Carbonation Troubles

[JKenshi]

Not the trouble I was expecting to have... I let my 5 gallons of cider rest in secondary for a solid month... looked beautiful! I wanted a slightly sweet, carbonated cider, so I split the batch in half to play with flavors a bit, primed in two different ways and bottled. I used plenty enough sugar to get my sweetness and carbonate. My plan was to set aside some testing bottles and check for my preferred carbonation level starting at 3 days in, then bottle pasteurize.

It's now been a week, and the most I get out of these bottles is a minor "pssssst" when I pop a cap and no carbonation in the glass at all. I thought maybe it was because I used Nottingham Ale yeast and it seemed a bit slow, but maybe it clarified too much in secondary? I didn't use any potassium metabisulfite or anything that would kill remaining yeast.

I'm guessing there's nothing to do at this point but to call it a still cider and be happy, but in the long run can I trust it not to suddenly kick off and explode? Before anyone suggests it, I don't have the fridge space to cold crash and store the lot.

 

[bernardsmith]

what was the gravity you bottled at and how much sugar did you add to prime? If the temperature is very cold it may take several weeks to fully prime. But you also said something that sounded unexpected. You primed the cider to produce CO2 and you added sugar to make the cider sweet. Unless you chose an unfermentable sugar yeast does not care what your plans might be. If they can ferment the sugar they will. OK, That said, what is the gravity today (the difference between today's gravity and the gravity at which you bottled will provide you with a great deal of information about what is happening below the bottle caps..

 

[Maylar]

Often it takes like 3 weeks for a fully cleared cider to bottle condition. That's why I made a carbonation monitor, to keep an eye out for how it's progressing -

See this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/monitor-your-bottle-pressure.591360/#post-7713665

 

[JKenshi]

Often it takes like 3 weeks for a fully cleared cider to bottle condition. That's why I made a carbonation monitor, to keep an eye out for how it's progressing -

See this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/monitor-your-bottle-pressure.591360/#post-7713665

I saw your post after I bottled. It's definitely on my list of things to do for next time!

 

[JKenshi]

what was the gravity you bottled at and how much sugar did you add to prime? If the temperature is very cold it may take several weeks to fully prime. But you also said something that sounded unexpected. You primed the cider to produce CO2 and you added sugar to make the cider sweet. Unless you chose an unfermentable sugar yeast does not care what your plans might be. If they can ferment the sugar they will. OK, That said, what is the gravity today (the difference between today's gravity and the gravity at which you bottled will provide you with a great deal of information about what is happening below the bottle caps..

I bottled at 1.000. OG was 1.055. I added enough sugar to sweeten and a bit more for carbonation with the intent to monitor the carbonation carefully and bottle pasteurize once the ideal level of carbonation was reached. I'll have to sacrifice a bottle tonight to re-check the gravity. More to come...

 

[ncbrewer]

I bottled at 1.000. OG was 1.055. I added enough sugar to sweeten and a bit more for carbonation with the intent to monitor the carbonation carefully and bottle pasteurize once the ideal level of carbonation was reached. I'll have to sacrifice a bottle tonight to re-check the gravity. More to come...

This could be risky - carbonation doesn't necessarily happen at the same rate in all bottles. From the Yeast book, "... pay attention to how the bottles are stored. Inconsistent results can occur when there is not enough air circulation around the bottles." Considering you could be dealing with bottle bombs, safety should be the primary consideration. I'm hoping for the best, but please be careful.