Overcarbonated...now what?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Copernicus

Active Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Location
North Carolina
My first all-grain batch tastes good, but is definitely overcarbonated. It pours very frothy, but more importantly, I had a bottle bomb a few days ago when the weather warmed up to the low 80's here in NC. Maybe that bottle was a little weakened somehow, but it's gotten me worried I might have more bombs on my hands. I understand the causes of overcarbonation, one of which I clearly goofed up, but the purpose of this post is to figure out what to do now that they are overcarbonated.

Here's what I've considered:
1) Put them in the fridge to stop any further fermentation and to lower the pressure (via temperature) a little. Fridge space is an issue though.
2) Pop the caps to relieve pressure and re-cap them (is there a spoiling/oxygen problem with this?)
3) Drink 'em pronto, but I don't usually like to drink my problems away.

Any other options? Any thoughts on the ones above (especially #2)? Thanks in advance.
 
You can vent the caps a little without removing them. If you do this once a day for a week or so you should be able to lower the pressure. Popping the caps and trying to recap them will be very difficult without the beer coming out, if it's very overcarbonated.
 
You can vent the caps a little without removing them.

Can someone explain how this is done? Do you just use an opener until you hear the "psssssst" and then use the bottle capper (a second time) on the cap that's already sitting there? Does this re-seal?

Apologies for the noob question, but I am a noob...
 
If you select the recapping option number 2 make sure to get the beer as cold as possible before you pop the caps. This will bring more CO2 into the beer and out of the head space., but it will also slow the carbonation of the beer. Lastly if you pop the caps, do it on your driveway or in your garage. There will be a few bottles that will spray beer all over and making this mess outside makes it very easy to turn on the hose and clean up. THis is something I have learned from my previous experience.
 
Yeah just open it a little bit gently and it'll psssst. Then when you let go of it, it should seal back up. If it still hisses a little bit, put the capper back on it and press it down again. I've never had problems with them not resealing.
 
Back
Top