Can i save it?

[karloz]

Guys, I'm looking for some advice.

A few weeks ago I brewed the on the rocks pear cider. I followed the instructions and added a sugar solution in the fv and bottled in PET bottles.

All looked good after giving it time to condition and clear. Until opened one and it clearly had too much sugar. That, I don't mind, the problem is its pulling all of the sediment from the bottom.

Is there anything I can do? Would leaving them a bit longer get it to solidify more?

Any help appreciated

 

[engineer]

Where are you storing them ?
When i finish a cider primary ferment i fill the bottles and add sugar to get the secondary fermentation going and leave them inside for a week.
I then put them outside in the garage (or garden under cover) where its nice and cold. They clear over time and the sediment goes solid in the bottom of the bottles.

So you may need to leave more time and/or find somewhere colder to get the sediment to solidify a bit more. I did a pear turbo cider about 6 weeks back and although its still cloudy (used pressed apple and pear) the sediment seems fairly solid in the bottom.

On occasion, where my patience was low i have been known to flash chill the odd bottle in the freezer which helps. Best not to forget its in there though :whistle:

 

[karloz]

Cheers for th reply.

I kept them inside for 5 days then outside for a week before trying.
The sediment looks solid, but as there is too much 'fizz' it's pulling to up.

 

[engineer]

ok so probably a little overdone on the priming, somehow i always seem to manage to prime to little.
You cant de-cabonate without releasing the gas which as i understand it is causing the problem.
That being the case the only practical option is to release the gas as slowly as possible.
Crack open the bottle slowly until you just hear it start to hiss then leave it standing (in the fridge) for a few minutes to see if that helps.
It may take a bit of practice but its better than loosing it all.

 

[engineer]

If the above doesn't work well some other thoughts;

For individual bottles you could let it drip through a paper filter in a funnel. I use the cheap thin filter papers to protect the thicker expensive filter pads in my vinbrite. Coffee filter pads would do just as well i suspect.

Alternatively you could filter the lot into a vessel then re bottle it. You may end up with a still(er) cider and that may be ok depending on whether you like traditional scrumpy type cider or not.

But before any of this it would be worth leaving them for another few weeks - difficult i know !!! After some trials on cider kits I aim for an absolute minimum of 2 months in the bottle before drinking which seems to give a good result in terms of taste and clarity.

 

[pluckthechicken]

I had this problem when making ginger beer last year...
A simple solution might be to unscrew the caps enough to release some of the gas, let them sit for a minute and then tighten them back up.
Then leave them outside for another week or so for the sediment to fall out again.
Hopefully when they're opened for the second time the carbonation should be about right and they will stay clear.

 

[karloz]

I had this problem when making ginger beer last year...
A simple solution might be to unscrew the caps enough to release some of the gas, let them sit for a minute and then tighten them back up.
Then leave them outside for another week or so for the sediment to fall out again.
Hopefully when they're opened for the second time the carbonation should be about right and they will stay clear.

This is what I have tried.

Did it to the first one and it had cleared today so gave it a go. Seemed to work ok.

Just need to do it to all 50 bottles now. [emoji4]

 

[pluckthechicken]

Best of luck :-)

 

[karloz]

It tool me an hour to 'degas' them all last night.
They're back in the cold. I'll let you know if it worked.