Carbed too quickly in the bottle?

niko · 07-23-2009, 02:35 AM

I searched for awhile and could not find anything like what my issue is here:

I just recently brewed a EDME wheat beer and it sat in the primary for 2 weeks and achieved the proper FG. I then racked it to the bottling bucket and commenced to pour the 3/4 cup of corn sugar in the bucket.

When I did the bucket foamed up like mad, and foam almost came out the top! Like a huge head on a beer. Well I have the bottles conditioning now and I popped one just to see where it's at(4 days later). The head on this beer took half the glass! It's already carbed?? But it's still sweet from the corn sugar... WTH?

Anybody have any ideas? I already RDWHAHB btw...

Thanks.

**Revvy** · 07-23-2009, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko

I searched for awhile and could not find anything like what my issue is here:

I just recently brewed a EDME wheat beer and it sat in the primary for 2 weeks and achieved the proper FG. I then racked it to the bottling bucket and commenced to pour the 3/4 cup of corn sugar in the bucket.

When I did the bucket foamed up like mad, and foam almost came out the top! Like a huge head on a beer. Well I have the bottles conditioning now and I popped one just to see where it's at(4 days later). The head on this beer took half the glass! It's already carbed?? But it's still sweet from the corn sugar... WTH?

Anybody have any ideas? I already RDWHAHB btw...

Thanks.

Beer is only truly carbed when the co2 is absorbed back into the beer. If it's gushing it was a) more than likely not chilled for 2 days- warm beer will foam whereas if it is cold it is drawn back into solution. B) you may be at the stage where the co2 is really producing, but it hasn't maxed out the headspace in the bottle to get re-absorbed into solution...

And then of course even if a beer is carbed it still needs to condition...usually around three weeks at 70 degrees is the minimum...so there's no point in wasting a beer after 4 days anyway, that to me is one less beer I get to drink when it really IS ready to enjoy.

Go take a look at my blog; Revvy's Blog, Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

Especially look at Poindexter's video in it, he shows in the very first bottle at 5 days it gushing exactly like you describe, and pretty much explains what I just said...it is still to early...it is Fizzy, but fizzy and carbonated are two separate animals.

Basically just relax, walk away from you beer for two more week, then chill one down for 2 days minimum, THEN open it.

Betcha it will be fine. Everything will even out, the yeasties will consume the sugar and it won't be overly sweet either.

niko · 07-23-2009, 03:00 AM

Thanks Revvy, I have read and watched that video.. It's the part when I poured the corn sugar into the bottling bucket that confused me... I have never had a beer batch do that when I poured the sugar in. Anyways i will RDWHAHB(just not this wheat yet =-)

**ChshreCat** · 07-23-2009, 03:02 AM

What you did was basically the diet coke and mentos trick. Your beer will have lots of CO2 in solution at bottling time. The sugar granules gave nucleation points for all that CO2. Next time, heat a cup or two of water to boiling on the stove and dissolve your sugar in it. Pour that in your bottling bucket and then rack your beer onto it.

niko · 07-23-2009, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChshreCat

What you did was basically the diet coke and mentos trick. Your beer will have lots of CO2 in solution at bottling time. The sugar granules gave nucleation points for all that CO2. Next time, heat a cup or two of water to boiling on the stove and dissolve your sugar in it. Pour that in your bottling bucket and then rack your beer onto it.

Heh, thanks makes sense... maybe I will try that next time...

sundowner · 07-23-2009, 03:26 AM

Just a side note: I prefer to weigh the priming sugar vs measuring. It seems more precise to me.

**Revvy** · 07-23-2009, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChshreCat

What you did was basically the diet coke and mentos trick. Your beer will have lots of CO2 in solution at bottling time. The sugar granules gave nucleation points for all that CO2. Next time, heat a cup or two of water to boiling on the stove and dissolve your sugar in it. Pour that in your bottling bucket and then rack your beer onto it.

+1 to this....you should always boil your sugar...it sanitizes it as well as a making it easier to mix with the beer...liquid to liquid mixes much easier and evenly than dry into liquid.

But that is still a separate issue from the gushing in the bottle (kinda like you washing your car and having it rain and thinking you made it rain

)....except possibly uneven distribution of the sugar from bottle to bottle now...but more than likely it is just like I said that you opened to early.

I still believe they will be carbed fine in 3 weeks, and you chill them down.

**BierMuncher** · 07-23-2009, 03:34 AM

Normally you would dissolve the sugar in hot water and add the solution.

The fact that the beer foamed tells me that you very likely had some active fermentation going on. Just because you hit the "target" final gravity, does not mean the beer was finished fermenting.

You may well have bottled a beer with substantial residual sugars along with the added priming sugar and that will result in highly carb'd beers.

Keep an eye on those bottles as they may get touchy from being too carb'd up.

niko · 07-23-2009, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BierMuncher

Normally you would dissolve the sugar in hot water and add the solution.

The fact that the beer foamed tells me that you very likely had some active fermentation going on. Just because you hit the "target" final gravity, does not mean the beer was finished fermenting.

You may well have bottled a beer with substantial residual sugars along with the added priming sugar and that will result in highly carb'd beers.

Keep an eye on those bottles as they may get touchy from being too carb'd up.

And that is the whole purpose of me posting this thread... I was afraid I could have some bottle bombs on site.

I will be watching these closely.