Secondary Cider firmentation failed?

[MikeStan]

hi guys,

I'm back with another silly question i'm afraid!

I've just done another Cider kit (wilkos own brand for the first time) and i think the secondary ferment's failed.

I started it as the same time as a Cerveza but (as i've seen before) it was still fermenting long after the beer was done and dusted. in the end all the actvitu stopped so I went ahead and bottled in 2L PET bottles with a coupld of spoons of priming sugar.

So far so normal, the problem is that only about a third of the bottles showed any sign of the fermentation continuing and none at all hace cleared. It's been about 3 weeks now, far longer than any other brews i've done.

I guess i have 2 questions;

1) is it recommended to try to re-start fermentation? I've got some Youngs hi-alcohol compound kicking about so i thought i could just mix that with some sugar and water before intriducing to the bottles. Sound like it might work?

2) does the clearing of a brew depend on the fermentation finishing correctly? trying to work out why it's not cleared! (Also, given how warm it's been i have had a bottle in the fridge for a couple of weeks, still couldy though althgouh a lot of the yeast has settled).

Thank you as always for any advice!

Oh and if trying to re-start is a bad idea do you think i should just drink it?

 

[NickW]

+1

I'm due to bottle in 2lPET soon too. Would be interesting to hear some suggestions for this

 

[iceo]

have the bottle firmed up?

i did a summer punch that has just started to clear properly and that has been in the bottle 8 weeks.

what temp have you got the bottle at

 

[MikeStan]

Yes, they've all firmed up to some extent, some more than others though.

The temp has been up and down unfortunately, they've all just been int he spare room (coolest i've got at the moment) except the test one i put in the fridge...

It hasn't been anywhere near 8 weeks though so perhaps i'm just not being patient enough! (in this weather the idea of a nice cold cider isn't helping ;-))

Cheers!

 

[iceo]

it takes 2 weeks plus for them to carb up and then 2 weeks min for them to condition(the long you can leave them the better). you could try chilling a few bottles down for a few weeks to see if that helps them to clear.

 

[MikeStan]

ok thanks, i'll see if there's any movement on the fridge bottle!

cheers.