Cider from Kroger juice with chanpagne yeast not carbing

[dash14251]

what am i doing wrong? i had a 6 gallon batch fermented for couple months sitting on the lees/yeast the whole time. i racked into a 5 gallon and bottled a gallon to try it out. this is not my first cider batch but it is my first one using champagne yeast (just experimenting).

anyway, i added an ounce of dex to one gallon of cider that fermented for 2 months inside my room so temp could not be a factor. it has been in the bottle for 2-3 weeks and when i open one there is not the slightest amount of bubbles or anything. im wondering if i need to do something different when i bottle the other 5 gals. maybe use concentrate instead of dex?

 

[LibertyBrewer]

To get cider to have carbonation, like beer does. You have to prime it just like beer. Try adding 4.5 oz. of corn or cane sugar mixed with 2 cups of boiling water, to your 5 gallon batch before bottling.

 

[david_42]

Champagne yeast is rather slow, but after 3 weeks I would have expected something. Are all the bottles flat?

 

[dash14251]

yes theyre all flat. i would have thought an oz of sugar per gallon is about right. i have opened about 4 so far over the course of the last 2 weeks and all the same.

i am looking at one now and i may know what it is. there is yeast in the bottom as usual but im realizing that ive bottled it in Stella Artois bottles (it was cheap at costco for poptop bottles) they dont have a neck like other beers do and i remember i had a hell of a time bottling. it may be as simple as me not getting the caps tight enough to hold much pressure. they do not leak when i shake it upside down but maybe it can hold a little pressure but not enough carbonation to notice. thats all i can think, the caps actually look very solid and as if theyre on just fine.

 

[dash14251]

ok, got it. i had 5 bottles left and just opened the one bottle with the most secure looking cap and it has carbonation, not as much as i would like, but it did have some and made "that sound" when i popped the top. well at least i know what not to do when i bottle the other 5 gals, and sorry to waste yalls time

 

[TipsyDragon]

(it was cheap at costco for poptop bottles) they dont have a neck like other beers do and i remember i had a hell of a time bottling.

poptop bottles??? please tell me your not trying to carbonate in twist off bottles. unless i miss my guess pryoff and twist off caps are different. hence the different bottles. this may explain your trouble with bottling. if your using the proper type of bottles capping is a breeze, a very boring breeze. use proper pryoff bottles with the rest of the cider.

 

[dash14251]

yeah me and a buddy were thinkin that cider in green bottles might look cool or whatever but cider with bubbles in it looks cooler. Stella bottles dont have that collar looking thing that regular brown bottles have so the 2-lever capper can grab onto them.

 

[TipsyDragon]

you can get plenty of corkable green bottles. corks and corkers aren't much more expensive than caps and cappers.

 

[Yooper]

you can get plenty of corkable green bottles. corks and corkers aren't much more expensive than caps and cappers.

No, but if you try to bottle carbonate with corks, POP! Off they go.

 

[TipsyDragon]

ah right sorry. champagne cage?

 

[Ruckbeat]

I use empty 24 oz. Red Stripe bottles for beer and cider. Honestly, it's almost too much cider for one evening, based on the results, but is perfect for the beer.