Recent content by pdwhit

I have been making hard cider for years, and I always have a problem with when to bottle. If I bottle too soon, I will end up with exploding bottles. If I bottle too late, I don't get the carbonation I want. To avoid the exploding bottles I tried pasteurizing. It works ok, but you can't...

My last batch of hard cider was a disaster. I bottled too soon and when I went to test carbonation to see if it was ready to pasteurize, it was too far gone. I didn't have any bottles explode, but I have to deal with gushers each time I open a bottle. But I did discover something very...

Here is a pic of my prize winning mead. Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to make it stand upright. :(

Photo of my mead

Award Winning Mead

Thanks for the info. Does the fridge keep the bottles from gushing when you open them? Right now I have them in the sub basement where it is cool, and I haven't had any bottles explode, but I have to open them really slow. If I pop the cap, the cider will gush almost to the ceiling. Thanks...

I just finished a batch of cider and after about a week I opened my first bottle to see if carbonation was right for pasteurization. Well, the bottle gushed. What can I do. Your instructions say not to pasteurize when the bottle gushes because the pressure will be too much. Is there anything...

Hi, I recently read a great article from Pappers's Gallery about pasteurizing my cider after bottling to keep bottles from exploding from continued carbonation. I did this and it worked well, but now when I open a bottle there is some crusty stuff at the top of the bottle which used to be at...