Will my bottles explode?

[dougget]

Hi,
I'm mid-ferment right now and am planning to bottle my two gallons of cider into 8 one liter bottles when the time comes.

I did not add any sugar to the cider and just plan to let it ferment as is for about 4 weeks. Assuming the bubbling stops or slows to almost nothing, I will rack into my glass bottles and use flip tops (Grolsch beer style) to seal everything up.

Then what? I was planning to just put them in the fridge and drink them over time. Is the fridge sufficient to 'cold crash' them without any additional steps? Or should I pasteurize them first?

Given the use of the flip top bottles, will the seal leak before the bottle explodes?

It seems so simple... but I have so many questions...

Thanks,
Doug

 

[myndflyte]

If it's done fermenting and you don't add any sugar when bottling, then I see no reason why they would explode. If you are adding sugar to carbonate them, just be sure to add the right amount. Then you can leave them out of the fridge to condition longer.

 

[natehoekstra]

If your FG reading stays the same and your airlock chills out, it means fermentation is done. Bittle at that point and you won't have to pasteurize or cold crash the yeast as there will be no more pressure. If you add sugar to carbonate, do the calculations for carb volume and you won't have bombs.

 

[podz]

When fermentation is finished just put the cider into the bottles and straight into the fridge, nothing further required. They won't explode (in the fridge or out of the fridge) because the yeast have no further sugar to consume that would cause production of C02.

This is exactly what I do, with the exception that I use 750ml PET bottles instead of glass.

 

[dougget]

Sounds good. I'll stick to my simple cider plan. Juice + yeast... bottle and fridge.
Thanks again.
Doug