over carbonation with bottling
 

i have been playing with ciders but cant seem to get the carbonation right. I ferment out the cider down to .98 and once to 1.000. i back sweeten and then bottle. the ciders really over carb. overflow both times. i let them sit once for a week (just like beer), and then tried 48 hours and then bottle pasturized it. no go both times. Any ideas on what i should be doing??

Try bottling 1 or 2 in a plastic twist top soda bottle for a gauge of when to pasteurize....

Yeah like hoonigan said, bottle a few in plastic bottles to gauge carb level. Most people suggest you check every 24 hours.

I checked at 24. Barely any carb. Then at 36 they overflowed.

you cant backsweeten with fermentable sugars or you are going to over carbonate, because those sugars reactivate the yeast in the bottle. you will be hard pressed to get a sparkling sweet cider out of the bottle. this is easier done in kegs. good luck though.

Im fairly new to ciders but i have brewed for about two years now and it sounds like you need to rack it longer or more to drop some yeast content out....

Yes you can, I do it all the time. Like others said before me, use 2 plastic pop bottles. Fill one at the beginning, and one near the end. As they get firmer, you will be able to tell when it is time to pasteurize.

Also, keep your bottles in a cooler area as they carb up. 60 degrees will give you more time than 80.

Well then now you know that that particular cider you made takes somewhere between 24 and 36 to carb. It's just trial and error.