Over Carbonated/gassed Bottles

[Bremmario]

This can't be a unique problem but I couldn't find anything using the forum search...

I brewed my first kit beer using hops about a month ago.

Unfortunately I got lazy and I thought, hey, I've let it ferment for 14 days... It'll be fine, no need to check the gravity - wrong!

I cracked open my first pilsener and, much to my horror, the first one exploded out of the top in a giant fount!

Anyway, I ended up with 1/3 a longneck of flat beer and a huge mess in my kitchen... Good times.

So I tried sort of 1/10th opening the lid and trying to slowly get some of the excess co2 out of there... unfortunately, even after trying to do this slowly over about a 20min interval the beer still turns into an eruption once the lid is popped... although I can manage to salvage half a reasonably carbonated (delicious) beer if I pour, tip out the excess foam, and pour again.

Obviously the solution to this in future batches is to religiously check the gravity has stabilised prior to bottling....

What can I do in the meantime, anyone have any ideas to salvage this delicious batch? Slowly edging the crown seal up and letting a little bit of gas escape, letting the liquid settle over 5 mins and degassing again is TEDIOUS.

 

[buttersd70]

Slowly edging the crown seal up and letting a little bit of gas escape, letting the liquid settle over 5 mins and degassing again is TEDIOUS.

Unfortunately, that's about all you can do with it....tedious as it is. One thing that may help is getting it cold. as in, colder than your fridge might be running cold....right on the verge of icing up. The colder it is, the less likely it is to want to release it's co2......although, you need to make sure that you don't let ice crystals start to form in it...cos ice crystals act as nucleation points for the co2, and will make it froth as well....so it's a bit like Akira on the Simpsons. "poison......poison......poison.....tasty fish!". If you know what I mean.

 

[PostModern]

Chill the beer to within an inch of freezing. Slowly let the gas out by just, just getting a hiss out of the bottle, then let the pressure off the opener and wait. Again. Again. Again. Slowly let the pressure off but let the crown seal re-seat each time. Yes it will be tedious. There is no other way without losing brew. Learnt this on several case swap beers, never (I swear) on my own bottles

 

[Bremmario]

Hahaha, nice analogy butters.

Thanks guys.... I'll try getting it super cold pre freezing and then just do about 5-6 beers at a time so it's not so much of a pain in the ass.

Although I will have to get super drunk. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

[buttersd70]

Although I will have to get super drunk.

lol....once you get it so you can get the cap off, just pop a new cap on top, leave it out on the bench for 10mins or so, then seal it....no need to drink it all at once (although it would be fun that way :icon_drunk: .

 

[drtomc]

This has got to be one of the stages that everyone goes through. The others being:

* "You mean, if I put more sugar/dex/etc in, I get more alcohol? Wow!" followed by an undrinkable >10% rocket fuel, which you swear is fantastic, but for some reason never brew again.

* "Buggerit! I can't be arsed with this bottle cleaning business." followed by an explosion on the top shelf sending a cascade of beer and glass down through everything.

Me? I did the overcarbonated thing on my first brew, rocket fuel on my 3rd, and the shower of glass on about my 5th or 6th.

T.

 

[Bremmario]

Similar to me man - 6.5% pale ale on the 3rd go, over carbonation on about the 7th go...

I swear I will do the 6.5% brew again though! This time with hops and more love.

 

[The Big Burper]

B,



If the ferment was left for 14 days, and the temp range remained fairly stable
(and in the recommended range) for that period, it should have fermented
right out, and even show signs of clearing from the top.



I reckon (and this is only my opinion) that the problem could lie in the amount
of priming sugar used. 1 level teaspoon per tallie is all that is needed.

How much did you use?



cheers :icon_cheers:

BB

 

[Dazza_devil]

I reckon they are gonna blow.
I'd put them all in the fridge now to stop any further carbonation and try to drink them all as quick as possible.

 

[mwd]

Cannot beat the good old PET bottles with screwcaps until you are 100% sure of your brewing and bottling techniques.

Nothing easier than the squeeze test for carbonation levels and releasing pressure is as easy as.

 

[Bremmario]

Yes I considered too much priming sugar might have been at fault.

This was actually the first time that I used dextrose and the sugar measuring thingy you get from your LHBS. Previously I had used coopers priming drops. I did about 1/3 of the batch with the priming drops however, so we'll see after I crack open some more beers whether only 2/3rds are over carbonated... if so priming sugar is clearly the problem.


What is the correct use of the sugar measurer? This is hard to put into words but here goes....

I used the larger side of the scoop as I'm using longnecks.

I assume you just dip the measurer in the sugar and level it out using the hole in it to drain off the excess sugar? Or are you supposed to level it off at the line in the plastic (the line is slightly below the gap in the scoop)? Sorry if that made no sense!

What is the sort of threshold for over carbonation? Ie how much more sugar than the optimum amount do you think might cause your beer to be ridiculously carbonated to the point where it fountains out the spout on opening?

 

[Rodolphe01]

Yea that's the right way to use the scoop, but look into bulk priming (do a forum search) - a wee bit less hassle and allows you to use different size bottles without stuffing about.

 

[donburke]

Yes I considered too much priming sugar might have been at fault.

This was actually the first time that I used dextrose and the sugar measuring thingy you get from your LHBS. Previously I had used coopers priming drops. I did about 1/3 of the batch with the priming drops however, so we'll see after I crack open some more beers whether only 2/3rds are over carbonated... if so priming sugar is clearly the problem.


What is the correct use of the sugar measurer? This is hard to put into words but here goes....

I used the larger side of the scoop as I'm using longnecks.

I assume you just dip the measurer in the sugar and level it out using the hole in it to drain off the excess sugar? Or are you supposed to level it off at the line in the plastic (the line is slightly below the gap in the scoop)? Sorry if that made no sense!

What is the sort of threshold for over carbonation? Ie how much more sugar than the optimum amount do you think might cause your beer to be ridiculously carbonated to the point where it fountains out the spout on opening?

what was the brew and what yeast did you use ? what were the fermentation temps ?

these answers may not solve your problem but may prevent the problem with future brews

 

[Nick JD]

Just as an experiment, put 2 teaspoons of sugar into a 375ml bottle of beer and dissolve it. Then taste it.

It's very, very sweet. Same as a coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar in it.

Next time you go to bottle, have a sip. You'll taste the fermentable sugars if they're there.

It's a very easy method for avoiding bottle bombs. Yeast can, and will stall occasionally at a stable FG that seems "about right". I've seen bottle bombs happen after 3 days of stable FG.

 

[Nick JD]

What is the sort of threshold for over carbonation? Ie how much more sugar than the optimum amount do you think might cause your beer to be ridiculously carbonated to the point where it fountains out the spout on opening?

I've doubled the sugar with no fountaining. It'll lift the sediment at 8 degrees though ... it had to be 4 degrees to decant correctly.

 

[Bremmario]

what was the brew and what yeast did you use ? what were the fermentation temps ?

these answers may not solve your problem but may prevent the problem with future brews

The brew was a coopers pilsener extract kit with the included yeast sachet (I don't know what coopers provide).

Fermentables: 530g LDME and 300g dex - I have no idea why I used so little sugar! Probably a good thing considering the result.

I also added a hoesbrucker teabag (doubt that influenced it).

Temperatures would have been in the low range so I'd say maybe 11-15 across 14 days - my brew lair is under the stairs. Lowest temperature range of my brews thus far.

Good tip on tasting for sweetness prior to bottling, I'll keep that one in mind. Might have to keep an eye out for a second tub too so I can bulk prime, bottling is def. a bit of a ball ache.

 

[mwd]

Been using the Brigalow measure and Brigalow dex from Woolies for lots of brews and never had a problem yet.

I do use mostly 750ml PET bottles and a few odd 500ml and 600Ml glass bottles too.

You need a small funnel to put in the bottle mouth and just tap the measure to get rid of the excess dex. It sits level with the line.

Can bottle a brew in 30 bottles probably faster than preparing the bulk priming equipment and mixing up sugars.

For bigger batches and lots of different sized bottles then bulk priming would be a better option.

 

[donburke]

The brew was a coopers pilsener extract kit with the included yeast sachet (I don't know what coopers provide).

Fermentables: 530g LDME and 300g dex - I have no idea why I used so little sugar! Probably a good thing considering the result.

I also added a hoesbrucker teabag (doubt that influenced it).

Temperatures would have been in the low range so I'd say maybe 11-15 across 14 days - my brew lair is under the stairs. Lowest temperature range of my brews thus far.

Good tip on tasting for sweetness prior to bottling, I'll keep that one in mind. Might have to keep an eye out for a second tub too so I can bulk prime, bottling is def. a bit of a ball ache.

if its an ale yeast under the lid of your kit, it was obviously fermented at too low a temp (<15)

a lager yeast would have been better suited to those temps, sorry i can help your existing problem !

 

[The Big Burper]

Coopers Pilsener is supplied with a lager yeast, so your ferment temps were OK, but was 2 weeks enough?

I now suspect (IMHO) that ferm was not complete.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To save it, ring up the boss and get a couple of days off. <_<

Put all the beer in the fridge , let it cool down to as cold as it can get, and let er rip.

A carton of chips would be a good idea too, and a few drinking mates, if necessary.

cheers
BB

 

[warra48]

I agree overpriming is probably the culprit. That's not to say an infection couldn't produce the same result, but apparently the beer tastes OK, so that's unlikely in this instance.

Just one more thing I have found:
Those priming sugar scoop measure things overcarbonate all brews, as I think they dispense too much priming sugar.

I took to mine with a scalpel (I use it in model building) to lower the gap, and reduced the capacity to about 2/3rds of standard.
It primes my bottles up just fine. For Bitters or Milds I use even less than the reduced measure, and my bottles still carb up fine, but take a little longer.

I learned my lesson the same way as the original poster. Darned annoying to have to take 15 minutes to open a bottle, and still lose half of it.