So what was the problem?

Conmaicne Mara

I brewed some Lidl cider which had mixed results. Used Youngs cider yeast, and the Splenda and Sugar before bottling (batch primed).

I used swing top bottles and left it in the bottles for three months.

I could tell the "good" cider on opening, there would be a loud POP! like a champagne bottle. That would be fizzy, taste good, and have a nice kick to it.

The "bad" cider wouldn't make much of a pop at all or none altogether. It tasted absolutely awful, had very little to no fizz, and was undrinkable.

Everything that came in contact with the cider, all equipment etc. was sterilised using the bleach & vinnegar solution.

So what went wrong?

BeerNut

My guess would be the seal on the swingtops. The bad ones are the ones which weren't airtight.

Conmaicne Mara

Well........

I made two new brews, lidl cider, one primed with sugar, one primed with apple juice. Been sampling them last night and tonight

I had planned to leave on some of the original seals, but I was in HBW and got all new seals so I used them. The new seals are noticeably thicker than the ones that came with the swing tops.

I also made sure to stir my brew + priming solution every few bottles while I was bottling.

They've both turned out well, the apple juice primed brew is that bit sharper.