Made cider this year and would like to freeze a little. What I have is fermenting and has developed a nice tang and fizz. If I freeze it will it still have the fizz?
3 Likes
When I made apple jack it didnt completely kill the yeast during the freezing stage so I would say maybe?
5 Likes
I’d say it depends on the alcohol level. Are you talking about freezing to save for later or making apple jack?
If I understand correctly:
- you have something actively fermenting (which means there’s still sugar)
- you like the experience (taste, alcohol, acidity, whatever)
- you want to stop the fermentation and have the same experience later
I think freezing is unlikely to accomplish this.
This is a little outside my depth as a preservation method (among other things I ferment everything dry and like it that way), but not so far as I would be uncomfortable suggesting alternatives.
Freezing will cause the water to expand, including in the yeast, which can cause them to burst, which can lead to… unpleasant mouth feel (creamy, not in a good way, or sometimes funk; empirically verified). I don’t know if that’s guaranteed, but I’d be concerned. You also have the issue of your container needing enough space for the ice to expand into.
Keeping the CO2 in is more dependent on your storage means than the temperature, although you’ll get better absorption into the liquid at lower temperatures.
I think the simplest, least-equipment-required solution is to bottle into more or less anything air tight (grolsch flip top, bottle + cap, cleaned soda bottle; knowing that you’ll lose a lot of CO2 in the transfer), and add a preservative. I’m less familiar with those than more complicated approaches (I keg or bottle with a counter pressure filler, or sometimes bottle condition), but here are a few the internet provided when I searched “preservatives to stop fermentation”:
- sodium benzoate What is Sodium Benzoate? - Ingredi (link chosen by Google’s order, not by particular quality measure)
- potassium sorbate Potassium Sorbate – ATPGroup (same caveat)
I’ve encountered potassium sorbate and tried to ferment juice with that. It…required a lot of yeast. You’ll still get a little activity for a bit but not for long, that can help provide some carbonation.
There are other things you could consider (cold crashing, fermenting dry and back sweetening, bottle conditioning, etc etc etc; someone has done what you’re looking for before), but I don’t know they’re necessary.
3 Likes
For later.
Hmmm. I did think about bottling it -I’ve still got the gear from my beer making days- but I didn’t take a hygrometer reading and I don’t know how much sugar is still in it, and I don’t want any explosions. I could let it work out completely and I just might, but I only have a gallon and I think I’ve hit on the solution. I’m going to drink it.
Thanks for your suggestions. I hadn’t thought of the yeast freezing leading to a funky taste, and that’s good to know.
2 Likes
You’ll need champaign bottles if too much sugar. Cider will ferment to dry, but it seems like high carbonation will stop fermentation before it burns through sugar, leaving it swèter. If you dont have sulfide in it is most likely on the path to vinegar (with any air exposure). Lol ive got a lot of fantastic vinegar. Those good beer bottles sometimes work, but if the cider is good now, enjoy it.
There is a google group call cider workshop which is great for cider makers.
2 Likes
Judging from bread dough (which you can buy frozen, thaw, and let rise) freezing won’t kill the yeast. At least not all of it.
It’s been a few years, but we have frozen cider which had fermented a bit. Don’t recall if it kept its fizz but it tasted good and continued to ferment once liquid again. Don’t recall all the details, so it may have taken a few days to get going fermenting again, but the yeast lived, at least enough of them.
I’d be cautious about bottling. Unless you can measure the remaining sugar level and keep it low, or kill the yeast, there is a risk of exploding bottles as the fermentation continues in the bottles. Happens to beer and wine home brewers on occasion.
If you’ve got room in the freezer, that may be the quickest and easiest way to go…
1 Like
I’ve blown a few bottle of beer, so I know what you’re talking about!
About bread dough: the yeast they use in frozen bread dough is a strain that’s adapted to freezing. My experience with freezing dough is that it has its limits - some doughs survive better than others with ordinary baker’s yeast. Seems to help if they’re rich doughs -don’t ask me why. But if it worked for you that’s a good tip.
It’s pretty well moot now though: I’m working my way through the last gallon pretty quickly!
1 Like
Yes, that’s always the other option, just drink it… 
1 Like
Yes it will stay fizzy if you freeze fermenting juice. However you do risk overflows and explosions if the container is too full. Yeast can operate slowly at very low temperatures, so if there is too much sugar and alcohol in the juice it may not freeze solid and the yeast will continue to ferment. This probably wouldn’t happen with apple juice, but it is possible with higher sugar juices. But if it does freeze well, the CO2 is much more soluble is colder liquids and will be trapped in frozen liquid as it has no place to escape to in a sealed vessel. As long as you thaw slowly in a well sealed container, the CO2 will go back into solution even if it has moved into the headspace of the container as long as it’s mostly full.
I was a professional wine and then a bottle fermented cider maker for 15 years before transitioning entirely to farming and I can say this without hesitation. Do not bottle anything that tastes remotely sweet. Champagne bottle ferments have about 2% sugar added to them. This is only slightly sweet in anything that has a decent amount of acid in it. Champagne is about 3x more carbonated than cider as well (upwards of 12,000 ppm CO2 vs about 4,000 or so) . Cider will also undergo malolactic fermentation without sulfite which is usually produces about another 500-1000ppm I believe. Don’t remember the math off the top of my head though and will change depending on variety.
Also, freezing will not stop fermentation. We would always buy old yeast at a discount and keep it in the freezer and it would be just as vigorous after several years as brand new stuff. Yeast is extremely difficult to kill completely.
If you keep air out there is no fear of vinegar being produced. Except in some varieties of pear juice, but that is through a different process involving the fermentation of citric acid directly to acetic and does not involve the usual alcohol step. This means as long as it’s bubbling, there is no risk of it turning. As soon as the bubbling subsides and it doesn’t hurt your nose when you sniff it, then the risk of vinegar is present, but can be drastically minimized by storing in a completely full container with a narrow neck. Also, if you keep it in the fridge when it’s winding down, there is almost no risk of vinegar forming.
Another interesting note, we used to freeze a few hundred gallons of grape must to make sweet wine or back sweeten finished wine. If you freeze juice and then thaw it at room temperature the juice that melts first will be concentrated with sugar and acid and leave basically just ice behind. One year the just started fermenting a bit before we delivered it to the freezer. The resulting concentrate was very high alcohol (tasted upwards of at least 15%) and sugar 40% and was fizzy, quite delightful actually.
4 Likes
Adding sorbate or benzoate to actively fermenting beverages can lead to a “marigold”-like taste, I’ve heard, while also failing to permanently stop fermentation. I mostly brewed beer though, so I didn’t use the stuff very much.
1 Like