Q:

What vessels to use to carbonate hard cider?

I'm currently fermening my first batch of apple wine, with the plan to make sparkling cider. My idea is to make sure that the first fermentation has stopped, rack the cider, put it into bottles and add a small amount of sugar to creat the CO2.
Now, my question is: What bottles can I use? How can I close them (so they withstand the pressure)? What's the pressure I can allow?
I think I can calculate the amount of sugar from headspace and cider volume, when I know the correct partial pressure of CO2.
I have beer and wine bottles available, and could maybe score champagne bottles. I don't have tools to put stoppers on them and would appreciate hints on how to do it without buying much equipment.

A:

Use either beer or champagne bottles.  Wine bottles are not designed to withstand the pressure and coupe explode.  Beer bottles will be easier to cap.  If you use the champagne bottles, you'll need to either buy or rent a corker.  Corking is more hassle than capping, so unless you prefer the champagne bottles for presentation, I'd go the easy route.  I've found that using 1 oz. of sugar per gallon of cider produces a good carbonation level.

