How to Bottle Homemade Hard Cider

Carbonated cider requires durable bottles.

Bottling cider is a highly sanitary process and in that light, takes a bit of time and work. There are three standard types of bottles safe to use under the high pressure of carbonated cider; swing-tops, cap-style beer bottles and Champaign bottles. Swing-top style bottles, with the wired plug attached at the top of the bottleneck, are easy to work with as they do not require a corking or capping device.

Things You'll Need

• Swing-top bottles
• Funnel
• Bottle-brush, optional
• Bottle-tree
• Sanitizing solution
• Paper towel
• Jug
• Felt pen
• Bottle-filler
• Food grade tubing
• Auto siphon

Instructions

1. Place your funnel, bottle-brush, bottle-filler, tubing, siphon and uncapped, upright bottles in a sterilized kitchen or laundry room sink.

2. Place your clean bottle-tree on a nearby countertop.

3. Mix your sterilizing solution in a jug, such as a clean plastic milk jug, as directed on the label. Proper sterilizing solution is available in powder form from wine and beer making shops. Use a resealable jug in order to store any leftover solution. Clearly mark the jug listing the contents with a felt pen.

4. Pour sterilizing solution over all of the items in the sink to sterilize them. Scrub and rinse all items except for the bottles using the clean bottle-brush. Lay a couple of sheets of paper towel on the counter-top. Sit the items aside to dry on top of the paper towel.

5. Set the funnel in the first bottle and add approximately 1/4-cup of the sanitizer. Repeat this process until all bottles contain solution.

6. Cap the bottles by lifting the wired plug into place on the bottle top and pushing the wire snugly against the bottle.

7. Shake each bottle well to ensure the solution covers the entire insides of the bottles and undersides of the caps.

8. Uncap the bottles and scrub inside of each one using the bottle-brush. If the bottles are new, you may opt out of scrubbing them. Discard the solution from the bottles. Check to see that each swing-top bottle plug's washer is in good condition, with no cracks or tears. Replace any damaged washers with new ones. The washers can be pulled off for washing and then pushed back into place.

9. Rinse each bottle well, with running tap water. Add water to each bottle and use your hand or the bottle cap to seal the top. Shake vigorously. Empty the water from the bottles.

10. Place the rinsed bottles upside down on the bottle tree's branch-like arms to dry.

11. Attach the bottle-filler to the food grade length of tubing by pushing the tube over the open end of the filler about 1/4 of an inch. Attach the auto siphon to the other end of the tubing by pushing the length of tubing into the washer end of the siphon.

12. Place the container of cider nearby on the counter-top or floor.

13. Place the clean bottles ready for filling, upright on the counter near the cider. At this stage, if you are making fizzy cider, add the sugar to the bottles as directed in your recipe or cider kit instructions.

14. Place the auto siphon into the cider container and pump against the bottom of the container, sliding the siphon tube end up and down until you see the cider begin to flow through the tube, and then stop pumping. Pump the siphon whenever necessary if the flow slows or stops.

15. Stand the bottle filler inside of the first bottle. The bottle filler or wand has an automatic stop on the end to stop the flow to cider. Activate the bottle filler by pressing it inside, against the bottom of the bottle. The filler's flow stops automatically when you lift it.

16. Lift the bottle filler as the cider nears the top of the bottle. Leave approximately 2 inches of air space at the top of each bottle for carbonation of fizzy cider, or 1 inch for still (non-carbonated) cider.

17. Cap each bottle after filling. Refrigerate your homemade, bottled cider if it contains fresh yeast or store as directed.

Tips & Warnings

• Individual bottles are handy, but to reduce the number of bottles needing cleaning and filling, use larger bottles.

• Bottles not recommended for carbonated drinks may break or explode under the high pressure of carbonation.

References

• The Homebrew Helper: Racking and Bottling