Does cider bottle ferment?

Hey, I'm new to this whole process and last week we made a batch of cider from this recipe ( http://beerrecipes.org/showrecipe.php?recipeid=1266 ). Beerrecipes.org is a pretty great site but can sometimes be a little vague. Especially for newbies like myself. I was wondering if any more seasoned veterans would be able to tell me if I should be expecting to wait a period of time for these to age in bottles or if they will be ready to drink within days of bottling.

In addition I was curious as to whether or not it would be possible to bottle this in screw top 64oz growlers. I read somewhere that the pressure is too great for fermenting in growlers... so really... I guess an answer to the first question would answer the second.

Thanks a lot in advance. This site is great.

Well I am guessing that you want carbonated cider? So yes you will have to wait 2-3 weeks for it to bottle carbonate. Other than that you can drink it when you want but I have always waited at least a month from bottling.

Oh you used Campden tablets so you are wanting flat cider. Still wait a month.

I would wait three months from the end of fermentation before thinking of bottling.

Thanks for the replies but I'm still a bit unsure because they were mixed. I think we are bottling on Thursday. That would mean it sat 2 weeks in the carboy. We kinda need to get it out of there. So is the general consensus that it is not ready to drink and still needs to ferment? Will bottle aging it be enough? If so how long?

What would need to be added/changed in this recipe to make carbonated cider?

If you let it ferment in the bottle, it will carbonate itself, though it will need to be pasteurized if you put it in there before the primary is done.

Force carbonation using a keg is an option if you have the equipment.

If you can test the gravity, you can test if the fermentation is done. If the gravity stays constant for a couple days its probably done. If this is the case, you will have to put priming sugar in the mix right before bottling so it will continue to ferment in the bottle, creating carbonation. You will have to bottle pasteurize if you go that route, however. Just look up "priming sugar" and "bottle pasteurize" to learn more about those. The best thread on bottle pasteurization is pappers stovetop pasteurization, which I think is a sticky here in the cider forum.

Also, before you know how bottle carbing is going to go, you are going to want to check bottles at least once a day to make sure they aren't over carbonated, or they will explode. I have had batches finish bottle carbonating in as little as 3 days, some people have had even less. Other times it is weeks, so it all varies.

Carbonated cider is usually done by adding a specific amount of sugar (about 1 oz per gallon) when it's bottled. A small amount of fermentation will take place in the bottle, which creates the carbonation. Generally, you need to use beer or champagne bottles to handle the pressure. If fermentation is complete and you add the proper amount of sugar for carbonation, I don't see why you'd need to bottle pasteurize.

Bottling after two weeks is really quick. Like Oldmate, I wait months rather than weeks. At two weeks, fermentation may not be complete and I'm sure it's cloudy. You'll probably end up with significant sediment in the bottles if you don't wait.

What was the original gravity and what is you're final gravity of this cider? You need to be sure fermentation is complete before bottling. Like ThunderPanda mentioned the only sure way to know fermentation is complete is by consistent gravity readings. That said without a gravity reading if you wait 3-4 weeks after fermentation and there is no air-lock activity then you're probably safe to bottle. If cider is cloudy and you bottle (as GinKings mentioned) you might have a bit more sediment in you're bottles over time, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

As far as carbonation goes that depends on a couple things. First I think if you add Campden then you won't be able to carbonate in the bottle (you will need to keg and force carb). I believe the alcohol tolerance of nottingham is around 11% (someone correct me if I'm off here). So if you're cider is close to 11% it probably will not naturally carb without a keg setup. Pasteurization only comes into play if you are back-sweetening and bottling.

I just noticed this in the recipe

"After fermentation has ceased rack into your bottling bucket add the 5 campden tablets (crushed), the 3 cans of apple juice concentrate and 12 oz. of the Cinnamon Syrup."

The recipe is having you back-sweeten. The intent is leave the cider sweet. I'm not sure if the campden tablets will effectively stop nottingham or not without sorbate (plus that would be still cider). So if you followed the instructions and If you bottle this way you may get bottle bombs. If you want to carbonate in the bottle you will either need to keg this or use this method to bottle: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

That recipe is intended to be either refrigerated or drank promptly because the campden is not sufficient to kill the yeast ... only retard it ... and consequently adding the juice and syrup and then bottling it will eventually produce hand grenades unless the bottles are refrigerated.

If you are going to hold it as “still” cider (ie. non-carbonated) *outside* of refrigeration ... then to kill the yeast you would need to either bottle pasteurize OR use campden *and* potassium sorbate. If you are going to stabilize by using pot. sorbate, you would add the sorbate, let it rest for a week, then add the apple concentrate and cinnamon syrup and then, with an airlock on the carboy, wait another approx 2 weeks to make SURE you don’t get any further fermentation (bubbles in the airlock). Then IF it is in fact “still”, bottle it.

If you want it carbonated, having added campden will slow the process down. Now that you’ve added it, I would say forget carbonation this time and save that for the next batch.
However, if it was me ... to carbonate this batch I’d be doing a combination of aerating to reduce the sulfite level (from the campden) ... and adding additional yeast to the bottles ... hold the bottles in a warm area of the house (say at least 75*F) ... and prepare to be patient - because the yeast may take a while to do it’s thing.

If you are going to go thru the trouble of carbonating .... and if you don’t need nice looking bottles, you could get a bunch of 16oz to 20 oz plastic pop bottles with screw off caps ( purchased as empty returnables from your favorite party store) and use those. Plastic 2 liter bottles and smaller ones like 20oz Coke bottles are made from the safe, inert plastic PETE (polyethylene terephthalate).
If you are going to bottle carbonate like this, plastic bottles allow you to feel the level of pressure developing in them as carbonation pressure builds up. When they feel quite hard (in hopefully 10 to 30 days or so), you can open one and test it to see if it is in fact carbonated well enough for you. If it is ... then put *all* the bottles in the lowest shelf in the refrigerator and the yeast action will stop (you will get little or no further pressure development) and they will be ready for consumption any time.