Confused newbie, bottle type for carbonated cider?

[LoopyLou]

I plan to attempt to make my cider fizzy by putting dextrose in the bottles but a bit confused by the information overload out there. I think I can use the flip/swing top type bottles (but a bit pricey unless someone knows where to get them in SE melbourne for a good price). Can I use recycled beer bottles and a capper? Or will I be potentially making mini bombs?

 

[manticle]

No different to beer. Calculate desired carb level, don't overprime, make sure brew is well finished before bottling, done.

 

[LoopyLou]

Thanks manticle. So many people online articles that say don't use a screw lid, don't use a cork etc etc.......so I was thinking it must be more explosive or something ~shrug~.

 

[manticle]

Cider when made from juice will usually ferment right down to 1000 or even a touch lower so caution is advised in that regard.

Also the body is different to beer so your perception will influence things. They're the basic differences to keep in mind but it isn't super complex.

 

[MastersBrewery]

I think the confusion is created by sweet ciders, which are not as simple to do because yeast wants to eat ALL the sugars

 

[LoopyLou]

yeah I think I read somewhere you can sweeten a cider by adding a sugar that yeast doesn't eat like xylitol.......or something along those lines. But I don't mind a dry cider.

 

[Hyper.Intelligent.Fish]

If you're really desperate for bottles you can re-use suitably cleaned soft drink bottles. They're also designed to hold pressure.

I think the reason people argue against screw top bottles is the inherent weakness in the bottle introduced by embedding a screw into the neck.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I am going to bottle mine in bubbly bottles. I found out you can put crown caps on them! 26mm for Australian bubbly like beer and 29mm for European bottles. + bubbly bottles can take 7 volumes of co2 (that is a lot)

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I think the capper is also slightly different. Remember back in Grumpy's days they used to sell the caps for champaigne magnums they had deeper sides......I think...

 

[MaltyHops]

I am going to bottle mine in bubbly bottles. I found out you can put crown caps on them! 26mm for Australian bubbly like beer and 29mm for European bottles. + bubbly bottles can take 7 volumes of co2 (that is a lot)

True but I'd stick to normal carbonation (maybe up to 3.5vols if appropriate) and use the extra co2 volumes capacity for safety, otherwise you'd just have a potentially more powerful bottle bomb h34r:

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

True I think 4ish would be the max I would go even in bubbly bottles. It is nice to have the extra safety though. Most beer bottles are only good for 4 max. Ducatiboy is correct though I had to buy a different 29 mm caper and the crown seals are called "triage".

 

[JDW81]

I think the capper is also slightly different. Remember back in Grumpy's days they used to sell the caps for champaigne magnums they had deeper sides......I think...

It is different, it's a slightly wider bell, but if you've got the standard bench capper the capping bells screw off and are easily changed.

JD

 

[MaltyHops]

True I think 4ish would be the max I would go even in bubbly bottles. It is nice to have the extra safety though. Most beer bottles are only good for 4 max. Ducatiboy is correct though I had to buy a different 29 mm caper and the crown seals are called "triage".

You'd want to be really sure your beer has finished fermenting when you go high volumes - a fast ferment test to check how low it will go. Every 2 gravity points drop adds another volume of carbonation.