Dry or Sharp ciders can be made more palatable by sweetening to taste with sugar prior to drinking.

Ciders sweetened with sugar for storage must always be pasteurised thoroughly using a pasteuriser to kill off yeasts and prevent further fermentation. We offer purpose built pasteurisers with both thermostats and timers for pasteurising cider in the bottle or in the bags for the bag-in-box.

The Pasteurisation unit (PU) is defined as relating to the sterilising effect observed when the product is held for 1 minute at a temperature termed the base value (60C). At this temperature therefore, 1 PU per minute is achieved.

Minimum Pasteurisation units for a clear bright cider is 50 PU's

63C @ 20 minutes = 53.6 PU's

65C @ 20 Minutes - 103 PU's

70C @ 20 Minutes = 536 PU's

Cider sweetened with apple juice  requires 75C for 20 Minutes = 2779PU's

Pasteurising in the Bottle

Fill clean glass bottles with cider and close the caps, place them in the tank of the pasteuriser, fill the tank with water to the required level and set the pasteuriser to 70°C. Set the timer on the pasteuriser to 20 minutes. Once the cider inside the bottles has reached temperature, the timer will start to count down. When the timer reaches zero, the bottles can be carefully removed and allowed to cool. Cool gently with cold water to stop further pasteurisation. Our pasteurisers hold 13 x 75cl bottles so cider can be bottled in large batches with ease.

See our full range of bottles and packaging here.

Pasteurising in the Bag

Alternatively, cider can be pasteurised in our 5 and 10 litre bag-in-boxes for medium term storage. With the aid of a filling stand, the bags can be filled with cider ready for pasteurisation and then sealed. Two 5 litre bags or one 10 litre bag can be pasteurised in the pasteuriser at any one time by the same process described above. Note: The 20 litre bag should not be used in the pasteuriser as the tank capacity in insufficient. The shelf life of bag-in-box cider should be 12-18 months.

You can find our range of bag in boxes and accessories here.

See our range of pasteurisers together with accessories here.