can't keep CO2 in, running out of ideas

[fullmoonwinery]

hi all

i just can't get my cider to stay in the bottles. i can fill them fine but in the pressure release phase, the cider turns to gas and half the cider comes out of the bottle.

the temp in the surge tank is about 8degC, pressure about 2.5 bar, CO2 in cider, hard to say since i don't have a measure, but it doesn't taste highly carbonated. maybe about the same as something like Sierra Nevada ale.

maybe i need to get the cider cooler but i can't seem to do that. i have my chiller set on -3degreesC but the tank temp is not dropping below 8 degrees, it makes no sense to me, why isn't it colder?

i'm running out of ideas and at my wits end at the moment folks, i hope someone can come up with something i haven't thought of.

thanks, steve

[Ted Briggs]

Yes its too warm, and you need a co2 meter. As soon as there is no pressure on the product the co2 is breaking out of solution. Get it to equalization temp for the vol of gas you want before bottling.

[BrewinLou]

You have to get your cider colder, at 46 F degree it is going to break out all day long. You need to be under 35 F for over 2 atmospheres.

Concerning your chiller...
Have you checked your glycol concentration? If it is freezing up it can and will damage your chiller. What else are you running off of it? Can you turn everything else off but the tank you are bottling from for a while? Are your glycol lines insulated well?



Just in case you do not have one, it will not be much help unless you have a way to test dissolved co2.

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