Preventing bottle bombs

Well im two weeks away from bottling and all the horror stories ive read are making me nervous? What makes a bomb? How do prevent it? I have regular cap bottles and a apper to start.

Bombs come from bottling before fermentation is done. Fermentation continues in the bottle, too much CO2 builds up, and kablooie. Just make sure your final gravity is close to the final FG stated in your recipe, and make sure it's stable over a couple days and it's ready.

Then use good sanitation when bottling Because bacterial infections can cause bombs too, but that's kinda rare. Anyway, have fun and cheers!

Oops - what I just posted is for beer. That'll teach me to notice that this is in the cider forum. I bet cider experts will chime in with more on-point info.

JonM said:

Oops - what I just posted is for beer. That'll teach me to notice that this is in the cider forum. I bet cider experts will chime in with more on-point info.

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Your info is good regardless of the beverage. Too much fermentable sugar in the bottle can lead to bottle bombs.

JLem said:

Your info is good regardless of the beverage. Too much fermentable sugar in the bottle can lead to bottle bombs.

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So when it states to add sugar to the bottle before adding the cider, is that for carbonation? Im assuming im trying to get close to .995 right? Thanks for the inut.

cacaca86 said:

So when it states to add sugar to the bottle before adding the cider, is that for carbonation? Im assuming im trying to get close to .995 right? Thanks for the inut.

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Yes, that's for carbonation. And yes, you can expect the cider to finish around 1.000. Make sure that it is sufficiently low and stable over a number of days before bottling.

Thats good info i as well am close to bottling for the first time and would like to have some fizz to my cider. But i would also like to avoid a bottle boom.

JLem said:

Yes, that's for carbonation. And yes, you can expect the cider to finish around 1.000. Make sure that it is sufficiently low and stable over a number of days before bottling.

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I would add the proper amount of sugar to your entire batch just before bottling and give it a good stir rather than adding to each individual bottle.
:rockin:

roadymi said:

I would add the proper amount of sugar to your entire batch just before bottling and give it a good stir rather than adding to each individual bottle.
:rockin:

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What would you suggest? Ive read 1/4 tsp per bottle???

1/2 - 3/4 cup per 5 gallons. If you want lots of carb go with 3/4 down to 1/2 if you prefer less.

3/4 c per 5 gallon = .15 c or just over 1/8 c per 1 gallon

I have made quite a few batches of the Sam's Choice Sparkling Cider recipe. It does not have any sugar added to the recipe for fermentation and ends at 1.008. Just make sure that your final gravity matches what is expected for your recipe. The Sam's recipe actually uses apple juice for the priming for carbonation, theoretically adding some apple flavor back in. I haven't had any bottle bombs yet but I did intentionally bottle my last batch a bit early and had some impressive carbonation!

Sound good i will have to try it out thanks. I have a Wyeast direct pitch activator for cider mead wine distillinf and sake for 5 gal. Do you think it will do ok.

helix6789 said:

Sound good i will have to try it out thanks. I have a Wyeast direct pitch activator for cider mead wine distillinf and sake for 5 gal. Do you think it will do ok.

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Is white sugar good to use?

I have use plane jane white suger and it did ok

My experience, white sugar gives a slight nail polish finish to the product. Though if you're not looking directly for that taste, its tough to pick out of the palate