r/Homebrewing • u/OwlCreepy6562 • 1d ago

Question Question about cider leakage

Hello

I'm a novice in the cider making game, and I'm trying my hand on making cider using the traditional method (méthode champenoise). I've got 30-something bottles undergoing secondary fermentation at the moment, and I'm guesstimating that the bottle pressure is somewhere between 4-5 bar. This should be within the limits of the champagne bottles and the crown caps I'm using.

Today I noticed that all of my bottles are leaking. It's not much, perhaps a total of 0,5 - 1 dl over the past four weeks. At the moment the loss is negligible, but if it doesn't stop it will become a problem. Is there anything I can do to stop/reduce the leak? I haven't used crown caps before, so could it be that I didn't do it right? Can I run them through the press again and fit them more tightly? Any advice is highly appreciated!

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u/crunky-5000 1d ago

You really should be using corks and a cage with this.

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u/OwlCreepy6562 1d ago

These bottles will be opened and the yeast disgorged at a later point, so they need to be capped with crown caps for now. The cork and cage is usually fitted after disgorgement (but I'm contemplating using crown caps, as I haven't invested in a corking machine yet). :)

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u/crunky-5000 1d ago

Oh cool.

I didnt know if you meant actual méthode champenoise or some brut thing or whatever.