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EndlessPurple

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Since I go over to friends houses with kids, I wanted to try a rootbeer. However it is not carbonating and I am not sure what I am missing. I followed the recipe included exactly I thought.

1 tbl of old fashioned rootbeer flavoring
1/4 tsp red star champaign yeast
2 3/4 cup sugar, white
1 gallon water

mixed and put into 4 - 1 liter plastic sparkling water bottles.
stored in kitched - ambient temp about 72-73.

A week later and bottles are not getting hard and I can't get the lids on any tighter.

This is actually my third batch. The first one, I used Lavalin RC-212 yeast, the second was only 2 1/2 cups sugar.

Any help on what I am missing? Guessing it is probably something really obvious.
 
Since I go over to friends houses with kids, I wanted to try a rootbeer. However it is not carbonating and I am not sure what I am missing. I followed the recipe included exactly I thought.

1 tbl of old fashioned rootbeer flavoring
1/4 tsp red star champaign yeast
2 3/4 cup sugar, white
1 gallon water

mixed and put into 4 - 1 liter plastic sparkling water bottles.
stored in kitched - ambient temp about 72-73.

A week later and bottles are not getting hard and I can't get the lids on any tighter.

This is actually my third batch. The first one, I used Lavalin RC-212 yeast, the second was only 2 1/2 cups sugar.

Any help on what I am missing? Guessing it is probably something really obvious.

It should be fully carbed by now. What kind of extract did you use? I wonder if the preservatives in the extract are an issue? And you're sure the lids are on tightly, and the co2 isn't leaking out?

I've never had any problem with root beer carbing up with champagne yeast.
 
The flavoring is the Old Fashioned Homebrew Birch Root Beer. Lids are on as tight as I can get, guess I could submerge them and see if there is bubbling, but I would think on multiple containers, one would be on right.
 
The flavoring is the Old Fashioned Homebrew Birch Root Beer. Lids are on as tight as I can get, guess I could submerge them and see if there is bubbling, but I would think on multiple containers, one would be on right.

I don't know what else it could be, unless the yeast was dead.

You could try opening the containers, mixing them in a pitcher with some fresh yeast, and recapping and waiting again. Did the yeast come fresh from a package?
 
Yeah I had purchased the yeast within days of using. Store keeps it sealed and refrigerated for both packets.

Oh well, soda may not be for me. So far I have had good success with mead and beer early on. Save the soda for if I get a carbonation system.
 
The flavoring is the Old Fashioned Homebrew Birch Root Beer. Lids are on as tight as I can get, guess I could submerge them and see if there is bubbling, but I would think on multiple containers, one would be on right.

instead of submerging, put a balloon over the cap. Inflation will measure leakage over time.
 
Did a combination test by submerging the bottles but with a glass filled with water over the top. That way if anything leaked out it would be held in the glass for me to see (like the balloon idea). After 8 hours, no gasses leaked into the glass to displace any water.
 
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