Over carbed beer

So, I have been having trouble with the last three batches of beer that I have brewed. All have been over carbonated to some extent. The last being the worst, with multiple bottles exploding. All batches have come from Morebeer kits, but different recipes. Up until now I have not had any problems.

I bottle condition my beer. It sits inside my house in a dark corner, or a cupboard, general staying anywhere from 70-75 degrees.

I have read on here that I should be measuring out my priming sugar, instead of just adding everything that they provide.

Please explain this, I know nothing about it. If this isn't the problem, then what might it be?

Thanks

How long did you ferment the batch? What was the OG, and FG when you bottled?
You should weigh out the priming sugar when you prepare it so you aren't putting too many fermentables into the bucket.

onthekeg said:

How long did you ferment the batch? What was the OG, and FG when you bottled?
You should weigh out the priming sugar when you prepare it so you aren't putting too many fermentables into the bucket.

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I left this last batch in the primary for almost a month. The other batches were about 2-3 between a primary and secondary.

I really think they had finished fermenting, the gravity reading had stopped dropping when I bottled.

I have seen guys on here talk about measuring out their priming sugar. How do I know how much to add? I have only brewed the beer kits and the recipes have never said anything about measuring out the priming sugar.

There are a number of priming sugar calculators on the intertoobs, this is just one of them. Plug in your numbers and it will provide the weight of the sugar to use...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

There are a number of priming sugar calculators on the intertoobs, this is just one of them. Plug in your numbers and it will provide the weight of the sugar to use...

Cheers!

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thanks, I will take a look

If you had bottles explode, I find it hard that the normal 5oz of priming sugar would cause that unless you had other issues. Over carbed taste, sure I could see that for some styles even.

If you have close to 5 gal full batches, you might not be mixing up the sugar well before you bottle.

Other thing is, if you aren't measuring your gravity, and it's not finishing, or even stalling out, it could get kicked up when you bottle it. Your temp for carbing is fine, so I'd suspect your beers aren't done fermenting if you are getting bottle bombs.

FATC1TY said:

If you had bottles explode, I find it hard that the normal 5oz of priming sugar would cause that unless you had other issues. Over carbed taste, sure I could see that for some styles even.

If you have close to 5 gal full batches, you might not be mixing up the sugar well before you bottle.

Other thing is, if you aren't measuring your gravity, and it's not finishing, or even stalling out, it could get kicked up when you bottle it. Your temp for carbing is fine, so I'd suspect your beers aren't done fermenting if you are getting bottle bombs.

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Only the last batch has had bottle bombs . The other two batches have just been really foamy, and tough to drink. I always check the gravity, so I don't think that is the problem. I just checked the recipe and it said that there is 4oz. of priming sugar.

How do you mix your sugar. I will boil mine for 10 minutes then dump it into the bottling bucket. At this point a transfer my beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. I have forgotten to add the sugar at this point a couple of times in the past. When this happens I will pour the priming sugar into the bottling bucket and stir it up. I don't know if that is proper but it seems to me that it is getting mixed in pretty good.

What do you think?

I don't see an issue with the priming sugar addition. When I bottle, I'll boil the sugar with some water, and then cool it down quickly so I'm not adding boiling sugar to my wort. I'd add some first, and rack into it, and then add the rest after I've got about 3 gallons. I'll slowly stir it up without adding air to the beer and risking oxidization.

If you are going all that, then it's not the sugar addition. It has to be that somehow the yeast is getting enough sugar somehow.. From too much priming sugar, or perhaps there's a bit of fermentation still going on when you bottle. Bottomline is, the yeast are still going strong, with more than you anticipated in the bottles. Only way it can happen.

What about some type of an infection or bacteria? I thought that I read on this site that gushers/bottle bombs could be caused by some type of an infection. This would make perfect sense. The last few batches have all had the same problem to a certain degree, with the last batch having 3-4 bombs so far. If there is am infection I should be able to taste it, shouldn't I? I haven't opened any yet, that will come tomorrow.

Infections could cause it because it's eating up the sugars left, and making co2.

Could be the case, but that many batches is pretty concerning that you've managed to get an infection everytime. Some of them you could taste over time, but early on, probably not.

Well I cracked open one of my brews that came from the batch with the bottle bombs. It tastes really good. I am going to try and re-cap them and see how that goes. I really have a feeling that I have some sort of infection going. I have used the correct amount of sugar that the kit comes with, so I don't think I have put to much in.

I have watched the gravity levels close and they were all down in the correct range and had stopped dropping. My Nut Brown Ale, (the bottle bomb batch) even sat in primary for about a month, so I am sure that wasn't it.

As for being a problem with mixing, I don't think that is it either, I have stirred in every batch of priming sugar, even after I rack the wort on top of it. I have forgotten the sugar before, so I pay close attention to this step now.

My bottles are where I suspect the infection is coming from. I have been using my dishwasher to clean/sanitize them. I have found bottles as I was filling them that still had dried on smutz (the technical term) in them. I am changing the way that I care for my bottles now. When I finish a brew I will rinse the bottle clean, so that nothing has a chance to grow while it is waiting in storage. I also purchased a new bottle brush and cut the end of it off so that I can clamp it down in a drill chuck. I am going to clean every bottle with that before it gets sanitized. I also purchased a vinator to run the sanitizer up into the bottles, instead of using the dishwasher. Hopefully this will clear up this problem.

I am going to thoroughly clean and sanitize all of my cold side equipment before the next brew has a chance to touch it. I will keep my fingers crossed and let you know how it works.

That sounds like a good plan. My next suggestion is if you think you are getting an infection, I'd suspect that it's the one thing you are doing constant, but might be over looking.

The way you clean your bottles could very well be that one link that they all share, that really isn't a wrong way you are going about it. I think thats a good plan of attack.

In the mean time, keep your bottles chilled, and that will help anything else from getting worse.

OK, I got some more advice today and wanted to run it by you guys. I was told that after my bottled beer has reached what looks to be a good carbonation level then I need to put into the fridge to stop the process. I was told that I need to keep it refrigerated or else the carbonation process will start again. Has anyone experienced this before?

Carbonation will stop once there is no sugar left to be eaten by yeast. No because of the temp. You can chill them slow/stop the process early, like in fermentation, but ideally, fermentation is done when you bottle, and then you add sugar to be eaten and to cause the beer to carbonate.

If you put the right amount of sugar in, then it won't need to be stopped. It will die out on it's own, and be at the right amount of carbonation.

That's what I thought. I was at a brew day/demonstration and they told me the info about keeping the beer cold. I have always stored my beer at room temp, except for a couple six packs.

Storing it at room temp isn't bad by any mean.. Hot can be, but 70's in a home, is fine for most styles. Some that you age for a while might benefit from "cellar" temps, but that could be debated I guess.

Once you keep it cold, the yeast can't work. Much like when you ferment, if it's too hot, the yeast go wild, and finish faster than they should have, giving you a rough beer.

Clean your bottles out well after drinking from them...!!!!!
Wash out every bottle that comes back from people you give beer too....Lord knows they won't.

I visually inspect every bottle before bottling. (Even then - one occasionally gets by until I sanitize before filling.)
Oxyclean any bottles with mold in them - that's what that schmutz is.
Use a quality sanitizer like Star-San on your equipment.
You can also use Star San on your bottles prior to filling, or use the dishwasher SANITIZE cycle.

Cleanliness is the essential step in making great beer...make it the cornerstone of your brewing.

I am going to start a new batch in the next day or so, a tangerine wheat. I will let you know how it turns out.

As for the bottles, I have been cleaning them just like you said,rinsing them when I get done with them. I just started within the last month. Before that I was trying to get them clean by running them through the dishwasher. That didn't work, there were always bottles that still had the smutz in them. I am pretty sure that's why I am having the troubles that I am. I think with rinsing them thoroughly after I drink out of them, then cleaning them by hand, and sanitizing with the vinator I will be able to make sure that isn't the problem. Thanks for all of the good feedback.

OK, so I found a video on over carbed beer. It shows the guy bleeding the pressure off several times over the course of a day. He just barely breaks the seal and there is no need to re-cap. I tried this and it seems to be working. Here is the site,