Big Mistake Made On First Brew!

[gone brewing]

Another approach is to uncap and cover the top of each bottle with glad wrap (maybe tie it loosely with string), leave it for 2 weeks in a warm spot so that all the priming sugar is gone and then prime with the correct amount of sugar and recap. I suppose this takes a long time but you know that the end result will be a beer with the right amount of gas and no bottle bombs.

Sometimes adding sugar to a bottle of beer can cause it to fizz up, this was discussed recently in another thread, but hopefully the beer in the bottle will be completely flat and you won't get that.

 

[Renegade]

I know it doesn't make much difference because I did double, but the teaspoons were measured with mums plastic cooking measure spoons. They weren't heaped but flat just under the top.

That would be around 4grams, according to the many cooking conversion sites out there

 

[Nick JD]

I guess it's ultimately up to me but what would you guys do?

I'd sterilise a fermenter and pour all the bottles back in. Put the lid on and the airlock and leave it for a coupla days. Then re-bottle.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

I'd sterilise a fermenter and pour all the bottles back in. Put the lid on and the airlock and leave it for a coupla days. Then re-bottle.

Wouldn't there still be too much sugar in the brew?

Thanks for the ideas. Still holding tight. Up until this morning none had exploded.

 

[Renegade]

The sugar will ferment out, and the resultant gas will dissipate trough the airlock - unlike in the bottle, where it's still fermenting but you have trapped the gas in the bottle, which is what gives you the carbonation.

Well that's the basic overview anyway.

I personally wouldnt take Nick JD's, mostly because it;s Nick JD, but also I would be concerned about areating the beer. If it was me, I would open one now, and if it doesn't gush, take all the caps off, and recap. Or I would just throw them all in the fridge, open one each week to check. and as soon as they are good for drinking, get them down fast.

And just because you have had no explosions YET doesn't mean it wont happen. Your beer is still fermenting in the bottle.

Honestly, 216 grams of cane sugar per brew (Im looking at this in a bulk-priming sense) is probably not dangerous. A little over the top perhaps, but not insane. Some priming calculators would actually recommend that much sugar for a particular style.

Out of interest what was your average temperature over the life of the brew ? If it was a bit higher, say in the '20's, that means you'll have less residual Co2 in your beer to start with. That's a plus.

 

[Nick JD]

I personally wouldnt take Nick JD's, mostly because it;s Nick JD, but also I would be concerned about areating the beer.

By the time you've got all of your 30 bottles back in the fermenter ... the CO2 has well and truely fizzed out any O2. Remember that these bottle are carbed-up.

 

[Renegade]

:lol:

 

[Steve]

I'd sterilise a fermenter and pour all the bottles back in. Put the lid on and the airlock and leave it for a coupla days. Then re-bottle.

I'd be doing this. Of course gently, slowly pour each one in on the inside of the fermenter so theres no splashing.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

The sugar will ferment out, and the resultant gas will dissipate trough the airlock - unlike in the bottle, where it's still fermenting but you have trapped the gas in the bottle, which is what gives you the carbonation.

Well that's the basic overview anyway.

I personally wouldnt take Nick JD's, mostly because it;s Nick JD, but also I would be concerned about areating the beer. If it was me, I would open one now, and if it doesn't gush, take all the caps off, and recap. Or I would just throw them all in the fridge, open one each week to check. and as soon as they are good for drinking, get them down fast.

And just because you have had no explosions YET doesn't mean it wont happen. Your beer is still fermenting in the bottle.

Honestly, 216 grams of cane sugar per brew (Im looking at this in a bulk-priming sense) is probably not dangerous. A little over the top perhaps, but not insane. Some priming calculators would actually recommend that much sugar for a particular style.

Out of interest what was your average temperature over the life of the brew ? If it was a bit higher, say in the '20's, that means you'll have less residual Co2 in your beer to start with. That's a plus.

Thanks for the reply!

I was talking to a fellow home brewer and he said if I was using "Pickaxes" I wouldn't have a worry but using the XXXX long necks they are weaker and susceptible to exploding with increased pressure.

Anyway, the beer was fermented at about 20-22 on average. Touched 18 couple nights but never went over 24. To be honest, the biggest worry isn't losing my first brew as much, but rather the chance of exploding a bottle and it breaking my others. I am contemplating buying another fermenter and so I can empty the bottles into the 1st fermenter and try and re-bottle them after a few days while continuing with my cerveza.

Sorry about being so indecisive. Bit confused still.

 

[caleb]

Don't stuff around too much.

The advice to simply vent the excess gas out of each bottle is the simplest and will have no ill effects on the beer. If you use a decent bottle opener and a bench capper you can probably just crack each one enough to let it vent, then reseal without even replacing the lid. I've done this myself with an ultra-strong ale that kept on fermenting after bottling and turned into a gusher.

And if we're basing validity of advice on avatars, you can't get more authoritive than an ancient, bearded, pipe smoking wizard...

 

[bum]

You're forgetting that Nick posted a picture of Lorenzo Lamas.

 

[haysie]

You're forgetting that Nick posted a picture of Lorenzo Lamas.

Another great :icon_offtopic: contribution.

Rider I would suggest if you are indecisive, check a bottle every 3-4 days when you think its right, chill the rest and drink it , move on to your 2nd and subsequent brews. As CM2 posted earlier, your addition is not that far left field. If on the other hand fermentation was not complete or you took a lot of primary yeast too the bottles anything could happen, however a check twice a week will give you a good measure.

 

[Renegade]

Another great :icon_offtopic: contribution.

Wow.

 

[bum]

I prefer to take it literally.

 

[Renegade]

I prefer to take it literally.

I hope you're right. Otherwise it was a bad call.

 

[bum]

Not exactly. I was OT but replying to an OT comment and referring to an OT pic post - so yeah, singling me out is somewhat questionable.

Dude has beef because I disagreed with his suggested improvements to the organisation of one on the best run boards on the bloody internet. He is of course entitled to his opinion (however I clearly am not).

 

[Renegade]

Perhaps I am to blame, for my AHB moniker is clearly emblazoned over that image. 'twas kinda creepy that you recognised a face in the line-up, of which I can only assume is some '80's TV show. Are they crime-fighters, perchance ?

Batman would kick their arse(s)

Let's hope Aus_Rider_22 will forgive these indiscretions that have blossomed within his topic.

And AR22, please keep us updated on what you decide upon doing with that brew. The more I think about it, I reckon you'll be fine, and at worst you'll have a vibrantly-carbonated beer.

Out of interest, being that you say 'your first brew', what was the recipe you put down ? You sounds like the kind of guy who is soooooooo going to start embracing more grain than a standard kit & sugaz affair if you stick around this forum.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

And AR22, please keep us updated on what you decide upon doing with that brew. The more I think about it, I reckon you'll be fine, and at worst you'll have a vibrantly-carbonated beer.

Out of interest, being that you say 'your first brew', what was the recipe you put down ? You sounds like the kind of guy who is soooooooo going to start embracing more grain than a standard kit & sugaz affair if you stick around this forum.

I will keep this thread updated. :beer:

It was just the ingredients that came with the Tooheys start kit. "Tooheys Special Draught" tin, Brewiser liquid brewing sugar and the supplied yeast from Tooheys. I got it from BigW because I had a Wish voucher card thing from my 21st so I thought may as well get a free starter kit.

I have since visited the local brew shop and talked to the owner and bought some more sanitiser, CARB DROPS and the Cerveza tin and brew enhancer. I told him of my mistake and he recommended just leave the brews in a safe place and they could turn out alright.

I am thinking about all grain and in particular kegging in the future. Just want to get a few drinkable brews down first. :beerbang:

Just bought a near-new bench capper from a bloke for $21.50. Should be alot safer/easier than the red 2-handed capper that came with the kit.

I am going to dash home soon and quickly uncap one and see if it gushes and will report back how it goes.

Cheers fellas!

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Went home and checked on the bottles.

Picked one up and opened the cap. Made the hiss sound of a normal beer being opened and the gas being expelled. Had a taste of it. It was one of the bottles that had the bottom half of the brew in it and I was expecting a fair bit of sediment. Surprisingly not alot of sediment. Just cloudiness which is to be expected.

When I tasted the opened beer it was still very flat and had a very sweet taste for beer. I guess that just means its a fair way from being properly conditioned. I replaced the cap and put it back. Should I do this to all and expell the gas and then not worry about it again?

Cheers blokes.

 

[zebba]

Hasn't even been a week since you bottled right? What sort of temp are they stored in? I've got an IPA that's been bottled for a month now and is still very slowly carbing 'cause it's stored a bit cold. Basically, you're not running a razors edge just yet

Personally, I'd give it a few more days and test another one before I did anything else. Happy to be corrected by someone with more experience though.