ErieShores

Recipes 

I tried this method on roughly 4 gallons of cider I had in my secondary for a month. It seems to have worked pretty well with only one detonated grenade. I syphoned one gallon at a time, using different ammounts of concentrate to backsweeten and priming sugar for carbination and I'll report my findings after a few months time. Problems that I encountered that others may want to consider.
-My understanding of this is too keep the temperature at 160 through the entire 10 minutes. The problem is that the temperature seems to drop 10-15 degrees once the bottles are submerged. I found that if I raised the temperature to roughly 170 the temperature sank near 160 after the bottles were sank.
-Set aside a few hours to complete this project unless you have a crock the size of the Grand Canyon. I'll reconsider starting this project as late as I did next time. I was cleaning up well after midnight.
Otherwise it will be worth the time spent, I just hope I have the patience to let these suckers age!

charesty

Recipes 

How long did it take your cider to carb up before you pasteurized?

When did you get a grenade, before, during, or after pasteurization?

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Bottled: Brown Ale
Bottled: Pumpkin Pale Ale
Bottled: Sweet Cider
Secondary: Cabernet

ErieShores

Recipes 

I added my priming sugar just prior to bottling and paturizing so I have no idea how the carbonation is. I'll give it a few weeks before I crack a bottle.

I use Genesee Cream Ale pounder bottles and I was able to fit 6 in the crock I was using. What happened was, I had one loner bottle left over to be pasteurized. I placed the bottle in and my thermometer read 180 so I dropped the temp, ultimately too low. I had to heat the bath again and the sucker sat in for far too long. I removed the bottle and noticed the carbonation filling the head room of the bottle. I threw it in the sink and the bottom blew off like a rocket. It was my mistake, I learned a lesson about checking the temp before throwing a bottle in.

charesty

Recipes 

I hate to break this too you my friend, but you needed to pasteurize after carbonation. See below:

In my process, I carbed in glass and one bottle in plastic. I checked the plastic bottle every 12 hours until the bottle firmed up. Then I knew the cider was properly carbed.

I pasteurized so that I could lock in carbonation without the fear of bottle bombs. I'm sorry to tell you but you probably killed your yeast before any carbing took place. You will have a still sweet cider but no bubbles dude.

__________________
Bottled: Brown Ale
Bottled: Pumpkin Pale Ale
Bottled: Sweet Cider
Secondary: Cabernet

ErieShores

Recipes 

Hmmm, yeah. I was a bit unclear on the priming part. On the bright side, I do have a couple of cases of hard cider. I'll drink just about anything but they will still be tasty.

Pappers_

Recipes 

Learning something new everyday on the big HBT! Seriously, this thread and the other on using heat to kill the yeast before the cider is bone dry but after it's carbed in the bottle is exactly the piece of information I needed and has pushed me over the edge - I think I'll try a cider over the holiday.

One question - if you bottle when the gravity is at about 1.020 there is no need for priming, right? Plenty of sugar still there if I'm understanding your process right. Thanks!

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http://www.singingboysbrewing.com

charesty

Recipes 

You bet they will!

I'm bringing some of my cider up to Thanksgiving in NH.

Exactly. I didn't prime with sugar and let the cider carb up on the sugar still left in the bottles with a gravity of 1.020.

Good luck

__________________
Bottled: Brown Ale
Bottled: Pumpkin Pale Ale
Bottled: Sweet Cider
Secondary: Cabernet

ErieShores

Recipes 

Thanksgiving through Christmas in New England just has such an appeal to it. I have a friend outside of Boston, maybe someday I'll make it happen.

I still have a gallon and a half of still, I was gonna give to my buddy's old man. I may give him a 12 pack of pounders and try your method again. I'll check that with my hydrometer and go from there.

charesty

Recipes 

If you try again, the plan of attack is:

• Bottle and use at least one 16 oz plastic soda bottle
• Use the plastic bottle as your "carb tester" to determine when the cider is properly carbed. A firm plastic bottle means a good carb. Check every 6-12 hours.
• At a high gravity, say 1.020 to 1.018, the cider should carb up fast since there'll be lots of sugar to convert.

Then go with your original pasteurization process. What you described seemed very sound.

Enjoy your holiday

__________________
Bottled: Brown Ale
Bottled: Pumpkin Pale Ale
Bottled: Sweet Cider
Secondary: Cabernet

charesty

Recipes 

I used to work at a few "tourist magnets" in Jackson, NH during the winter. I had three jobs at the time; ski instructor, bartender, and 'Sleigh Ride Coordinator'. I would gather up the people for the next sleigh ride, serve hot cocoa, maintain bonfires, and serve ice cold, sometimes frozen Freixenet to the VIPs. It was butt ass cold some nights but people went crazy for that experience.

The best part of the job was cruising through the woods at night on a snowmobile or 4wheeler to blow out the lanterns. All in a days work.

__________________
Bottled: Brown Ale
Bottled: Pumpkin Pale Ale
Bottled: Sweet Cider
Secondary: Cabernet