# Am I doing this right



## nevle (17/11/13)

hi
just made my first brew,
2 "Extra Juicey" 2.4l
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon yeast..sn9
stopped fermenting after 10 days (airlock)
racked into new demijohn for 3 days then bottled into 500ml bottles with 3/4 teaspoon of caster sugar
just opened one to test.. very clear, no fizz
Is there enough sugar in the bottles? Enough yeast?
I have already started a new brew( with an extra 1/4 cup sugar and with a total 1/2 teaspoon yeast) , am i doing this right?
I think so but need a there there and a pat on the head telling me its all OK , i will make 2 or 3 batches (ie months) before i know if i'm wasting my time or not, please reassure me. Thanks


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## Pokey (17/11/13)

How long has it been in the bottles?
Maybe needs a bit longer


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## nevle (17/11/13)

I know its only been in the bottles about 10 days but i thought that there would be some carbonation apparent.


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## Ducatiboy stu (17/11/13)

Will need longer. 

Did you take any gravity readings.


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## nevle (18/11/13)

No I didn't have a hydrometer - i've since bought one..


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## Econwatson (18/11/13)

I would have thought you would have some carbonation after 10 days.

What sort of capper did you use to seal them? Do your bottle caps have the plastic seals on the top? With my first brew I used some old craft bottle tops my girlfriend bought for making jewelry. There were no seals on them, and therefore no fizz.


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## nevle (18/11/13)

I used new caps and capper, seem to be well sealed. Is 3/4 teaspoon of sugar per 500 mil bottle enough?


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## simchop84 (20/11/13)

Buy carb drops. Easier faster a more 'measured' amount. With a 500ml bottle you could go two carb drops. Would have good fizz or one if you only want a small amount of fizz.


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## Dunkelbrau (20/11/13)

I would think that two carb drops in a 500ml bottle would come out like coke in carbonation. Depends what you are after, there are priming calculators out there that would help you based on how many volumes of Co2 you want.


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## indica86 (20/11/13)

With cider I go one drop in a 740ml bottle, comes out like champagne.


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## manticle (20/11/13)

simchop84 said:


> Buy carb drops. Easier faster a more 'measured' amount. With a 500ml bottle you could go two carb drops. Would have good fizz or one if you only want a small amount of fizz.


2 per 500 mL?

Wow.


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## bum (20/11/13)

You don't like good fizz, manticle?

Plus it raises the alc content!


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## manticle (20/11/13)

Raises it all over the walls.

Good fizz, nice drink.


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## DJ_L3ThAL (20/11/13)

Makes for a good drop the good fizz does.


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## verysupple (20/11/13)

manticle said:


> 2 per 500 mL?
> 
> Wow.


Yeah, I wouldn't be going with 2 drops in a 500 mL bottle. When I used drops I sometimes used 2 per 640 mL bottle and they were "highly carbonated". Later I did the science and maths of it and 2 drops was giving me ~3.2 vols depending on how warm I let the beer get before bottling. Nice for a wheat beer, not so good for most other things.


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## manticle (20/11/13)

I'd especially not be advising someone who has not used a hydrometer to measure whether a cider is finished (and ciders finish 1000 or lower) to be bottling and priming at such a ridiculous rate.


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## mje1980 (20/11/13)

manticle said:


> I'd especially not be advising someone who has not used a hydrometer to measure whether a cider is finished (and ciders finish 1000 or lower) to be bottling and priming at such a ridiculous rate.


Unless you were hosting a back yard car race. Might come In handy on the podium.


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## Ducatiboy stu (20/11/13)

5g/Ltr is generally considered the priming level needed for a joe average beer


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## simchop84 (20/11/13)

manticle said:


> 2 per 500 mL?
> 
> Wow.


Works well for me


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## simchop84 (20/11/13)

manticle said:


> I'd especially not be advising someone who has not used a hydrometer to measure whether a cider is finished (and ciders finish 1000 or lower) to be bottling and priming at such a ridiculous rate.


Had ciders finish a lot higher than that.


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## verysupple (20/11/13)

Come to think of it, no cider I've ever had was very highly carbonated at all. I don't want to make out that the OP is a dumbass, but is it possible that the fact that cider doesn't hold a head could be leading to the erroneous conclusion that it's flat? 

Probably not the case, but just a thought.


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## manus (20/11/13)

I have been using 2 carbonation drops per 750ml and I was disapointed in the fizz. Will up it to 3 for my next batch I think. What would be a dangerous amount of carbonation drops for a 750ml? I think if these pop my gf will ban brewing for a while! ha


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## verysupple (20/11/13)

manus said:


> I have been using 2 carbonation drops per 750ml and I was disapointed in the fizz. Will up it to 3 for my next batch I think. What would be a dangerous amount of carbonation drops for a 750ml? I think if these pop my gf will ban brewing for a while! ha


My spreadsheet is setup for 640 mL bottles and 3 drops / bottle with a max temp of 20 C gives me 4.5 vols...which is pretty up there. When I enquired about the bottles I bought they said they "were good up to 4 vols no problems". I'm not sure how much more they could take. However, your slightly larger bottles will slightly lower the CO2 concentration, but not a great deal. I think 3 drops might be pushing it.


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## simchop84 (20/11/13)

I use 3 per 1L bottle, 2 per 500mL and one per 330mLish stubbys etc. Never had any bottle bombs.


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## vittorio (20/11/13)

unless you put malts in, there wont be much of a head in cider. it probably is carbonated but since there's no head you probably think that's its not carbonated when it is.....


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## Airgead (21/11/13)

Yep. There is a big difference between not holding a head and being flat.

Beer holds a head because the proteins in the beer stabilise the foam and cause it to last. A cider (or wine or mead or soda water doesn't have the proteins so any head will vanish almost instantly. It should still feel a bit fizzy in the mouth and should have a slight carbonic bite. The difference between flat cider and carbonated cider is more like the difference between still water and soda water that has been sitting for a few minutes. It may not look fizzy, but it will taste fizzy.

So when you say it isn't carbonated enough, do you mean that it doesn't have a head, or that it is flat?

Cheers
Dave

Oh and BTW - forget carbonation drops. Bulk priming FTW. Much easier and more reliable.


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