Over-carbonated cider... exploded home brew gallon jug

[ThatS197Guy]

Any suggestions on getting the carbonation lower on a 5 gallon batch I made? I am down 2 gallons thus far. Woke up to an exploding jug this morning... lol

 

[CKuhns]

Put them in the fridge. Crack the cap to relieve the pressure 2xs or more daily. Drink them as soon as practical.

In the future be sure they are done fermenting before putting them in the gallon jugs.

 

[ThatS197Guy]

Put them in the fridge. Crack the cap to relieve the pressure 2xs or more daily. Drink them as soon as practical.

In the future be sure they are done fermenting before putting them in the gallon jugs.

I ended up putting them back into a fermenting bottle to continue fermentation but I plan to cold crash it soon since the ABV has reached what I like

 

[Bobby_M]

You can't stop fermentation by cold crashing. Even in the cold it will continue slowly. Even if you can stave off the explosions in the fridge, once you take that jug out and it warms, bets are off. Let it ferment fully dry.

 

[ThatS197Guy]

You can't stop fermentation by cold crashing. Even in the cold it will continue slowly. Even if you can stave off the explosions in the fridge, once you take that jug out and it warms, bets are off. Let it ferment fully dry.

Good to know previously I read it would be done in 7-10 days but now I’m seeing it goes for about 2-4 weeks which I assume is depending on conditions i.e temperature

 

[RPh_Guy]

Sounds like you need a hydrometer.

 

[ncbrewer]

I did a quick search. The gallon jugs I found aren't rated for pressure and not recommended for carbonated beverages.

 

[Redeemer]

I did a quick search. The gallon jugs I found aren't rated for pressure and not recommended for carbonated beverages.

I like the 750 ml swing top or used Grolsch bottles. They are made to handle carbonation levels of beer at the least. I had some cider that hit champagne levels but wouldn't advise going that high. I had one bottle bomb from a batch of raspberry cyser that was no fun, and I had to make room in the fridge for (20) 750 ml bottles of the stuff which I still didn't trust so I had a lot of friends over the next few days come help me drink it. It was pretty delicious but I digress......

If you ferment it dry, and use a priming calculator, you should be in no danger of bombs with this type of bottles.

Unless there is something I am overlooking, then the wiser veterans of this board can set me straight.

 

[MarkKF]

I’m confused. Are you fermenting in a closed jug or trying prime & carb.? Jugs are not for carbonated beverages. If you can’t buy soda in don’t try to carb in it.

 

[sreichenberger]

I’m confused. Are you fermenting in a closed jug or trying prime & carb.? Jugs are not for carbonated beverages. If you can’t buy soda in don’t try to carb in it.

I have a follow-up question concerning that, Mark. I am hoping to prime & carb my bottles once my cider is ready. What is the best way to keep the bottles from exploding? Is cold crashing sufficient? Do I prime & bottle then cold crash or the other way around?

 

[Knightshade]

Old thread dude. But..

As mentioned, you need to kill off any potential for the yeast to keep working.

I think..(and this is my disclaimer because I'm no expert) your best bet is to pasteurize your cider once they've reached a level of carbonation that you're happy with.

Assuming you're going to back sweeten? Bottle your stuff, put one extra bottle into a soda bottle of a similar size. Leave all these out at whatever temp you're carbonating at, and check your plastic bottle every once in awhile. When it gets closer to a new unopened bottle of soda in firmness, you're carb'd and ready to pasteurize your batch.

This guy explains it pretty well.

Or just put it in a keg and let the PRV do its job. Easier.

 

[sreichenberger]

Old thread dude. But..

As mentioned, you need to kill off any potential for the yeast to keep working.

I think..(and this is my disclaimer because I'm no expert) your best bet is to pasteurize your cider once they've reached a level of carbonation that you're happy with.

Assuming you're going to back sweeten? Bottle your stuff, put one extra bottle into a soda bottle of a similar size. Leave all these out at whatever temp you're carbonating at, and check your plastic bottle every once in awhile. When it gets closer to a new unopened bottle of soda in firmness, you're carb'd and ready to pasteurize your batch.

This guy explains it pretty well.

Or just put it in a keg and let the PRV do its job. Easier.

Thanks so much, really clarified the whole pasteurization part. And yes, the video is excellent. Will follow these instructions.

So we never use the campden tablets if we are going to bottle the cider?

 

[Knightshade]

You're going to use campden tablets to kill off any wild yeast very early in your process. Necessary if you're using hand picked apples and/or purchasing juice/cider that isn't pasteurized wherever you're sourcing it from.

So..during apple season you may visit someplace that has "freshly pressed cider" or something of that nature. If you decided to use that to make your hard cider, use of campden tablets would be advised. Unless you want to go the wild yeast route, but then you're rolling the dice. Guess it depends on what you're going for. The above is just based off of info that I've read in various places. My cider making is pretty...lazy.

I take a gallon bottle of pasteurized apple juice, dump out pint and a half into 2 separate glasses. I drink the half ping, then heat up the pint just short of 160'ish degrees, dump 2 cups of brown sugar into that. Dump some yeast nutrient in that, then pour it back into the jug. Mix, attempt to aerate, pitch, airlock and throw into fermentation chamber for about a month. Rack, back sweeten w/16 oz of AJ concentrate and throw into a keg.

 

[RPh_Guy]

You're going to use campden tablets to kill off any wild yeast very early in your process. Necessary if you're using hand picked apples and/or purchasing juice/cider that isn't pasteurized wherever you're sourcing it from.

It hurts me a little whenever I see someone say this.

 

[Knightshade]

It hurts me a little whenever I see someone say this.

I led off fairly early w/this.

I think..(and this is my disclaimer because I'm no expert) your best bet is to pasteurize your cider once they've reached a level of carbonation that you're happy with.

So..if you have knowledge that you're willing to share. Please do.

 

[jseyfert3]

I am hoping to prime & carb my bottles once my cider is ready. What is the best way to keep the bottles from exploding? Is cold crashing sufficient? Do I prime & bottle then cold crash or the other way around?

If you're not after a sweet cider, then it's easy. Ferment fully, using a hydrometer to verify fermentation has ended. Prime using a calculator and bottle.

It gets a little more complicated if you want a sweet carbonated cider.

 

[RPh_Guy]

So..if you have knowledge that you're willing to share. Please do.

Sure....

1. Most people that do 100% wild fermentations have overwhelmingly positive experience with it, myself included.
2. Pitching a healthy commercial yeast will easily overwhelm the wild microbes, especially if you take appropriate measures to limit wild microbe activity after fermentation. I have limited experience with this, and notable cider author Jolicoeur uses this method also. Therefore, sulfite isn't needed even if you want a commercial yeast cider.
3. Sulfite can be unreliable or cause problems, especially if the cider maker doesn't measure pH and adjust the level appropriately, or aerate properly when pitching.
4. Lastly, sulfite doesn't kill all the wild microbes and therefore it doesn't guarantee they won't make a contribution later.

Cheers

 

[sreichenberger]

If you're not after a sweet cider, then it's easy. Ferment fully, using a hydrometer to verify fermentation has ended. Prime using a calculator and bottle.

It gets a little more complicated if you want a sweet carbonated cider.

Not looking for a sweet cider. More after a Strongbowish type of Hard Cider. Apologies in advance for the two newbie questions that will follow:

1. Is there a rule about how much sugar to add to each bottle?

2. How do you use the hydrometer during fermentation? If I were to open my primary to use the hydrometer, wouldn't all the oxygen from opening the fermentation bucket interrupt the process if fermentation is still on-going?

 

[z-bob]

Putting the jug in the fridge will not stop fermentation, but it will slow it down considerably. More importantly, it drastically reduces the pressure from the dissolved CO2. Put the jug in the fridge, open it at least once a day (to drink some.) Use high-pressure bottles next time -- like 2L pop bottles.

 

[Knightshade]

Sure....

1. Most people that do 100% wild fermentations have overwhelmingly positive experience with it, myself included.
2. Pitching a healthy commercial yeast will easily overwhelm the wild microbes, especially if you take appropriate measures to limit wild microbe activity after fermentation. I have limited experience with this, and notable cider author Jolicoeur uses this method also. Therefore, sulfite isn't needed even if you want a commercial yeast cider.
3. Sulfite can be unreliable or cause problems, especially if the cider maker doesn't measure pH and adjust the level appropriately, or aerate properly when pitching.
4. Lastly, sulfite doesn't kill all the wild microbes and therefore it doesn't guarantee they won't make a contribution later.

Cheers

Awesome, good insight and thanks for sharing. Probably should have classified my method as safe, not lazy. Don't feel like I have enough experience to experiment just yet.

 

[sreichenberger]

Awesome, good insight and thanks for sharing. Probably should have classified my method as safe, not lazy. Don't feel like I have enough experience to experiment just yet.

Quick question to you based on the video you posted on this thread. If I were to heat up a boiler and add the bottles in once the plastic bottle is firm, wouldn't the heat cause the bottles to explode?

 

[z-bob]

Quick question to you based on the video you posted on this thread. If I were to heat up a boiler and add the bottles in once the plastic bottle is firm, wouldn't the heat cause the bottles to explode?

Some might. I haven't seen the video, but the water should contain the flying glass. Don't pack them in too tight, so if one breaks it doesn't break its neighbors. I would not try to pasteurize plastic bottles.

 

[sreichenberger]

Some might. I haven't seen the video, but the water should contain the flying glass. Don't pack them in too tight, so if one breaks it doesn't break its neighbors. I would not try to pasteurize plastic bottles.

Any particular PSI limit I should look for prior to adding the bottles to hot water?

 

[z-bob]

The easiest thing is to make dry sparkling cider and sweeten it at serving time with a little thin syrup. It only takes a tiny bit of sweetness to bring the flavor around, and you can even experiment with using apple syrup (thawed apple juice concentrate from the freezer), honey, black current or lignonberry syrup, liqueurs, etc. Each drinker can sweeten to his/her own taste. If syrup is too much trouble, pour just a little cider in your glass, muddle in a sugar cube or packet of Splenda, then pour the rest.

Champagne and Belgian beer bottles are probably the strongest. Next would be old-fashioned returnable beer bottles from 20 years ago. Or just use plastic bottles and don't try to pasteurize them.

I like to put cider in Stella bottles because they are green and I think it looks purdy.

 

[Knightshade]

holy smokes..just noticed a sticky w/35 pages of info on pasteurizing cider in bottles. Suggest you review that, and see if it answers your questions.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-with-pics.193295/page-35