aged cider...bottling for carbonation?

I brewed 2 batches of cider a year ago...I brewed one entirely in the primary and the other I transferred to a secondary. Both taste good (if a little strong)...more like apple wine than cider but they're ok. It's been a year, and I'm ready to bottle. I test-bottled a few bottles with a little sugar and after two weeks had zero carbonation. I figure that it's perhaps because the yeast has died off after so long? Can I bottle-carbonate this late in the process? Should I add a little fresh unpasteurized cider (ie w/ natural yeasts) along with my bottle sugar for bottle carbonating (similar to krausening)? Any ideas for getting a little light carbonation in there?

You can probably reptich some yeast (make sure it can handle your ABV) and a wee bit of sugar and it will carb just fine. if you are going to use applejuice to do a kraeusen type process check out this like for how much to use. http://www.breworganic.com/tips/tips_Kraesening.htm

Personally I prefer my cider flat but to each his own.

You are right...I used champagne yeast to make the cider, and the alcohol is probably too high for natural yeasts to take. I should make a new batch and krausen with some of the "wort" leftover from it. It will be awhile before I can get around to making a new batch, so I will try a couple more test bottles with the natural cider and report back.

Since you're from Montreal, you can get all the REAL apple juice you want. None of this canned shix. Our club buys 3-400 liters a year in bulk from an orchard in St. Hilaire, 69 cents a liter.

Actually, I used 100% natural cider for one of the batches, and 50% natural, 50% pasteurized canned for the other, just to experiment. This year, though, I am looking for 100% real for all batches and plan on even trying a wild yeast batch.

You wouldn't happen to be a on the MontreAler list, do you? There was talk on that list about buying cider, but if they opt not to I would definitely like to participate in your buy! PM me and I'll send you my email...

corvus said:

You wouldn't happen to be a on the MontreAler list, do you? There was talk on that list about buying cider,

Click to expand...

Yup, that's me. I'm the guy who organises the group purchase.