fayderek14
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What is the proper carbonation level for a sparkling cider. I plan on bottling tomorrow and was thinking 3.0.
Carbonation level for sparkling cider
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ICWiener
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I usually go for 2.2-2.4
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fayderek14
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Do you think 3 is too high? I want it to be extremely carbonated but I dont want the bottles to explode.
3.0 does seem kinda high. why not try 2.5-2.6 and then adjust upward next time if that's not enough. better than risking bombs.
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fayderek14
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Ya ill probably go around 2.6 to be safe. Ive put alot of work into the cider so I dont want lose any to bottles breaking.
JR_Brewer
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Sounds like a good idea. The only time I've ever had a bottle bomb was with a Wheat beer I carbed up to 3.0 volumes.
In the future, if you want to carb something 3+, you could look into getting some belgian style bottles.
MindenMan
Well-Known Member
I highly recommend using a priming calculator, just like you would for beer. I didn't use to believe a little priming sugar one way or the other would make a difference. 5 gallons, 4 ounces of primer, that's what "everybody" said. My ales were not gushers at all, they were way more carbonated than the craft beers I was buying at the time. I then decided to use a priming calculator, and followed the numbers it said, and my beers were plenty carbonated. I appreciate the lower carbonation some home brews have. I guess my real point is, something as light as a cider, for me of course, should be just barely fizzy.
Of late, I have been bottling by beer right out of the cold crash fermenter, and at that temperature, priming was calculated as one ounce or so. I trusted the calculator, and the BIPA I made was carbed right where I wanted it. YMMV
Of late, I have been bottling by beer right out of the cold crash fermenter, and at that temperature, priming was calculated as one ounce or so. I trusted the calculator, and the BIPA I made was carbed right where I wanted it. YMMV
for priming calculators, you should use the max temp of fermentation - not the current temp of the beer (despite what the calculators say).
a thought experiment: your beer has finished fermenting. the priming calculator says that you need, say, 3 oz of sugar to prime. you cold crash that beer down to 32*C and the calculator says that you now need 1 oz of priming sugar... does that make any sense? no. it's the same beer and by cooling it you have increased its capacity to hold CO2 at that cooler temp - but you haven't done anything to actually add that CO2. the amount of sugar needed to get you to your desired level of carbonation hasn't changed.
i wrote in another thread:
the reason the calculators ask you for the temp is to figure out how much residual CO2 is in the beer. the warmer the beer, the less CO2 is still in there. a beer at 75*F will have less CO2 in it than a beer at 65*F. it doesn't matter that both beer have been chilled down to 40*F, the 75* beer will still have less CO2 in suspension.
if you lowered the fermentation temp of a beer and it continued to ferment actively (not a recommended strategy), you should use the second, lower fermentation temp since CO2 would have had time to reestablish equilibrium at that lower temp (because of the active fermentation, new CO2 is being produced and "replaces" the CO2 lost at the higher temps). but most folks increase temps as fermentation moves along, and as temps increase the ability to hold on to CO2 decreases - so your highest temp determines how much residual CO2 you have in your beer.
as long as fermentation is over and no new CO2 is being produced, lower the temps - such as cold-crashing - it's going to change how much residual CO2 is in there. the crashed beer has the ability to hold more CO2, but no new CO2 is being produced.
a thought experiment: your beer has finished fermenting. the priming calculator says that you need, say, 3 oz of sugar to prime. you cold crash that beer down to 32*C and the calculator says that you now need 1 oz of priming sugar... does that make any sense? no. it's the same beer and by cooling it you have increased its capacity to hold CO2 at that cooler temp - but you haven't done anything to actually add that CO2. the amount of sugar needed to get you to your desired level of carbonation hasn't changed.
i wrote in another thread:
the reason the calculators ask you for the temp is to figure out how much residual CO2 is in the beer. the warmer the beer, the less CO2 is still in there. a beer at 75*F will have less CO2 in it than a beer at 65*F. it doesn't matter that both beer have been chilled down to 40*F, the 75* beer will still have less CO2 in suspension.
if you lowered the fermentation temp of a beer and it continued to ferment actively (not a recommended strategy), you should use the second, lower fermentation temp since CO2 would have had time to reestablish equilibrium at that lower temp (because of the active fermentation, new CO2 is being produced and "replaces" the CO2 lost at the higher temps). but most folks increase temps as fermentation moves along, and as temps increase the ability to hold on to CO2 decreases - so your highest temp determines how much residual CO2 you have in your beer.
as long as fermentation is over and no new CO2 is being produced, lower the temps - such as cold-crashing - it's going to change how much residual CO2 is in there. the crashed beer has the ability to hold more CO2, but no new CO2 is being produced.
ICWiener
Well-Known Member
It's not that it's too high. I just like a mellow carb level for my ciders. Personal preference is all.
If you want to go 3.0 vols. you should be okay. I do my saisons and tripels at 3.0-3.2 and have never had a bottle bomb. Anything above that is risky.
