too much carbination...?

Hi All!

Just cracked open my first bottles of home brew! It's the Belgian Ale extract kit from True Brew. Looks awesome, has a really nice aroma, but... It's over carbonated! It's a little bland, tho I pick a hop taste out of it.

I used a priming sugar solution (1 packet priming sugar and one cup water, boiled). As I transferred the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket I added the carbonation solution. Any tips, advice, or anything I might need to know or do differently for my next batch of beer (prolly a RyePA)??
Thanks!!

If it is overcarbed, you can try prying off the cap very gentley and without deforming it to relieve the pressure under the cap, then recap it with the same cap.

As for the flavor, ferment warmer.

Define over carbonated. Is it foaming out of the bottle when you open it or what? What makes you think its over carbonated?

How long has it been in the bottle?

They've been in the bottle for 3 weeks. Bottled on 6/11. Pretty sure the directions said 3 weeks in the bottle before ready. I put a handful of bottles in the fridge 2 days ago. They've been in the basement the rest of the time.

As far as taste goes, or the thinking that they're over carbed... Definitely not foamy. In fact they open and pour perfectly. When you drink tho, all you feel and taste is tiny bubbles and carbination. Same with the after taste or finish as well. Basically, its way too carbed for that style of beer.

I'm thinking as far as flavor is concerned, I could have messed up a step earlier in the process, tho I felt very thorough.

kwingert said:

define over carbonated. Is it foaming out of the bottle when you open it or what? What makes you think its over carbonated?

Click to expand...

+1

Welcome to home brewing. You've got 2 different issues you say. Over carbonation in your case is just not hitting the mark where you think it should be, but not gushing. You probably used just a marginal amount of too much sugar. This is very difficult to get just right as the difference between under-carbed, just right, and over-carbed is probably a half ounce or so. You then have to know exactly how much beer you have. It may look like 5 gallons, but is really 4.5, and then you only bottle 4.25, or some such variation. Just be glad it isn't gushing. As for taste, did you add the hops at the proper time in the boil. Flavor hops aren't boiled for more than a minute. The yeast should also add their own flavor when at the proper fermentation temp. Too high and you'll get esters, too low and you get nothing. I prefer the dry side of yeast myself. And one more thing, were the hops fresh? Old stale hops won't give much taste.