Sans Yeast Left, Before Bottling

[Bergmann]

First off, I tried the search, I didn't find the help I'm looking for. Apologies if this has been covered (find it hard to believe it wouldn't have been - direct me to correct thread and I can delete this one if so).

Anyways, I just finished bottle my first cider batch approx. 12 days ago. There is no carbonation in the bottles at all. I didn't think about it until after, but the yeast is most likely completely gone. I had it in secondary since early December or so (~5 months). I assume that would do it. Anyways, I'm not a fan at all of flat cider, nor am I a fan of overly sweet cider (which this will be if that sugar doesn't get eaten up).

I was able to find a very small amount of info about popping the caps off, and adding some fresh dry yeast, then recapping. Is this an option? Is this the best option? How much yeast per bottle, and is a new pack of dry yeast good enough?

I would hate to have my entire first batch go to waste because of such a small mistake on the final step. Thanks in advance!

 

[EDF713]

How much sugar did you prime with? And what temp have the bottles been stored? If you primed enough and the bottles are stored at fermentation temps, it may just take a while for the few yeast left to carb it up. Unless you did something to kill the yeast, there should be a few knocking around.

 

[Bergmann]

I added 3/4 of a cup of corn sugar (dextrose) for my 5 gallons. About 3/4 of the batch just has that and some apple flavoring. The rest has both of those plus 1/8 tsp of stevia per gallon (don't recall how many gallons I had left when I added it exactly).

As for the temp... it's been in my garage, it can be fairly cool in there this time of year. This is just as guess, but I'm going to say its been ranging from 17ish to low 20s. For Americans, 63-72 maybe? These could be bad guesses I don't have a thermometer in there. I was worried about putting them in house not to ruin the floors if they kaboomed, but it looks like this is not a worry at this point!

Oh, and no, I did absolutely nothing at all to kill the yeast, it sat in my closet with the air lock from secondary right into the bottling pail.

Edit: More realistic garage temps

 

[EDF713]

Another thought, do you see any sediment in the bottom of the bottles? Could be a sign of yeast. I would give it another week. It's funny your garage is that cool. Here in Houston I think it's hot enough to kill the yeast in my garage!

 

[gregbathurst]

You should give it at least 4-6 weeks before worrying.

 

[Yooper]

What is the ABV of the cider, and which yeast strain did you use?

 

[Bergmann]

Another thought, do you see any sediment in the bottom of the bottles? Could be a sign of yeast. I would give it another week. It's funny your garage is that cool. Here in Houston I think it's hot enough to kill the yeast in my garage!

Hah! yes, I think Texas is a little bit warmer than Ontario, Canada. The evenings have been quite cool the last couple of weeks and part of my house is on top of the garage as well so that probably helps stave off the heat.

Anyways, There is a little bit of a pale residue on the bottom, I moved the bottle around and it seemed to mix up and make the whole thing a little cloudy. I'm chalking that up to be the corn sugar / stevia.

As for the ABV, I have no idea, I tried some before bottling and it wasn't "strong". This year is mostly a trial run, I currently have no way of testing this. Actually, almost all the equipment I've used is a neighbours'.

I can however tell you that I used "Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast" originally. I also just moved 1 bottle outside, i placed some wood around it on the side of my house to keep it in the shade, I'll keep an eye on it and see how the warmth helps - we have highs of 87 - 89 the next couple of days, but then it drops back to 71 on Tuesday. Wacky weather lately.

 

[Aristotelian]

You should give it at least 4-6 weeks before worrying.

I would be worried. I might expect it to be undercarbonated at this point, but he is saying no carbonation at all. That seems off for 10 days after bottling.

 

[gregbathurst]

If it has sat for 5 months before bottling and the temperature is under 20c then it wouldn't surprise me at all if there was no action after 10 days. The yeast population will be very small and will be slow to grow in those conditions. A lot of nutrients are lost with the dead yeast cells, eventually it should carbonate but it may take some time.

 

[Bergmann]

Okay, well I'll keep an eye on this one bottle I've moved into warmer temps. I'm thinking I'll crack it at the end of the week and see how goes. If there is still zero carb, will I be able to open everything, throw a couple grains of yeast in them and recap?

 

[Yooper]

Okay, well I'll keep an eye on this one bottle I've moved into warmer temps. I'm thinking I'll crack it at the end of the week and see how goes. If there is still zero carb, will I be able to open everything, throw a couple grains of yeast in them and recap?

It depends. If it's not carbonating because you've reached the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, even adding fresh yeast won't help. If it's a lower ABV, then it should help. It really depends on the yeast strain you used, and the amount of alcohol in the cider currently. Alcohol is poisonous to yeast, so just adding fresh yeast if the environment is fairly high in alcohol won't do anything. That's why I asked if any readings were taken, and what yeast strain was used.

 

[MindenMan]

In my house and in many others too, the warmest consistent place in the house is the top of the fridge towards the back wall (unless yours doesn't sit in a recess.) It doesn't seem likely you will have to worry about bottle bombs at this point so this idea is just another option.

 

[Bergmann]

Update: So I cracked one a couple days ago, it seemed to have a very small amount of carb. They may just need some extra time. I'll give it another week, if it's not noticeably better, I will add some yeast and recap.

My neighbor down the street had about the same results so far, he did crack six of them and add a small amount of yeast and recapped. He told me that they were violently bubbling after that, he may have had to cold crash them.

Anyways, I'll try again in a week, if no more carb, then I'll most likely add yeast and recap maybe about half. I can let the rest sit and see how goes, even if it takes a couple months.

 

[gregbathurst]

I like cider when it has a little sweetness from the added sugar and a light carbonation. If you keep the bottles cool you can keep it at that stage for a month or 2, later it will get drier and fizzier.