Am I doing this right

[verysupple]

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.

 

[manus]

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

 

[verysupple]

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.

 

[simchop84]

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

 

[vittorio]

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.....

 

[Airgead]

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.