Carbonator

[LLBrewer]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OKADS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Anyone used this for carbing cider? I have 5 gallons of cider fermenting now and I'm thinking of racking off (almost) 2 liters at a time, back sweetening in the soda bottle and then carbing with the carbonator. Should allow me to try different flavors/back sweetening ingredients on the same batch.

 

[cthomas]

Yup. It works OK. be careful on the pressure not to burst your soda bottles.

 

[DrWill]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OKADS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Anyone used this for carbing cider? I have 5 gallons of cider fermenting now and I'm thinking of racking off (almost) 2 liters at a time, back sweetening in the soda bottle and then carbing with the carbonator. Should allow me to try different flavors/back sweetening ingredients on the same batch.

I use this for similar things, though not specifically cider, but I think that your cider plan should work just great. I have had one for about 7 years now and it has held up exceptionally well. I use it all the time to carbonate water, and also to quick carbonate beer at the end of fermentation.

 

[Yooper]

They work fine. The only thing is that they are plastic, and I've had a couple of them stop sealing within a year, so now I have a stainless one that is heavy duty and great to use (although more expensive).

I carb beer, cider, wine, and even water (for club soda) with mine.

 

[Maylar]

Could cider be carbonated with this and then bottled and capped in beer bottles? It'd sure take the variability out of back carbonating.

 

[LLBrewer]

Could cider be carbonated with this and then bottled and capped in beer bottles? It'd sure take the variability out of back carbonating.

I don't see why not but I would think you'd want a way to purge the beer bottles with CO2 before filling.

 

[Descender]

Wow. Look at the date of the first post! Is that you Al Gore?

 

[DrWill]

Wow. Look at the date of the first post! Is that you Al Gore?

Um...two days ago?

 

[DrWill]

Yup. It works OK. be careful on the pressure not to burst your soda bottles.

It would take a lot of pressure to burst a soda bottle. They're generally safe (unless they've been damaged) up to about 80-100psi. I regularly put 40psi in a soda bottle to carbonate water. All that said, a hairline crack or a weakness in the plastic could be disastrous.

 

[Hello]

Wow. Look at the date of the first post! Is that you Al Gore?

Ummm it's been like 4 days. It's barely a narco thread.


I have one of the caps, I like it a lot. I used it on beer and hard root beer.

 

[Stormbringer]

I have them and use them all the time on cider, beer and water.
They work great and I have never had a problem with them.
It also makes it easy to transport your beer ect. You can also bottle the carbonated beer, cider, or whatever you make.
I love mine. I initially used it because i did not have a way to force carb from my kegs since my beer fridge conked out.

The company Liquid bread is great and if you have to contact them they are great and will help you.
I had an original one and it broke, they replaced it with 2.

 

[Descender]

Ummm it's been like 4 days. It's barely a narco thread.


I have one of the caps, I like it a lot. I used it on beer and hard root beer.

Must have been something wrong with my phone. Earlier it put the date at 1970 lol. My bad

 

[Hello]

Hahah 1970? Oldest forum ever I bet!

 

[Descender]

Hahah 1970? Oldest forum ever I bet!

Yeah I thought he invented the internet

 

[ong]

Anyone seen a pin lock version of these? Keep searching around but have never found one.

 

[javalin]

Could cider be carbonated with this and then bottled and capped in beer bottles? It'd sure take the variability out of back carbonating.

That's my standard method of carbing and bottling. I set the pressure higher during the carb since you lose some while pouring into bottles. I'm not sure why you would want to purge the bottles with CO2 like another member posted.

 

[Maylar]

That's my standard method of carbing and bottling. I set the pressure higher during the carb since you lose some while pouring into bottles. I'm not sure why you would want to purge the bottles with CO2 like another member posted.

Thanks for that. Could you briefly describe the process please?

 

[BBBF]

1. There's a stainless steel version of this that I'd recomend over the plastic.

2. If you get another gas disconnect and hose, you can turn the 2L bottle upside down to fill the beer bottles.

 

[Dudest]

The process is, put the cider in the sterile soda bottle with the little plastic ring cut off , the one that was part of the original cap. Fill bottle with cider or anything else you want carbonated. Install carb cap loose. Squeeze oxygen out of bottle and tighten during the overflow. Blow bottle up with 35lbs co2. U can wait 48 hours and then reduce press to 10 psi after that. If you want to drink some right away carb to 35 and shake like crazy. Carbed in 5 min. I have noticed the caps don't like much more than 35 psi .

 

[javalin]

Thanks for that. Could you briefly describe the process please?

The process is, put the cider in the sterile soda bottle with the little plastic ring cut off , the one that was part of the original cap. Fill bottle with cider or anything else you want carbonated. Install carb cap loose. Squeeze oxygen out of bottle and tighten during the overflow. Blow bottle up with 35lbs co2. U can wait 48 hours and then reduce press to 10 psi after that. If you want to drink some right away carb to 35 and shake like crazy. Carbed in 5 min. I have noticed the caps don't like much more than 35 psi .

My method is similar to the one Dudest described, with a few small adjustments. Generally I do small batches, so I chill the cider in the fridge before carbing, since the CO2 is better absorbed at cooler temperatures. I carb at 40 PSI and shake until the regulator stays constant at 37-40PSI, and let the bottle sit under pressure until the foam subsides. The higher pressure is to compensate for what is lost in pouring the cider into bottles, and I haven't had a problem with them at those pressures myself.

After the foam in the bottle subsides, I remove the cap from the gas line and remove the cap from the bottle. I would then slowly pour the cider into bottles and cap. Siphoning doesn't work for bottling in this case, though i wish it did. The CO2 comes out of solution and causes suction to be lost.

 

[VasDeferensly]

This thread is perfectly timed, I recently dealt with bottle bombs galore due to friends wanting sweet cider. I lost half the batch and ended up with bottling PTSD, as a result I've been looking into force carbing, and this seemed like a good way to get into it.

 

[javalin]

This thread is perfectly timed, I recently dealt with bottle bombs galore due to friends wanting sweet cider. I lost half the batch and ended up with bottling PTSD, as a result I've been looking into force carbing, and this seemed like a good way to get into it.

If you're looking for a sweet cider you need to kill the yeast before carbing and bottling, otherwise you'll still get bottle bombs unless you're sweetening with an artificial sweetener. Alternatively you could use the stove top pasteurizing method which is a sticky on the cider forum.

 

[Maylar]

They work fine. The only thing is that they are plastic, and I've had a couple of them stop sealing within a year, so now I have a stainless one that is heavy duty and great to use (although more expensive).

I carb beer, cider, wine, and even water (for club soda) with mine.

Where'd you find the stainless one?

 

[AbstractBrewer]

If you're looking for a sweet cider you need to kill the yeast before carbing and bottling, otherwise you'll still get bottle bombs unless you're sweetening with an artificial sweetener. Alternatively you could use the stove top pasteurizing method which is a sticky on the cider forum.

Even better, just keep it cold to hold the yeast dormant. I store mine at 38f when sweetened. I dislike the use of artificial sweeteners, so I avoid them like the plague.