Help! - I've put 9oz of sugar in my barrel

I've just done my first brew (a budget larger kit) using one of those heated mains powered glass sticks to aid fermentation at the right temp. It seems to have gone well and I checked that it was ready to barrel with a hydrometer.

Although I knew that I only needed about 3oz priming sugar in the barrel, like a tool I was in a rush and I've put about 9oz in by mistake.

Apart from making this very lively, is this going to reduce the alcohol content and screw it up? - Any suggestions on what I can do... or have I just wrecked it?

Does your barrel / keg have a pressure relief valve ? If not you could end up with beer and plastic all over the house. (bottle bomb keg style)

The extra priming sugar is going to increase the acohol content of the beer. If your barrel is air tight then it is also going to produce a lot of CO2 which will carbonate your beer, and increase the pressure on the barrel from the inside. The beer will be over carbonated and the extra pressure could cause your barrel to explode if you do not have a way to release the extra pressure.

You just boosted your ABV! Rock on! I'm still a newbie, but my approach would be to let it ferment out in the barrel for a couple weeks and ensure you have a pressure relief to avoid an explosion (like the others have said). After that, I'd start over with the 3oz of priming sugar.

It won't reduce alcohol content, sugar won't convert it to anything. If your yeasties are active, they can make MORE alcohol off of it. I'd be fmore worried about pressue build up of the extra CO2

I agree with pkpdogg. Take the cap off of the barrel, cover it with sanitized aluminum foil, give it some time to ferment out, then re-prime. That would seem to be the safest bet.

I'd probably siphon it back to the sanitized fermentor and let it ferment until it is finished. Then you can add 3 oz of priming sugar and put it back in your barrel to carb and serve.

Hmmm...

Since it takes 5 ounces to cabonate a 5-gallon batch, and your intent was to use 3 ounces to carb your "barrel", then it appears to me that you don't have much of a barrel.

If your "barrel" is a Mr.Beer barrel, then i would recommend that you just let the batch continue to ferment the sugar out for another week, then re-add a proper amount of carbing sugar, and continue on with your process.

BTW - If this barrel that you are talking about using IS a Mr.Beer "barrel", and it IS your primary fermentor (rather than an extra Mr.Beer fermentor that you are using as a bottling bucket), then you DON'T carb the keg. You rack the keg into a (bottling) bucket containing the carbing solution so that the carbing sugar with get evenly mixed with your wort, and THEN bottle and cap your sweetened wort so that it will carb IN the bottles, NOT THE KEG!

If you try to use the same Mr.Beer keg, your primary, as your bottling bucket, you will re-suspend all of the sediment into the wort when you stir the wort/sugar mixture to get an even distribution of the sugar, and the sediment will ALL go right into the bottles along with the wort.

Pogo

Thanks for all the replies guys, (I didn't get them till now as my e-mail has been broken).

The good news (for me, I guess) is that my barrel is a Youngs barrel with a pressure release valve on the lid.

Over the last couple of days, I've poured out a glass or two and it's extremely cloundy (probably due to all the sugar at the bottom near the tap) and it tastes more like sugar water than beer - it's also very pale.

There is definitely good pressure when I pour though!

I'll take your advice and leave it for a couple of weeks and then either re-prime or just drop a CO2 cylinder in if needed. Good to know that it won't kill the whole batch off. - I guess I'll just have to wait longer to drink it and it'll taste a little sweater than normal. I like the fact that it will up the ABV!

I was going to simply drink it out the barrel rather than bottle it.

Thanks again.