Back-Sweetened Cider will not Force Carb

binaryc0de said:

I've started making a hard cider every year... This is my 3rd batch and I may have made it a bit too sweet (not real bad though). I always brew a 5 gallon version of this recipe (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/southern-sweet-cider-114594/) and I keg as to not deal with stabilizing issues (it usually comes in around 7% ABV). I had been experimenting with the amount of brown sugar for back-sweetening. Last time it wasn't sweet enough so I put an extra cup (8 cups for ~5.25 gals this time). Normally it takes 1-2 weeks on 12psi to carb up. This time however it's been on the gas at 12psi for about a 1.5 months and it is still not carbed. I do not have any leaks in my system and the keg does seem to be holding gas (although I am beginning to suspect a gas leak in the keg due to this not carbing but I haven't found one)... I have a friend that over sweetened a cider and had the same issue one time. Has anyone had a similar problem or know if maybe you have to put sweet beverages on higher psi to get them to carb?

Click to expand...

Yooper said:

No, it should still carb up, sweetened or not. You must have a leak in the keg, or your regulator is faulty if you're at fridge temps with 12 psi and have no carbonation.

Click to expand...

Misplaced_Canuck said:

Sorry to contradict you, Yooper, but cider can and sometimes DOES take longer to carbonate. I haven't really figured out why it does that, but I have found that rolling the cold keg on the floor, with the CO2 line attached, once or twice during the course of a week will cure the problem.

My wild-a$$-guess is that there is less protein(?) for the CO2 to latch onto.

MC

Click to expand...

Yooper said:

But you can carb water, which is well, plain water. It doesn't need protein(?) to carb.

Maybe people like their cider more highly carbed, like soda, so it seems flat by comparison to beer. But c02 is c02, and you can carb beer/water/wine/soda/lemonade the same way.

Click to expand...