Test Bottle not carbing?

[nbstl68]

I plan on force carbing most of my cider but being my first batch I wanted to test natural carbing by back sweetening w sugar.

I used 3, 12 oz. plastic water bottles, (the really flimsy ones so I could feel any slight difference), and added 1/2 tsp table to one and 1 tsp to the other and a non sugared base to compare against.
9 days has gone by sitting at room temp, (which for me is around 68 deg F) and virtually nothing is happening.
After the first 2 days, the 2 test bottles were a little firmer than the non-sugared bottle, but it has not progressed from there.

What am I missing? I have the cap twisted on as tight as possible so pretty sure it is not leaking out there.
The cider has been raked twice, but folks at my home brew store said there's going to still be plenty of yeast in there for a reaction. Well, maybe not?

Is 68-70 deg not warm enough?
1 tsp not enough for priming 12 oz?

 

[AidanSavage]

The bottles are likely the issue. If they're flimsy like the water bottles, they're too permeable. Sure it might have carbed, but then bled out through the plastic. For test bottles you really want the soda bottles. Crack open a glass bottle, you should see a definite difference. If you dont, then you probably had too little yeast left floating around. Or too little sugar (there's an online calculator for priming sugar values somewhere).



edit: 2.4 vols of carbonation for a 70 *f cider would need about 24 grams of sugar per gallon, or about 2 grams a bottle if you add enough liquid when sweetening to fill 12 bottles. Src: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

 

[Maylar]

I plan on force carbing most of my cider but being my first batch I wanted to test natural carbing by back sweetening w sugar.

I used 3, 12 oz. plastic water bottles, (the really flimsy ones so I could feel any slight difference), and added 1/2 tsp table to one and 1 tsp to the other and a non sugared base to compare against.
9 days has gone by sitting at room temp, (which for me is around 68 deg F) and virtually nothing is happening.
After the first 2 days, the 2 test bottles were a little firmer than the non-sugared bottle, but it has not progressed from there.

What am I missing? I have the cap twisted on as tight as possible so pretty sure it is not leaking out there.
The cider has been raked twice, but folks at my home brew store said there's going to still be plenty of yeast in there for a reaction. Well, maybe not?

Is 68-70 deg not warm enough?
1 tsp not enough for priming 12 oz?

Depending on the yeast you used and the S.G. at bottling time, it can take a few weeks to get carbonation. As an example, I did an experiment like yours where I added 1 tsp of sugar to a 12 oz Sprite bottle of cider that had fermented down to 1.000 with Nottingham. It took 17 days to even start building up pressure, and another 10 days before the soda bottle was "hard" (20 PSI internal pressure). Warming it will speed things up, when I moved the bottle near the heat radiator (80 degrees) in my house the carbonation went much faster.

 

[nbstl68]

Thanks
I was thinking of moving them next to something warmer like a heat vent or my gas fireplace which is always radiating heat when off due to the pilot burner but thought maybe having the cider at more than 70 deg F would not be good for it in general.

I may try a test with a tougher bottle.

 

[MarkKF]

Thanks
I was thinking of moving them next to something warmer like a heat vent or my gas fireplace which is always radiating heat when off due to the pilot burner but thought maybe having the cider at more than 70 deg F would not be good for it in general.

I may try a test with a tougher bottle.

That's what I do in the winter. :rockin: