Bottle bombs in my future?

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mmonacel

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I just bottled my first batch which was a 5.5 gallon IPA recipe. I dry-hopped for 10 days and my FG remained constant at 16 points for a number of days (target was 15). While I was shooting for 5.5 gallons, apparently I only got slightly under 5 gallons in the end. Unfortunately, I didn't know this until after I made my priming solution for 5.5 gallons at 62 degrees (4.26 oz of sugar) and racked to my bottling bucket that had the measurements on the side. 5 gallons at at 62 degrees would have been 3.87 oz - a difference of .39 oz over.

While I fermented and dry-hopped at 62 degrees, I bottled at 70 ambient. My guess is that the temperature of the beer when going into the bottle was probably at about 64/65 (maybe warmer?) given it had time to warm up while I tried to get my process down...

All but three bottles are 22oz bombers. (an apropos name? :eek:)

Questions:
  1. Will a .39 oz difference in sugar ensure bottle bombs for me?
  2. I fermented and dry-hopped at 60-62 degrees the entire time, but I plan to condition / carb the bottles at around 70. Is 62 degrees the right temperature to put in to the priming sugar calculation?
  3. If I do have bottle bombs on my way, what's the best strategy from here? Keep for a week or two condition in my basement (62 degrees) and start drinking heavily to finish them up before they start exploding? :)

Thanks in advance guys!
 
RDWHAHB. NO bottle bombs, just slightly higher carbonation that you planned on.I have overshot the priming needs more than that several times.( getting in a hurry) with no bombs.
 
I just over-carbed my Kölsch, 5oz sugar for 4.15Gal. I basically put about 20% more than I needed. It's a wee be spritzy (about 3.2 CO2 vol when it should be 2.7 max). But, no bombs. I think most bottles can handle slightly higher CO2 volumes. IICR-There are some Belgians that are speced at 3+ CO2 volumes. My guess, you'll be fine.

However, if you are worried, as I was. I put mine in my big rubbermaid container, lined it with several towels inside (on top and sides of the bottles) and put the bin in a place not visited often by people in the house. And after a week, I checked it once a day to see if any had popped. I don't know if that really would have stopped any bomb, but it helped my mind.
 
Excellent - thanks guys. Any insight on the temperature to use in the priming sugar calculation? I use BeerSmith, but I'm still unclear on what temperature to plug in there - the ferment temperature, or the actual temperature of the beer when bottling. I've searched around, but still can't find a definitive answer (maybe I'm using the wrong search terms?)
 
Excellent - thanks guys. Any insight on the temperature to use in the priming sugar calculation? I use BeerSmith, but I'm still unclear on what temperature to plug in there - the ferment temperature, or the actual temperature of the beer when bottling. I've searched around, but still can't find a definitive answer (maybe I'm using the wrong search terms?)

Use your fermentation temp when calculating the amount of corn sugar to use. I believe there is plenty of debate on this but that is what I always use and it always seems to be about right. I recently bottled a Kolsch and used the DME amount instead of the corn sugar amount in Beersmith (stupid mistake!). It ended up being 30% too much so after 1 week I put all the bottles in my fridge to knock the yeast out. I was pretty sure I ruined the batch but it ended up being one of the best beers I have done! I wouldn't be too worried but if you have an extra fridge, test one in about a week. If it seems carbonated enough, you could store them all in the fridge.
 
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