Learn from my mistake

[CadillacAndy]

So I have a batch of cider that I add 32oz of cherry juice for priming sugar. It was a 2.5 gallon split batch. I let it sit to carb up for a week (with a plastic soda bottle as my gauge). I cracked one open and it was good, so I stovetop pasteurized my case of 16oz bottles. I kept them in the 170F water for 10 mins and thought that would be good enough. Apparently that wasn't enough for the volume I had to kill off the yeast.

Just tried to crack open a bottle of my aged, cherry-apple cider and the bottle literally exploded while I was was trying to open it. Shrapnel in my hands so bad I had to wake up my wife to pull out the glass. I'm lucky it didn't hit me in the eyes. I probably could use some stitches, but she packed the gauze up nicely, so I'm not bleeding on my keyboard.

So the lesson to be learned is make sure you don't add too many fermentable sugars if you're planning on bottle carbonating. If you're adding other fermentables, make sure you know what you're doing before you add the carb sugar.

My wife thought I got shot after the bottle pop and all the blood.

After I got patched up, I went down and opened another bottle. It gushed and foamed everywhere, but I got at least 10 oz of sweet, sweet, cherry-apple hard cider.

 

[johnsnownw]

Glad you made it out with only your current disfigurement, but what made you think that that method of pasteurization would work?

 

[CadillacAndy]

I did several tests using a 16oz bottle of water, and 10 mins was enough to get it up to 150F for at least 2 mins.

How do you pasteurize?

I'm not a fan of using unfermentable sugars.

 

[johnsnownw]

I don't pasteurize, as I feel it's too dangerous. I just cold crash, and leave everything in the fridge until I drink them.

Yeah, using plastic for the test, and glass for the actual deed was the mistake & water and cider will heat differently, but I'm sure you know that.

 

[Dicky]

Yah, i've had bad results with stove top pasteurising. I just put it down to me being a bit rubbish.

I like the guts you have. One bottle explodes in your hand leaving you with shards lodged deep enough to have to get someone else to take them out, and your first thought is 'maybe i'll open another'. Haha.

Dicky

 

[divi2323]

Yah, i've had bad results with stove top pasteurising. I just put it down to me being a bit rubbish.

I like the guts you have. One bottle explodes in your hand leaving you with shards lodged deep enough to have to get someone else to take them out, and your first thought is 'maybe i'll open another'. Haha.

Dicky

Have to dull the pain somehow.

 

[Dicky]

Have to dull the pain somehow.

Fair comment

Dicky

 

[CadillacAndy]

I found the top of the bottle that broke off. It was right below the cap and the glass broke instead of the cap coming off!

I had the case of cider sitting outside in case I had bottle bombs and it warmed up yesterday, so they were extra carbonated. I think this problem was caused by two things - over carbed cider caused by the cherry juice and a flaw in the bottle. I'll be wearing goggles the next time I open one.

I think being half lit made me bleed even more. It looked a lot worse than it was.

I guess I learned my lesson! Cheers!

 

[oldmate]

How long between pasteurising and opening did you wait? I find that for at least a few days a lot of CO2 is still pushing out of solution.

 

[CadillacAndy]

They were sitting after I pasteurized for about a month.