Over-carbonated...Help!

Hi all,

I know this topic has been covered somewhat extensively, but I'm really trying to avoid any explosions. This is my first brewing experience.

Here's my situation...
I bottled 8 days ago, cracked open the first 22 oz bottle and the foam rose about an inch. Tasted super carbonated. Between an eighth and a quarter inch of trub on the bottom of most bottles. I have everything from 12 oz bottles, to pints, to Sam Smith style bottles, and 22 oz. Swing tops and caps both.

Here are the specifics of the brew...

Amber ale -
Fermentbles...
6 lb. Pale LME
1 lb. C&H Brown sugar
Yeast - US-05

Measured OG - 1.052 (78 degrees)
Measured FG - 1.008 (70 degrees)

Primary - 3 weeks (68-72 degrees)
No secondary

Bottled - 8 days ago (70-75 degrees) Just moved to 68 degrees (coldest spot of the apartment).

Is it at all probable that these these bottles will explode? I live in an apartment, so neighbors (not to mention my wife) would definitely not be happy if something like that happened. If so, should I recap? Or is it safe to assume carbonation is almost complete?

Thanks for any help!

Oh yeah, primed with about 4 oz. of corn sugar. Less than the 5 oz. bag that came with the kit (was aiming for something lightly carbonated :-/

Let them sit for another week or two. Then put a bottle in the fridge for at least 48 hours. Then report back.

Thanks, that's the plan for now. So you don't think I'm near bottle bomb territory?

probably not. 4oz won't be "lightly carbonated" but i don't think it'll bomb on you. a digital scale and some brewing software is a great investment. at least get the digital scale and use one of the many free online tools to get an accurate idea of how much sugar to use.

There is a video somewhere of a guy showing how a beer carbonates over a few weeks, early on the beer had similar results as yours. As long as you mixed the priming sugar in well you have nothing to worry about. Give your bottles some time to properly carbonate.

Since its your first time, open a bottle every week to see how the beer develops in the bottle.

Excellent, thanks for the insight! Much appreciated.

Assuming some loss to trub and so on, your looking at about 2.5 volumes of CO2, pretty average for a light ale not of Belgian origins.

Given your low FG and assuming it wasn't still falling, don't see any reason for them to go blowing up on you. Even so you have a healthy buffer before they go blowing up, the most highly carbed beers commonly brewed don't top 3.5 volumes and you would need a little more than 5.5oz of dextrose to hit that mark.

RDWHAHB

Only throwing this in here because it hasn't already been said but if you go longer than a couple of days in the fridge, like about a week, the CO2 will get absorbed into the solution to a greater extent and you'll end up with less of a gush on opening, better head retention and a longer lasting carbonation in the glass. You'll also find that the trub will solidify on the bottom of the bottle and you'll get a clearer pour plus the initial "super carbonated" taste you referred should have diminished considerably.

Don't know if you're doing this as well but I tend to bottle a few of each batch in PET bottles so that I can see/feel how they're coming along on the carb-ing process.