Over Gassed Bottles

[WoyStew]

I have now done 4 brews and all have turned out very well taste wise. The last two however which were done at the same time have turned out over gassed in the bottles. Is there a way to reduce the gas in the bottles. I don't want to throw them out as the taste is good.

I used the correct bottling procedure so I assume I must have bottled them a little early. Any thoughts.

 

[manticle]

Crack them open, let them sit a minute or two then reseal.

Glass or PET?

 

[WoyStew]

They are glass.

Would doing what you say be enough. They are worse than soft drink at the moment.

Could I infect the beer doing this?

 

[kelbygreen]

just crack the lid but dont open it just so the pressure escapes. then screw the lids back tight

 

[Pennywise]

What type of glass bottle are they? Thin cub bottles or thicker 500ml Euro bottles, or other?

Edit: chances of infection are minimal

 

[manticle]

I doubt you'll infect the beer - I've had the opposite problem (undercarbed) and have added extra sugar and re-sealed - no infection. It is a low pH alcoholic solution so it's not the most bacteria friendly stuff in the world.

Of bigger concern though is the potential for the bottles to explode.

I would put some safety glasses on and wrap each bottle tightly in glad wrap. Then take as many as will fit, place them in the fridge and chill right down. Then take out of the fridge, open and let sit, reseal, rewrap in glad wrap, let sit 2 more days and see how much less gassy they are. Repeat until they are at the level you want. Do they gush when you open them?

 

[WoyStew]

They are the normal long neck bottles that you get commercial beer from.

I doubt they will explode now. They have been sitting for 4 months aging. I would have thought they would have exploded by now if they were going too.

At this stage I'll crack each bottle and leave for 2 mins and the re tighten the lid. Hows this sound? Just dont want to end up in a situation where they go flat.

 

[kelbygreen]

you will be right i pour a drink at night then have half a bottle left and the next night its a little flat but drinkable so you should be right. if in doubt do a few see how it goes if its flat then just crack a few for a bout 30secs then try them if flat crack them for 10 then see, if flat just crack them then tighten them

 

[manticle]

They are the normal long neck bottles that you get commercial beer from.

I doubt they will explode now. They have been sitting for 4 months aging. I would have thought they would have exploded by now if they were going too.

At this stage I'll crack each bottle and leave for 2 mins and the re tighten the lid. Hows this sound? Just dont want to end up in a situation where they go flat.

Try it with a few bottles and see if it needs more or less rather than do the whole batch at once. If you waited four months, a few more days won't hurt.

 

[WoyStew]

OK I opened the bottles and left each of them for two minutes then capped them again just using the same lid.

Tried one last night and little, if any change. Still heaps of foam when poared into a glass and very bubbly.

Decided to try again last night. Opened each again and left them for 20 minutes then capped again in the same way. Will try another tonight.

They still taste great but the foaming is an issue. Lets see how I go tonight.

 

[unrealeous]

Another common technique to overcome gassy beers is to pour the entire bottle into a jug, give the jug a good stir (which brings out a lot of the gas) and then pour into your glass. You'll soon work out how much stirring it needs...

 

[warra48]

You say you used the correct bottling procedure.
Can you describe your procedure for us?
Hopefully we'll be able to give you some hints to prevent this from happening in future.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Would it be to much to think that "maybe" fermentation was not quite finished prior to bottling? Hence priming sugar + a fermenting wort with a couple points still to go = over gassing. In my very early days that was the occasional issue I had.

It is food for thought.

BYB

 

[WoyStew]

Would it be to much to think that "maybe" fermentation was not quite finished prior to bottling? Hence priming sugar + a fermenting wort with a couple points still to go = over gassing. In my very early days that was the occasional issue I had.

It is food for thought.

BYB

I think your right. That's what I ment when I mentioned that I bottled them too early.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

I think your right. That's what I ment when I mentioned that I bottled them too early.

Woops :excl: I didnt read the fine print.

You could always be very careful and decant the lot back into the fermenter and let it finish. I have done just that with some success. I managed to get hold of some dry ice (Co2) to use as cover in the fermenter to prevent any O2 pick up.

Cheers
BYB

 

[WoyStew]

All OK now.

I ended up opening them for just over 15 minutes each. This was done over 3 openings.

Still a little bubbly but not too bad.

Thanks for your help

 

[hellbent]

Woops :excl: I didnt read the fine print.

You could always be very careful and decant the lot back into the fermenter and let it finish. I have done just that with some success. I managed to get hold of some dry ice (Co2) to use as cover in the fermenter to prevent any O2 pick up.

Cheers
BYB

just curious, I have a batch with the same problem, what happens if I just run it back into the fermenter as like with a secondary and put the lid back on for a day or 2??