then, next time, Glycerin!

Cheers

 

[harry2208]

bit of a weird reply, but be careful with the amounts, i tried quiting smoking last year and was chewing gum constantly, the next day i spent 4 hrs of the toilet because i was using sugar free gum sweetened with sorbitol (its a laxative in case you didn't catch my meaning) :), sorry to lower the tone :).

 

[tonyhibbett]

My granddaughter was so horrified that I smoked, I thought this was the best incentive to quit. I signed up to the local clinic and was put on a course of Champix. This worked quite well unill I felt unaccountably suicidal!

 

[harry2208]

My granddaughter was so horrified that I smoked, I thought this was the best incentive to quit. I signed up to the local clinic and was put on a course of Champix. This worked quite well unill I felt unaccountably suicidal!

lol, i've quit twice now, first time i made it a year and had a nasty breakup, started again, second time i made it 6 months and treated myself with a cig (silly me), won't touch champix or anything that has suicide as a side effect, call me strange lol.

 

[tonyhibbett]

It's only rock and roll, but I like it

 

[user 1290]

bit of a weird reply, but be careful with the amounts, i tried quiting smoking last year and was chewing gum constantly, the next day i spent 4 hrs of the toilet because i was using sugar free gum sweetened with sorbitol (its a laxative in case you didn't catch my meaning) :), sorry to lower the tone :).

Lowering it further, it isn't just a laxative but can also cause exessive farting - google "Sobitol farting".

 

[alphacento]

Lowering it further, it isn't just a laxative but can also cause exessive farting - google "Sobitol farting".

So by using too much Sorbitol I get to enjoy cider, lose wait because of too much toilet action and annoy my collegues by doing some Sorbitol farting??!! It seems to me like a triple win situation!