What the hell!!!!!!!!!!!

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AngryAndy

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Location
Niagara Falls, Ontario, CAN
So, I'm pretty pissed off. I followed the sticky for Pasteurizing cider. I followed it and I had six bottles explode in the kitchen. Needless to say my house has glass all over it and my wife is super pissed. I followed the sticky 10 minutes at 190F. What a joke.

So what is the correct way to pasteurize?
 
Were your bottles cold? If so, that was the issue. I used the sticky to pasteurize a case of bottles without any issues. My bottles were all at 80*F when I started, water brought up to 185*F and flame turned off, added 6 bottles put the lid on the kettle and waited 10 minutes. I didn't have a single bottle explode and what is left has been sitting for nearly 2 months without issue.
 
Could be six bottle that were stressed by temp going up to fast. I've seen it before. Just bad glass.
 
Must be nice...

I did the same thing. And my bottles had been in the garage for a week. It's 80f out there.

If they sat at 80 for a week, they might have been overcarbed and nearly explosively so. Heating an overcarbed cider= bottle bombs. Did you check them to make sure they were carbed, but not excessively, before heating them?
 
So, I'm pretty pissed off. I followed the sticky for Pasteurizing cider. I followed it and I had six bottles explode in the kitchen. Needless to say my house has glass all over it and my wife is super pissed. I followed the sticky 10 minutes at 190F. What a joke.

So what is the correct way to pasteurize?

You sound pretty angry. This might not be the sport for you.

Here's a pasteurization chart. Maybe you can take a look at this and come up with a better plan.

beer_pasteurization_curve-33599.jpg
 
You very clearly did NOT read the part where pappers changed to use 180 degree water or my post in that thread, on the last page, where I summarized the process which included many tips from all 111 pages of the thread.

sorry you had bombs (seriously, I feel for you), but the directions are easy to follow. Don't let it get you down too much, though. Sometimes you get bombs for reasons beyond you control.
 
Hopefully no one was injured...

But you come on here like it's someone else's fault. With the success rate of those who used the method, I'd suspect error on your part. But we won't tell the wife since it's easier to blame someone else for the huge mess...

I see a keg set-up in your future.

You sound pretty angry.

Well he is AngryAndy
 
Must be nice...

I did the same thing. And my bottles had been in the garage for a week. It's 80f out there.

I think this is the cause of the bottle bombs. Most likely your bottles were already over carbonated, as Yooper suggested.

I bottled mine off of my keg after cold crashing and using Campden tablets. I had no active yeast and carbonated in my keg and bottled off from there. I only pasteurized to ensure that any yeast that may have still been in suspension and active was dead. I do the same thing to my bottled beers to allow them to be transported to friends and competitions where they won't be under constant refrigeration.
 
I have pasteurized twice, each time one cap blew. The first time I heated the water and put in bottles. But the second time I put the bottles in cold water and very slowly heated, over an hour, it to 160 and turned off the heat and just left it, so I know the cider hit 160.
 
I am getting ready to pasteurize in about a week or so. I haven't made it though the 111 pages of Pappers sticky myself but was planning on using this method with the 190 degrees as well.

Andy: I hope that you are alright and that your not giving up on this hobby.

Forum Mods: Is there a way to amend the sticky/post, perhaps in another color or italicized, to change the recipe temp on the first page? It is a wonderful guide and after skipping to the last page of the post (after hearing there has been added info) I am seeing more recent advice for a lower temp, slow warm up of bottles, and other goodies. Perhaps even a link to some of these posts off of the original recipe. This may make the information more readily available for those who haven't had the time to read through all the reply pages. I know this topic has just changed the way I'm about to approach pasteurizing. Adding updated information may make this process safer for newer brewers, like me. With all of the wonderful content in the forum, I'm reading as much as possible while getting started. To that end, I'm limiting my reading to reading only three or four pages into most threads so that I'm not in front of a computer screen for most of the day. I hope to go back through and read all of each post soon.

Thank you all again for the good info you provide here. Your the reason I'm brewing vs. buying.
 
So, I'm pretty pissed off. I followed the sticky for Pasteurizing cider. I followed it and I had six bottles explode in the kitchen. Needless to say my house has glass all over it and my wife is super pissed. I followed the sticky 10 minutes at 190F. What a joke.

So what is the correct way to pasteurize?

Sorry the method didn't work for you and am glad no one was injured.

I've used the method as described in the opening post of that thread for many batches without a single bursting bottle. And there are many highlighted warnings that have been added to those first two posts warning people about the dangers of overcarbonation, heat and bursting bottles.

I've found that using a lower temp than 190 works, but I used 190 for a couple of years without a bursting bottle.

Carbonated bottles combined with heat is dangerous. Use caution, use common sense, err on the side of safety.
 
I am getting ready to pasteurize in about a week or so. I haven't made it though the 111 pages of Pappers sticky myself but was planning on using this method with the 190 degrees as well.

Andy: I hope that you are alright and that your not giving up on this hobby.

Forum Mods: Is there a way to amend the sticky/post, perhaps in another color or italicized, to change the recipe temp on the first page? It is a wonderful guide and after skipping to the last page of the post (after hearing there has been added info) I am seeing more recent advice for a lower temp, slow warm up of bottles, and other goodies. Perhaps even a link to some of these posts off of the original recipe. This may make the information more readily available for those who haven't had the time to read through all the reply pages. I know this topic has just changed the way I'm about to approach pasteurizing. Adding updated information may make this process safer for newer brewers, like me. With all of the wonderful content in the forum, I'm reading as much as possible while getting started. To that end, I'm limiting my reading to reading only three or four pages into most threads so that I'm not in front of a computer screen for most of the day. I hope to go back through and read all of each post soon.

Thank you all again for the good info you provide here. Your the reason I'm brewing vs. buying.

Since adding the warnings a few years ago when people were trying to pasteurize highly carbonated bottles, I haven't gone back to those posts to edit them. I will do so in the next few days.
 
Since adding the warnings a few years ago when people were trying to pasteurize highly carbonated bottles, I haven't gone back to those posts to edit them. I will do so in the next few days.

That is wonderful! Thanks for your reply on this and thank you even more for all the work you have posted. I know that I speak for more than just myself when I say that your sticky on pasteurization alone has changed our perception on how we can store cider. Having another proven option to work with instead of just refrigerating or kegging is invaluable.
 
Adding your cider bottles to hot water is too unpredictable. Heat with the bottles in the water and you know what temp they hit. Also you don't have to get so hot, since it is longer duration.
 
Adding your cider bottles to hot water is too unpredictable. Heat with the bottles in the water and you know what temp they hit. Also you don't have to get so hot, since it is longer duration.

there were reports of bombs when bottles were allowed to sit on the bottom of a metal pan, the theory being that the bottom of the pan was MUCH hotter than the water around it...
 
I've pasteurized a few batches of cider over the last year, as well as some sodas and tepache. I have had 2, maybe 3 bottles explode. One was when I heated the bottles up to temp in the water...I do NOT think that's a good idea. Another, I know was overcarbed. I have been starting at room temperature and using a pressure canner body for the water heating with a false bottom that came with it, so the bottles don't directly touch the bottom. I heat the water to temperature, remove from the heat, place the bottles in and use the cover, not pressure locked, but just to cover loosely in case a bottle blows.

I'm betting yours was overcarbed. A week, depending on your yeast and amount of fermentable sugar, could be way too long. My soda and tepache carb in less than two days. I don't always pasteurize my ciders if my SG goes from around 1.05 down to 1.005. If my FG is more than 1.010, I'm going to pasteurize.

So, here's my question for you: did you have a tester bottle of any kind? You need to monitor the progress of the carbonation and err on the side of safety. Some use a plastic soda bottle. I just use one or two of my batch bottles. I'm thinking that you probably should have pastuerized your batch after 3 or 4 days.

Anyway, it's ALWAYS a good idea to have a lid partially covering the pot...it will at least partially contain glass and mess. It does happen, though. Here's my journal entry from my most recent bomb on July 11th: http://mmmbrews.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/day-128-gushers-and-bottle-bomb/
 
I've pasteurized a few batches of cider over the last year, as well as some sodas and tepache. I have had 2, maybe 3 bottles explode. One was when I heated the bottles up to temp in the water...I do NOT think that's a good idea. Another, I know was overcarbed. I have been starting at room temperature and using a pressure canner body for the water heating with a false bottom that came with it, so the bottles don't directly touch the bottom. I heat the water to temperature, remove from the heat, place the bottles in and use the cover, not pressure locked, but just to cover loosely in case a bottle blows.

I'm betting yours was overcarbed. A week, depending on your yeast and amount of fermentable sugar, could be way too long. My soda and tepache carb in less than two days. I don't always pasteurize my ciders if my SG goes from around 1.05 down to 1.005. If my FG is more than 1.010, I'm going to pasteurize.

So, here's my question for you: did you have a tester bottle of any kind? You need to monitor the progress of the carbonation and err on the side of safety. Some use a plastic soda bottle. I just use one or two of my batch bottles. I'm thinking that you probably should have pastuerized your batch after 3 or 4 days.

Anyway, it's ALWAYS a good idea to have a lid partially covering the pot...it will at least partially contain glass and mess. It does happen, though. Here's my journal entry from my most recent bomb on July 11th: http://mmmbrews.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/day-128-gushers-and-bottle-bomb/

Video or it didn't happen :)
 
I had bottles explode the first couple times. As others have mentioned start with 180F water.

I also recommend the following which has worked well for me.
  • Pre-heat the bottles with hot tap water in the sink (to reduce thermal stresses)
  • Ensure adequate head space in the bottle
  • Keep bottles from touching the bottom of the kettle (also prevents thermal stresses)
  • Use plastic tester bottles to help avoid pasteurizing over-carbonated bottles
 
I just thought I'd add to the thread.

My husband and I started carbing our ciders a few weeks ago. We're in Florida and I'm always cold, so the house stays at 78-79 degrees permanently. 3 days after bottling, we pasteurized at 180 and there was an "okay" level of carbonation. So for the next batch we waited 4 days and pasteurized at 188 degrees. 2 bottles exploded after we took them out of the hot water to cool in the sink but the carbonation was amazing. It was a little over-carbonated (way more than anything sold in stores) but very enjoyable.

If you didn't do the plastic soda bottle test, I highly recommend it. At 80 degrees, 3.5 days is probably long enough.

Sorry that this happened to you. I know how much it sucks to have to clean up glass and pull miniscule glass shards from skin. I hope no one was hurt badly.

My husband and I now pasteurize at under 180 degrees and we just leave the bottles in the pot with a thick towel over them for an hour, letting the water cool down on its own. It takes longer to do all the bottles this way but we're happier with the reduced risk.
 
You can do what i do and have 0 risk. i filter the cider with a 1 micron filter to remove all the yeast. then i back sweeten and force carb in the keg, then bottle with the beer gun.
 
You can do what i do and have 0 risk. i filter the cider with a 1 micron filter to remove all the yeast. then i back sweeten and force carb in the keg, then bottle with the beer gun.

I believe this advice is for those who don't want to keg. ;)
 
I believe this advice is for those who don't want to keg. ;)

I think this is a good opportunity to sell kegging to the wife. All he needs to say is that kegging and bottling form the keg will eliminate any potential bottle bombs with beer and cider.
 
Never had any of my 11.2 or 12oz explode, but I have had a few of the 22oz (Guinness Extra Stout) bottles go. But that's out of a *lot* of 22oz bottles pasteurized.
Have had good luck with a pre-warming bath and then into the final hotter bath.
And yep, deep kettles with lids is a good thing too.
 
I think this is a good opportunity to sell kegging to the wife. All he needs to say is that kegging and bottling form the keg will eliminate any potential bottle bombs with beer and cider.

Good point.
 
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