I made a five gallon batch of Ed Wort’s apfelwien following the directions on this site pretty much to the letter. I used one packet of Nottingham ale yeast and re-hydrated it before pitching. I also used the recommended 2 pounds of corn sugar to boost ABV. Final gravity yielded roughly 7% ABV. I bottled with the requisite 4 ounces of corn sugar for conditioning. It tastes great, and it cleared nicely, but I noticed that it never carbonated. It’s also sweeter than it should be leading me to believe that the added corn sugar never converted. The last clue in this mystery is that there is NO sediment in the bottom of my bottle leading me to believe that…
I racked to my bottling bucket leaving behind ALL the yeast? Leaving none in suspension to condition with? Maybe…not enough yeast? I don’t know. I want to make more of this as it’s really good and does pack a punch, but I would love for it to be carbonated and less sweet. Can anyone help? Please? Any advice would be appreciated.
How long has it been sitting? How warm?
Try moving the bottles to a warmer spot and give it a few weeks.
It’s been about two weeks. The bottles are in a box in my kitchen at roughly 68 to 70 degrees. I did open a 22 ounce bottle and tried it because I saw sediment in that bottle as opposed to the other bottles that had none. Carbonation was not complete, but it was progressing. Strange to have sediment in some but not all bottles. Why would this be?
I’d give it more time. I’ve found that when force carbonating meads and ciders, they take a bit longer than beer. Don’t throw in the towel just yet.
Thanks, Scot. I’ll do that.