Flat cider - Help!

[Banksy]

Just tried my first bottle from a batch of 2 gallons. Completely flat :cry: I used the recipe from 'best turbo cider to date'. Worked well the first time I tried it. This time, every thing done the same. There is some sedement at the bottom, and it is almost clear. It has been bottled for 1 week.

Anyone know why this might have happened, and does anyone have a solution please :hmm:

Thanks folks

 

[Marrsy86]

Did you put sugar in the bottles to prime them ?

 

[Banksy]

Yep, 1tspn in each.

 

[Eric_S]

Maybe not log enough - 1 week is not much. How much sediment in the bottle?

 

[Marrsy86]

Did you add a campden tablet or stabilizer to it ?

Marrsy

 

[Banksy]

Not stabalised and no campden tablet. The fermentation had stopped and it was starting to clear. I racked it into bottles, each with 1 tspn sugar, then sealed. All were sterilised and rinsed very well.

:?

 

[Marrsy86]

Hmm pretty strange. The only other thing I can think of is give the bottles a little spin to kick the yeast up and see if that gets a result or not. At the end of the day if they don't carbonate they will just settle to the bottom again.

I'm having a similar problem with a carboy and 42 pints of Vimto Cider, made it yesterday as I always do and the yeast just isn't doing a thing! Seems all the yeast has just settled to the bottom of the carboy and gave up, all I can think of is some sanitised somehow stayed in there after washing it and it's killed the yeast. If I can't sort it next week with my yeast starter I made today then I think I might have to get rid and try again with WOW to test if it's a problem with the carboy or if it was just a one off.

 

[HLA91]

Did you place them in a relatively warm place not straight in a cold place?

 

[Banksy]

Erm, it's in my conservatory with the rest of my brew, ranging from 20C at night to 25C during the day.

The mystery continues...

 

[snail59]

I think you could be the victim of the brewers wost enemy IMPATIENTS :lol: give it a little time and im sure all will be well. You could just give the bottles a little shake to stir things up incase they didn't prime first time. I have had one batch do that. They turned out fine in the end. :thumb:

 

[Banksy]

Great! There's still hope...

I'll give them a little shake and see what happens in a week.

Thanks for the help. I'll let you know how they turn out.

 

[snail59]

I would give it a week in the WARM then a COUPLE of weeks (minimum) in a cool place to allow the brew to absorb the Co2 produced :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

I think as snail says you are suffering from impatience. Most of my beers take weeks to come into condition. 1 week isn't long enough 2-3 weeks at least. I have got some TC which was bottled a month ago and it still isn't there yet. It also depends on the og as well, the stonger the brew the longer it will take as the yeast after fermentaion may not be in the best of condition. I have some 9% barley wine to bottle but I doubt it will have carbonated ready for Christmas.

I am sure it will be fine.

One last thing I noted are you brewing in your conservatory as 25c seems a little high. You really want no more than 21-22 above this and you will get fusal alcohols being fermented and they give you hangovers. Try moving your brewing to somewhere a bit cooler.

 

[Banksy]

That is all really helpful guys. Thank you!

25c seems a little high. You really want no more than 21-22 above this and you will get fusal alcohols being fermented and they give you hangovers.

This will explain why I all my guests have been complaining of hangovers on my home brew. Doesn't stop them drinking it though.

Am I stuck with fusal alcohols once they have formed?

 

[graysalchemy]

Afraid so. I am brewing wines and TC at about 14-16c at the moment and beers I regulate to about 19-20c. It is most important in the initial stages as fermentation is exothermic producing its own heat. So even if you think you have the right ambient temp the brew may be warmer. In the initial stages of fermentation of my barley wine I couldn't get it below 25c for 48hrs even though the air temp was 15c. I had to cover it in wet towels and put a fan on to cool it.

Cheers

Alistair

 

[snail59]

25c seems a little high. You really want no more than 21-22 above this and you will get fusal alcohols being fermented and they give you hangovers.

I never said that :shock: GA said that that's all a little to knowledgeable for me :rofl:

He is correct though :thumb:

 

[Banksy]

Right, the cider has been going now for over 2 weeks. I ried anotherone and 'ppppft', a very slight pressure that I expect was in the original cider prior to bottling. I think I need to reprime with sugar and yeast. So...

1. Do people agree that I need to reprime?
2. Should I use 1/2 tsp sugar plus 4-5 granules of standard yeast?

If so I might put the tro bottles that I tried (then resealed) to the test. If I had a sodastream you can guess what I'd be doing right now.

Thanks for the help.

Banksy

 

[pomme homme]

Why do you want fizzy cider?

 

[Banksy]

Why do you want fizzy cider?

That's how I like it. :

Does anybody have any comments on my 2 questions from 2 posts ago? I would be very grateful for your ideas.

 

[graysalchemy]

No leave it alone

two weeks is no where near long enough.