Cider Not Carbing Up?

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fnaah

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hallo again!

So, after my first brew (a wheat beer which I was quite happy with), I decided to have a crack at a K&K cider.

The fermentation process and bottling into PET went smoothly, however it's now been in the bottle for three weeks and doesn't seem to be carbing up very well, when I give the bottles a squeeze most of them aren't very firm.

Is there anything I can do to fix this, or am I stuck with slightly flat cider? I used yeast from my LHBS (their own "brand" which they keep in the fridge and sell in plastic baggies) rather than the kit yeast. Appreciate any advice...
 
I suppose it depends on how much priming sugar you used and the temperature you stored the bottles at. I would expect the brew to be fully carbed after 3 weeks unless you are storing your bottles in a fridge or cold place.
 
I used the carb drops (2 per 750ml bottle). They were in a cooler spot for the first week (stupid canberra weather), but have been inside the house (at at least 17deg) for the last two weeks.
 
i would think at 3 weeks in the bottle it would be about time to 'test' one :)

Mine generally last about 2 weeks before i give in to the urge to sample....

Ive done a couple of ciders and bottled with carb drops, and most have turned out reasonably well carbed - the PET bottles still give in in to a little squeeze, but they're definitely somewhat firm!

Open one and see. :) - if they are under carbed, i dont know what you can do about it. I'm sure someone with a lot more experience than me can comment on that
 
Without you providing bit more information its really a guessing game.
One problem quite a few cider makers run up against is the alcohol tolerance of their yeast. If the yeast conks out before it has eaten all the available sugars adding more in priming wont do any good, you have simply exceed the yeasts capacity.
If you want a better answer describe the kit, the amount and type of other additives, the volume you made it up to and what type of yeast they sold you ring them if youre not sure, they should tell you.
Mark
 
Without you providing bit more information it's really a guessing game.
One problem quite a few cider makers run up against is the alcohol tolerance of their yeast. If the yeast conks out before it has eaten all the available sugars adding more in priming won't do any good, you have simply exceed the yeasts capacity.
If you want a better answer describe the kit, the amount and type of other additives, the volume you made it up to and what type of yeast they sold you ring them if you're not sure, they should tell you.
Mark

The kit was a Blackrock cider, I added 2L of preservative free apple juice and 1L of preservative free apple and strawberry juice, plus a kilo of regular CSR sugar, made up to 23L. The yeast was labeled "safcider", so I'm guessing it was a cider-type yeast.

I opened one tonight to test, was very flat, and tasted quite yeasty, not pleasant at all. :/
 
Well without doing a pile of digging sound like your OG was around 1.043-5, should be well within the capacity of any brewing yeast, the fact that it tastes yeasty is not a good sign, I would be asking some very hard questions about how long that packet has been open, because given that you kept the cider at sensible temperatures it sounds like the yeast is stuffed
MHB
 
Bummer. :/ Ah well, chalk this one up as a learning experience then.
 
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