What do I do with over carbed beer?

CornyKegs 728
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KayaBrew

KayaBrew

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Just grin and bear it?

It's a shame, but I primed 4 gallons of Cali Common with enough sugar (3.5 oz) for 5 gallons. It's so fizzy, I can't even taste the 4 oz of Northern Brewer hops or the Victory and Munich malts. It's been in bottles for almost 2 months.
 
Caps are cheap; here is my idea:

Allow the entire batch to come to room temperature (if it isn't already), line up the bottles, open all of them, then recap them in the same order. Should allow some of the CO2 to escape.
 
Coastarine said:
Caps are cheap; here is my idea:

Allow the entire batch to come to room temperature (if it isn't already), line up the bottles, open all of them, then recap them in the same order. Should allow some of the CO2 to escape.
Click to expand...

+1 That should work just fine!
 
Coastarine said:
Caps are cheap; here is my idea:

Allow the entire batch to come to room temperature (if it isn't already), line up the bottles, open all of them, then recap them in the same order. Should allow some of the CO2 to escape.
Click to expand...

I would open them cold. If you let them get to room temp they will foam over when you open them. After opening them cold lay a clean towel over them and let them warn up a little then recap them. My two cents.
 
uechikid said:
I would open them cold. If you let them get to room temp they will foam over when you open them. After opening them cold lay a clean towel over them and let them warn up a little then recap them. My two cents.
Click to expand...

It depends how over-carbed they are now. They could slowly foam up, and spill out then he could be capping bottles that are 75%-66% full.

I resorted to pour some into a pitcher and drank like a glutton after the head subsided.
 
uechikid said:
I would open them cold. If you let them get to room temp they will foam over when you open them. After opening them cold lay a clean towel over them and let them warn up a little then recap them. My two cents.
Click to expand...

Wouldnt opening them cold cause them to foam more? If more CO2 is dissolved in cold beer than warm beer, more CO2 will gush out of solution when opening cold. Opening warm would have less CO2 in the solution and more in the space above the beer. Right? Maybe Im missing something.
-Jefe-
 
JefeTheVol said:
Wouldnt opening them cold cause them to foam more? If more CO2 is dissolved in cold beer than warm beer, more CO2 will gush out of solution when opening cold. Opening warm would have less CO2 in the solution and more in the space above the beer. Right? Maybe Im missing something.
-Jefe-
Click to expand...

Gushers would be worse warm if over carbed. The CO2 in solution would rapidly escape with the first crack of the seal.

Cold is best. Open them and then drink I say.

Invite us or your friends over to help solve your problem. :D
 
Ok, I see now, its about pressure differential. The cold beer has more CO2 dissolved and less CO2 in the space above the liquid. When you open the cap, there is less rapid release of gas out of the bottle than there would be if the beer was warm and more CO2 in the space above. I get it...do I get a cookie?:D
 
JefeTheVol said:
Ok, I see now, its about pressure differential. The cold beer has more CO2 dissolved and less CO2 in the space above the liquid. When you open the cap, there is less rapid release of gas out of the bottle than there would be if the beer was warm and more CO2 in the space above. I get it...do I get a cookie?:D
Click to expand...

Yes - Here's a cookie for you!!! :D

Cow-Pie-3.jpg
 
Gases absorb faster and higher concentration in a cold liquid than they do in a warm liquid. Those same gasses will come out of solution faster if that liquid is warm, and slow if that liquid is cold.
I don't know how you are storing the bottles in the fridge, but I had a strange thing happen not long ago. I was storing my bottled beer in the fridge lying on there side. Every time I opened one it foamed over. I thought I must have used to much priming sugar. Then I stood the bottles up for a day and no more foam over. I can't explain it but if you have your bottles on their side you might try standing them up.
 
Put these labels on it.....

"DRINK AFTER YOU ARE TOO DRUNK TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE"

...and then start on your next batch to replace it with.

:mug:
 
All great ideas! I'll try the recapping trick with a single bottle or maybe two, and see how that works. Thanks for all the relpies.:mug:
 
I had exactly your same overcarbonation problem with a pale ale earlier this month. Sugar for 5 gal, but only 4.2 gal bottled.

I experimented with opening room temp bottles and then recapping 2 bottles immediately, 2 bottles after 5 minutes, and 2 after 10 minutes. I then let all 6 bottles sit at room temp for 2 days and then chilled for 2 days. All six improved dramatically over the original overcarbed bottles. I did not notice a big enough difference between the 0 minute recapping and the 5 or 10 minute recapping to make waiting worth it.

For the rest of my bottles (~35), I did exactly what Coastarine suggested. I lined them up, sprayed the tops with sanitizer and then popped the cap on each of them. I then recapped them in the order that I opened them. A few of them foamed a little, but I lost almost no beer. It greatly improved my ale although it's still a little more carbonated than I would like. My pours went from 10% beer/90% head to 70% beer/30% head.

I hope that helps. Good luck.
 
ugly_mother said:
I had exactly your same overcarbonation problem with a pale ale earlier this month. Sugar for 5 gal, but only 4.2 gal bottled.

I experimented with opening room temp bottles and then recapping 2 bottles immediately, 2 bottles after 5 minutes, and 2 after 10 minutes. I then let all 6 bottles sit at room temp for 2 days and then chilled for 2 days. All six improved dramatically over the original overcarbed bottles. I did not notice a big enough difference between the 0 minute recapping and the 5 or 10 minute recapping to make waiting worth it.

For the rest of my bottles (~35), I did exactly what Coastarine suggested. I lined them up, sprayed the tops with sanitizer and then popped the cap on each of them. I then recapped them in the order that I opened them. A few of them foamed a little, but I lost almost no beer. It greatly improved my ale although it's still a little more carbonated than I would like. My pours went from 10% beer/90% head to 70% beer/30% head.

I hope that helps. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Awesome. I'm going to do that right now!
 

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