I seen this ask someplace but can’t find it now…If I have carbonation in my cider which I want…Are beer bottles safe to use? If so what caps should I use…Screw on or not? I appreciate all your help as I am soooo new at this game…Johnny
Yes, beer bottles are fine. Non-screw off types. You’ll need to get caps and a capper, which are both pretty cheap if you don’t have them already. Good luck.
So is that to say that any beer bottles will be ok to use? I just want to be reasonably sure thay aren’t gonna blow with the cider being carbonated…
As long as you are sure the stuff is completely fermented out and then primed with a controlled amount of added sugar (or juice concentrate, or whatever) when you bottle it, you’ll be fine.
Making sure it’s really finished is the key.
If there is still a slow ferment going on (other than from priming) and some bottles sit for a long time, you might have a risk of a few bottle bombs.
If (after priming and a few weeks of conditioning in the bottle) you are able to store the bottles cold, you reduce the risk considerably. If you anticipate consuming the product in a relatively short time though, you should have no worries either way.
That is sort of a hard question to answer; some bottles are good, some not.
Reusing bottles that are screw tops can work, but it is a bit dodgy. Most folks don’t risk it.
Reusing beer bottles is ok, most folks do it. Some beer comes in cheeper and lighter bottles and I think all beer comes in bottles that say single use only but we all have bottles that we have reused many times.
Go to howtobrew.com, read the last part of section one on bottling and priming. If you want to have safe bottles you need to understand when fermentation is over and how to figure the level of co2 you are putting in. If you want it carbonated like Champagne then beer bottles won’t work.
I think if you read that section you will have a better understanding of how to make your bottle selection, then come back and look over how different folks carbonate, what they use, etc.
I hope that helps a bit.
dob
http://www.howtobrew.com/
It is a book by John Palmer but he also has a older version as a online resource. The book is really worth having.
dob
