No carbonation after 2 weeks... what now?

[sansbury]

I finally got around to bottling some of the cider I started last fall that had been sitting in secondary ever since. Bone dry and really interesting flavors, reminiscent of moderately funky orange wines. Anyway, I measured out 20g of corn sugar per gallon of cider, mixed, bottled and capped, then waited patiently for two weeks before popping one.... And, it was as flat as the day I bottled it

My first thought was that the caps weren't well sealed (I used a real capper and all, but it didn't inspire extreme confidence), but then I wondered if the very long secondary had killed the yeast. I tried pouring off some of the cider into a 1/2 quart deli container, added a bunch of sugar, and sealed it to leave on the countertop for a little while to see if anything happened. And nothing did. So, maybe my yeast is dead?

As a flat product the cider is forensically interesting but I don't really want 2 gallons of it. So I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do/try to get some fizz into this thing.

For those wondering about the very long secondary, that was partly a result of me getting busy with getting the gardens started and partly a local cider maker whose stuff I really like recommending 6+ month secondaries.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Brockness Monster]

Add a little champagne yeast to each bottle? 6 months is a long time. If you do this again just remember to add some bottling yeast to ensure you get carbonation.

 

[Chalkyt]

Yep, I have been down this path. This is my step-by-step method.

IMO, the best approach is to decant the cider into a large container and measure how much sugar is left by taking a hydrometer SG reading. How much carbonation do you want? Your 20g sugar per gallon should be about 5g/litre or SG 1.003. Fermenting 2 gravity points will result in about 1 volume of C02 so you seem to have about 1.5 volumes of "carbonation" available (a nice gentle "fizz'). Since the residual post-fermentation C02 has probably "off-gassed" by now, it probably wouldn't hurt to add a bit more sugar on the same basis (i.e. 2 gravity points of fermentation results in 1 volume of C02... this is easier than calculating the sugar needed for the volume of cider). Typically I carbonate to 2.0-2.5 volumes of C02 (I assume 0.5-0.8 volumes residual C02 plus 1.5 - 2.0 volumes new C02 from extra sugar. One volume is one litre of C02 absorbed in one litre of cider, and "normal carbonation" for beer, soft drink etc is around 2.5 volumes. Anything over 1 volume will normally result in some "fizz" when a bottle is opened since the pressure from 1 volume is atmospheric pressure)

Make up a "yeast starter" with some added nutrient (200ml of the cider with say, 2 tsp of yeast such as EC1118 or the yeast that you used originally, plus up to1/4 tsp of DAP or Fermaid just to make sure it isn't out of nutrients, which can also stop further fermentation. Sit the starter at room temperature and after a few hours it should start to "cream up" indicating that fermentation is O.k, then just add this to the cider, mix evenly and re-bottle and seal).

Just check the bottles after two weeks in case pressure is getting a bit high, after all, the above numbers can be a bit rough and ready. If carbonation stabilises, you are done. If it is getting a bit high you can stop carbonation by hot waterbath pasteurising as outlined by Pappers at the top of the forum or by soaking the bottles in constant 65C water for about 10 minutes.

Good luck!