Stuck Fermentation on Root Beer

[GroovePuppy]

Hey all. Made root beer with my son a week and a half ago from a bottle of extract, cane sugar and Pasteur yeast. Mixed it all up thoroughly as per the instructions and bottled into 2l soda bottles.

Fermentation started fine, bottles firmed up a bit, sediment on the bottom, but it hasn't gone further. They didn't harden up completely and are still squishy after over a week. I did try shaking the sediment up a bit to see if that helped but to no avail.

Only thing I can think I did that wasn't in the instructions was on the advice of a friend. I filled each bottle to about 2 inches shy of the top then I squeezed the air out before putting the top on. Should I have left air at the top or aerated? Is it recoverable?

 

[andyb0527]

I don't have any experience with making soda but it would seem to me that they wouldn't firm up much if they were squishy to begin with. Maybe try opening one and see if it is carbed up.