The Limitations of EZ Cap Bottles

For about two weeks now, my cider has been sitting in those cool looking EZ Cap bottles.  Two days after bottling the first batch, I noticed tiny bubbles rising to the top, inside the bottles.  I thought this was a good sign, as it meant that the secondary fermentation was working, and the cider should be nice and carbonated when it was all over.  The problem is that the bubbles have not stopped.  That can only mean one thing:  the EZ Cap bottles leak.

Bubbles can only form if there is somewhere for the gas to go.  If the bottle is under sufficient pressure, the CO₂ stays dissolved in the liquid, and there are no bubbles.  However, as soon as the pressure drops, CO₂ becomes gas, and bubbles become visible.  This is exactly like opening a pop bottle.  When you unscrew the lid, the pressure inside the bottle drops, and CO₂ is released.

In exactly half of my 1 litre EZ Cap bottles, tiny bubbles are still forming in the cider.  Last night, I decided to open one of the leaky bottles and test it.  When I popped open the lid, there actually was an audible pop as if the bottle was under a small amount of pressure.  When I poured a glass, however, the cider was clearly not carbonated.  (So, I added some club soda and proceeded to enjoy!)

I really like EZ Cap bottles.  They look nice and they are easy to use.  I think they are perfect if your goal is to make still cider (i.e. non carbonated).  But if you want carbonated cider, you will need to use beer bottles and bottle caps, or maybe a plastic pop bottle with a tightly screwed lid.  Now, my experience might not be a total failure.  I still have hope for the other bottles of cider that don't have bubbles, because that suggests they are under pressure.  But here's the thing - a 50% success rate of getting a strong seal just isn't good enough for this purpose.

Here's my question:  Is there a trick to getting a good seal on EZ Cap bottles?

Bottling Cider

Yesterday, once I concluded that the fermentation was complete, I racked apple cider v.1 into a clean 1 gallon jug.  A secondary fermentation is required to carbonate the cider, so I stirred in some extra sugar - recipes often call for 1/4 cup of sugar per gallon.  I added a little less than this and stirred it until it was dissolved.  Then, I siphoned the cider into three 1 Litre EZ-Cap bottles.  The plan is to wait 2-3 months before I crack open a bottle.  This should be plenty of time for the secondary fermentation to be complete, and the lees to mostly settle out.

EZ-Cap Bottles.  Don't they look good?

Apple Cider, Apple Wine

As I write this, the room is nice and aromatic, full of the smell of apple.  It seems to me that fermentation enhances the richness of fruit aromas.  It's fantastic.

Here's what I did with all that pressed apple juice.

Apple Cider v.1

This cider is made from the apples from our own small apple tree in the back yard.  It is a Norkent variety that is hardy in our northerly climate.  The yield of apples was modest, and we only obtained about 1 gallon of juice.  I added one crushed Campden tablet to the juice.  Specific gravity of the juice was 1.035, so I added 1.5 cups of sugar, bringing s.g. to 1.050.

Once transferred to a 1 gallon jug, I added 1/4 tsp. of peptic enzyme and 1/4 tsp. of yeast nutrient, stirred.  I was perhaps a little bit too eager and went ahead and sprinkled about 1/3 of a packet of sparkling wine yeast on the surface.  From various recipes and instructions, it seems that peptic enzyme may work better prior to adding yeast and starting fermentation, but I don't see any scientific reason for why that would be the case.  Anyway, I went ahead and added the yeast and placed an airlock on the jug and waited for the magic to happen.

Cider fermentation

Apple Cider v.2

All the other apples that we obtained from generous friends produced in total about 4.5 gallons of juice.  This time, I more or less followed the instructions in the Winemaker's Recipe Handbook (the "purple book").

I added 4 Campden tablets, 1 tsp. of peptic enzyme, and 2 tsp. of yeast nutrient.  The specific gravity for this apple juice was the same as the first batch (1.035).  I added enough sugar to bring the density to 1.055.  I let the juice sit for 24 hours before transferring 3 gallons to a carboy and adding the yeast.


Apple Wine

There was a lot of leftover apple juice from the above cider batch, so I improvised a batch of apple wine.  I diluted the juice to just over 3 gallons, added sugar until the specific gravity was 1.090, and then added a packet of sparkling wine yeast.  That's all.  This batch is currently fermenting away in a plastic bucket with a loose fitting lid.

My plan is to add some spices to the wine when I transfer it to the secondary.  (Does anyone have suggestions on what to add?)

How do you like them apples?

Today, the aromas in my home office/fermentation room are lovely.  There are three separate fermenters in action: two with apple cider and one with an apple wine.  The air is filled with methyl butanoate (the main ester compound that contributes to the smell of apples) and a number of other minor compounds that contribute to the fruity atmosphere.  If I keep the door closed, the aromas build up and become a bit of a distraction.

A couple of days ago, I decided to go ahead and try making apple cider and maybe also apple wine if I had enough apples.  Our own apple tree is still small, and our harvest consisted of a single cardboard box full of apples.  My wife sent out an A.P.B. to her friends to see if anyone had apples they wanted to dispose of, and we quickly obtained an additional 4 cardboard boxes full of apples.

I rented a fruit crusher and press from my favourite store, Wine Kitz - St. Albert, and got to work producing fresh apple juice on our patio.  This was by far the most fun I have had in making fermented beverages. 

The fruit crusher (see picture) consists of a rotating shaft with sharp blades that chop up the fruit into smaller pieces.  Chunks of fruit are drawn into the space between two rotating metal rollers that crush the fruit.  The crushed fruit and juices can be collected in a bucket placed below the device.  Initially, we used a plastic pail to collect the mashed apples, but then switched to a large blue recycling box lined with a garbage bag.

The Crusher: put apples in the hopper and turn the wheel

We dumped the crushed apples into the wine press.  The wine press was fun to use.  Two thick semicircular wooden discs go on top of the fruit, and then you put enough wooden blocks on top of the discs to reach the ratchet plate.  You screw the ratchet plate down by hand until it is sitting on the blocks, and start applying real pressure by cranking down the ratchet plate using a metal lever.  The juice gets squeezed out the sides of the basket and into a collecting tray with a spout.  We collected the juice in a large plastic pail.

My wife and I taking turns using the press.

Under pressure, the juice flows quickly.  Of course, we tasted it.  It was the sweetest, yummiest apple juice I have ever tasted.  In fact, it was so much better than store-bought apple juice that it really makes you wonder why.  The kids loved it too, but I wouldn't let them have much.  It is immensely satisfying to hand-pick several boxes of apples and then use your own muscle power to squeeze out 5 gallons of delectable apple juice.

The products of pressing:  apple juice and pomace.

(This post is getting a bit long, so I'm going to write about the apple cider and wine separately.)