Look At The Head On It!

[pr1me]

hey guys, i've got a problem, i've just cracked one of my first brews, and its overcarbonated, I have the feeling it still had alot of sugar in the brew when i bottled, and i made it worse again by using carbonation drops when i bottled.

I've got tons of sediment(was before i started racking) and when i open one up it shoots foam across the room and takes out nanna's eyes. The bottles are PETs otherwise they would have detonated months ago and taken half the shed with it.

Is there anything that can be done to reduce carbonation in the beer?? Even if its open each one, release the pressure, reseal and then put away? Its beautiful beer once it stops foaming(takes about 20 minutes to pour one beer) and i'd hate to waste it.

 

[wardy]

i've been fortunate enough not to have this problem yet, but one thing you can count on is having to open each one and release the pressure.

If they really have a lot more fermenting to do, i would suggest clean glad wrap (keep as sterile as possible from the roll ie do not touch) and rubber band the top of each one. Otherwise just recap. that's just my opinion, but i would be glad to hear of some better ideas.

cheers

 

[Justin]

Firstly don't use carbonation drops, they suck. Secondly seeing as they are in PET bottles you are in the unique situation of being able to crack the tops and release the pressure then reseal easily. I'd crack all the tops ever so slightly and let some of the gas escape. Keep doing this until you reach a more managable carbonation level.

And be careful because PET bottles can hold an almighty amount of pressure so you don't want one to blow up iin your hand and/or face.

JD

 

[deebee]

Chill them way down to a degree or two above freezing before you open them. The liquid holds more CO2 at the low temps and opening them will cause less of a gusher. Then just twist the top enough to let a little leak out, maybe gradually opening them up as the pressure eases.

And beware because I'm told that PET does explode and could still be nasty.

 

[pr1me]

only used carbonation drops when i first started just before xmas, this batch was one of my first brews. I might just release the pressure on the bottles in my fridge currently and leave them for a week.

 

[Mashall]

I had this problem about 5 years ago. I was a little too keen to bottle when it hadn't completed fermenting - I was on a schedule and...well...the yeast won.

I originally just tired releasing the pressue and immediately recapping..but after 3 or four time I figured it wasn't working too well.

I solved the problem perfectly by taking the lids off, waiting 15 minutes for gas to escape, and then recapping.

Having PET bottles makes it even easier to fix. Don't worry about leaving the caps off as the excaping CO2 will prevent the air getting in.

 

[Guest Lurker]

I had one batch so overcarbonated that after chilling for 24 hrs, easing the top off to release the pressure resulted in 2/3 of the beer climbing out of the bottle. So I chilled them, flipped the tops off, poured them into a fermenter with the yeast sediment (filled a 30 l fermenter to the top with foam), left it 24 hrs to degas and warm up, stirred in a new carefully measured amount of priming sugar (based on the measured volume in the fermenter), recapped, and 2 weeks later completely fixed.

 

[Jovial_Monk]

the placcy bottles bleed CO2 to the atmosphere through the walls of the bottle

release presssure as decribed, likely more than once
long term, the excess pressure will dissipate

of course, your bottles wont be good for more than one moe batch. . .




JM

 

[Kai]

As everyone else has said; chill, crack and reseal. Even though they're PET, I'd wear protective facewear while you're doing it too, just in case.

There's also a chance that your gushers are due to infection with greeblies that are eating up everything left in the beer.

 

[SJW]

And feed the rest of those carbonation drops to next doors dog.

 

[pr1me]

well the ones i've cracked and relieved the pressure on and put in the fridge are fine now. still a bit foamy, but if you pour it like you would pour a stout, no hassles.