I am brewing cider this week i would actually like to do 2 batches but dont have the room. I can’t see any reason why I cant freeze 5 gallons of soft cider to use later for hard cider. I usually use White Labs cider yeast, so I’m not using any naturally occuring yeast already presant in the soft cider to ferment. is my thinking correct on freezing?
Sounds like a plan…
sweet cider makers who do not pasturize freeze for longer storage so you should be just fine.
I buy all my cider already frozen. It’s the only way I can find unpasteurized cider around here. I usually let it thaw until there are just a few small ice chunks left and then add it to the bucket and pitch my yeast. My logic (which may be flawed) is that I don’t want the cider to warm to room temp so that anything in it can get going. So, I pitch it with just a touch if ice left and let it free rise to fermentation temps. I’m guessing that the yeast get going just as fast as any bacteria in the cider and out compete them. All I can say is that it seems to work for me (I use Kolsch yeast most of the time though).
Many orchards freeze their cider to store before sale. Also, the natural yeasts will survive freezing anyway.