Bottles not firming up

earlytimes · 07-09-2008, 04:02 AM

So how long is it supposed to take for the 2-liter bottles to start firming up? I'm in the understanding that after 4 days they should be rock hard and ready to drink/refrigerate. I'm at day 2 now and they are still as squishy as ever. I would have thought I'd notice something by now. I initially added a little less than 1/8 tsp. of champaign yeast to each of my bottles of root beer. I'm thinking of adding more yeast. Any other ideas? Or am I right on track?

dblvsn · 07-09-2008, 11:55 AM

Be patient. It'll firm up. 4 days is typical but it could take a couple days longer too. If in a week its still not firming up then you may want to look at repitching. Did you use fresh yeast?

earlytimes · 07-09-2008, 01:34 PM

I used dry champaign yeast from AHS that I put in the fridge as soon as the package came in the mail. I did not rehydrate. I was really hoping to have some root beer ready for my son's b-day party this weekend, but if it comes down to it, I guess I'll just buy some soda. If the bottles aren't firming up by the time I get home tonight, I think I'll rehydrate the rest of the yeast and add that. Unless someone thinks that's a terrible idea

Thanks.

newell456 · 07-09-2008, 05:08 PM

I wouldn't do that after only a couple of days. It's not uncommon to have no noticeable difference after only a couple of days, and if you open it to repitch, you'll lose what little CO2 you have already. It's not a "terrible idea" per se because you're not going to ruin it or anything, though, but soda making, like homebrewing, requires paitence.

By the way- I bought the yeast for my first batch of root beer from a beer store that had stopped selling homebrew supplies about a year ago and had a few things left over. The yeast was dead, but I waited a couple of weeks to be sure. I repitched, and everything was fine. In other words, even if the yeast is bad, it should not be a lost cause if you sanitized well. You may have to buy soda for the party, though. If it's not up to par and refrigerated with sufficient settling time, you'll get a somewhat flat or unsettled soda, which may not be worth your efforts.

bluemonkey321 · 07-14-2008, 07:35 PM

Thats funny because ive had problems with bottle bombs

**conpewter** · 07-14-2008, 07:42 PM

I had this happen one time when I first started. I believe the issue was I had sanitized with bleach water and there was too much left when I transferred the root-beer in, so it killed the yeast. Never got it to carbonate