Bottled beer moving from appropriately carbonated to overcarbonated

I have two recent batches of beer that have been in bottles for 7 and 10 weeks respectively that are overcarbonated. They aren't gushers so I don't think it is an infection and they taste fine, just too much carbonation. The thing is from week 1 to week 4-5 after bottling, the carbonation was perfect and appropriate (yes...I tried a bottle of each 1 week after bottling).

Anyway, are there other reasons why carbonation would continue increasing over time? My bottles have been stored in a closet that is 72-75F since bottling. I've seen a couple of postings that say that once carbonated, beer should be stored cooler to avoid continued fermentation/carbonation. Is this true and should I be more careful about storage temperature after the beer is carbed up, or is this just a case of using too much priming sugar, but it just didn't show until the beer had been in bottles for a while?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated...thanks.

Aaron

Assume you are still letting them cool in the fridge for a couple of days before trying?

I've had this problem too..... I often save a few bottles of darker stouts and porters and try a year or two later. Sometimes they pour really foamy after all of this time. Always taste good so not infected. Assume the yeast keeps working just a little over time.

Thanks....yes, I let them chill 2-3 days at least (usually a week or longer) before trying. Maybe I just need to use less priming sugar than the calculators suggest?

I have experienced this and I would say you should consider an infection, or contamination with something that ferments the remaining sugars in the beer once bottled. Along with being over carbonated, the beer will probably end up getting thinner in mouthfeel.

If the beer is turning out at the carbonation level you expected initially, it's unlikely that the yeast is continuing to ferment the beer. Cold storage will help slow the process. Also, drink it faster!

Consider changing your plastics if you haven't in the last year or two. Fermenters, bottling buckets, wands, tubing, thiefs, etc. If it only happens with some bottles, maybe start with better cleaning sanitation of the bottles.





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Unless there are other indicators, an infection is less likely than slightly uneven priming sugar distribution (which is easy to do and very common) or too much priming sugar overall. Fermentation isn't always predictable in the bottle because of how little yeast remains (especially if you cold crash or gelatin). Sometimes it will take your yeast a few extra weeks to finish the last traces of sugar.

An infection in the bottle can eat a lot of residual sugars, and will generally keep eating them until you have a real problem (gushers, at least--but it depends on your FG). Not always, but usually. "Mild infection" is often the answer people come to when no answer is obvious.

There is never a need to change plastics even if you brew lacto or brett or space bugs, but you may bleach them if necessary.

Aaron,
Save a few bottles in a room temperature place for a few months. Try one each month, see if the carbonation continues to get higher. All you can try to do is eliminate potential problems. In general there should be plenty of yeast remaining to bottle condition, unless you have lagered or have conditioned in the fermenter for months.

What were you shooting for and how much priming sugar did you use? What type of sugar? At 72-75, they should be carbonated quickly.

Had this issue myself. No off flavor just over carbed.

It's a PITA but you can burp your bottles, I've had to do this before. Use the longest handled bottle opener you can get your hands on. Me, I have a spatula for my grill that has a bottle opener on the end, works perfectly. Pry up gently and slowly until you hear the infamous "pfft". Then recap with your capper, don't replace the cap, just re cap the existing crown.

Cold crash the bottles again, rinse and repeat if needed. I've only had to do this twice, both times, a single burping along with cold crashing worked great.

pbntoast said:

What were you shooting for and how much priming sugar did you use? What type of sugar? At 72-75, they should be carbonated quickly.

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Yes, the bottles did carbonate quickly. I have also noticed that for one of these batches, all of the bottles are equally overcarbonated, but the other, only some bottles are overcarbonated. I still haven't tasted off-flavors in any of these beers or had any gushers, so I think it isn't infection.

I use dextrose and was shooting for 2.4-2.5 volumes of CO2. I did "cold crash" (aka left bucket outside overnight) so was bottling with the beer around 60F. Based on the brewer's friend calculator and accounting for different volumes and beer temperatures, I added between 4 and 5 oz dextrose. I realize now that I should just shoot for a lower carbonation level and I wouldn't have to deal with this. The part I thought was weird was that the carbonation seemed to increase still over time, but it wasn't necessarily consistent from bottle to bottle. I think I just need to (1) aim for a lower carbonation level, (2) make sure my temperature/volume measurements are accurate, and (3) make sure the priming sugar is well mixed to reduce variability.

Thanks,
Aaron