Too much something?

[somocider]

New guy here... Bottled cider in fall of 2010 after fermenting with lalvin champagne yeast. Sg seemed to be bottomed out so added teaspoon or so of sugar to each bottle. Ok so far .now i cant open it without blasting it all over me and the kitchen.what did i do wrong. This is my favorite and i cant get to it!

 

[lumpher]

cider takes a long time to ferment, usually several months. if you bottled it before it was completely done, they'll foam

 

[somocider]

Is the lalvin yeast more touchy about that. I bottled others the same way and they are just pleasantly sparkling but not explosive

 

[lumpher]

depends on the temps they're fermented at. hotter = more active fermentation. it's also possible the sugar distribution wasn't even, so some bottles got more sugar than others. "a teaspoon or so", besides the original distribution

 

[dinnerstick]

you can do the following ludicrous thing that saved a few of my sacred but overcarbed bottles once, get a nice sturdy church key opener and, chill a few bottles completely, very very gently put pressure on the cap like you are going to open it until you just start to hear gas escape, the caps won't permanently bend if you use a light touch. let as much out as you can, at some point the cider will foam to the top, then do the next bottle, repeat with each bottle until you are fed up and the foam no longer reaches the top, put back in the fridge to settle and they should be ok. this takes a long time, is really dull, and is best done while watching sports and drinking cider

 

[jd3]

cider takes a long time to ferment, usually several months. if you bottled it before it was completely done, they'll foam

Depending on cider type and recipe, it often ferments in as little as a week.

The likely culprit here is the "teaspoon or so" of sugar in each bottle. Seems like a lot. You should really mix the sugar in some boiling water to get it in solution and mix it in just before bottling to the whole batch.

 

[bigbeergeek]

you can do the following ludicrous thing that saved a few of my sacred but overcarbed bottles once, get a nice sturdy church key opener and, chill a few bottles completely, very very gently put pressure on the cap like you are going to open it until you just start to hear gas escape, the caps won't permanently bend if you use a light touch. let as much out as you can, at some point the cider will foam to the top, then do the next bottle, repeat with each bottle until you are fed up and the foam no longer reaches the top, put back in the fridge to settle and they should be ok. this takes a long time, is really dull, and is best done while watching sports and drinking cider

This technique works great. It saved my butt on an overcarbed batch of Russian imperial stout 2 yrs ago. I think it works better with room temperature bottles, however, since you want the gas to come out of solution and exit the bottle, not stay tied up in the liquid.

 

[Pappers_]

. . . added teaspoon or so of sugar to each bottle. Ok so far .now i cant open it without blasting it all over me and the kitchen.what did i do wrong.

As suggested earlier, you added too much sugar.

 

[oldmate]

You added too much sugar, lucky there were no bottle bombs. Try getting them pretty cold before you open them and then if you can only slightly pry them open and let some of the built up CO2 out slowly. Also avoid heating them in anyway..

 

[somocider]

Thanx gents ill give it a try so these bottle bombs are real huh?

 

[wildman]

Try throwing them in the fridge for a couple of days then the freezer before you open them. Its worked for me a few times.