Added too much Priming Sugar-What to do?

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blisterman

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Ironically, since I just started a thread on bottle bombs, I have just realised that I made a stupid mistake and added far too much glucose powder to my beer.

Being European I usually brew in metric, but I was following an American recipe for a hefe weizen, which called for half a pound of priming sugar. I remembered the rough conversion rate being 1 pound = 2kg, whereas,as I've just discovered it's actually the other way around, so I added a kilo to 5 gallons, where I should have added 250g.

It's been in the bottles a day. What should I do now? Wait a couple days, open the bottles to release the pressure, and recap them? Throw out the whole batch? Or leave it as it is?
 
half a pound for 5 gallons?!

That sounds a bit high to me. Anyway on to your predicament.

A couple of days won't have built that much pressure. I think you could try it after a week or so? Dunno. I would not dump it. Try it and just keep an eye on them. Put them in a plastic tub or something to keep them from making a mess just in case.

;)
 
blisterman said:
Ironically, since I just started a thread on bottle bombs, I have just realised that I made a stupid mistake and added far too much glucose powder to my beer.

Being European I usually brew in metric, but I was following an American recipe for a hefe weizen, which called for half a pound of priming sugar. I remembered the rough conversion rate being 1 pound = 2kg, whereas,as I've just discovered it's actually the other way around, so I added a kilo to 5 gallons, where I should have added 250g.

It's been in the bottles a day. What should I do now? Wait a couple days, open the bottles to release the pressure, and recap them? Throw out the whole batch? Or leave it as it is?
Click to expand...

Holy cow, I'm not good with metric, but half a pound of priming sugar? That is a heck of alot of priming sugar right there, probably too much as it is. But, you more than quadrupled it? You added over 2 pounds of priming sugar to 5 gallons? (a kilo is 2.2 pounds, right?) That's a lot of sugar. I guess you could uncap all of the bottles and gently pour them back into a fermenter and allow it to ferment it. I think 2 pounds of sugar would really change the character of the beer, depending on the recipe, but I don't know what else to suggest.

What was the original recipe? Maybe the KG of sugar won't be too bad?
 
Just think of what 2# of corn sugar does to Apfelwein.

I say get it back under an airlock QUICKLY!

Give it a week or so, and then try to bottle again. Can't say how good it'll be, but it should be a few % higher ABV!
 
I think letting it ferment out is a possible good idea, but...

You risk serious oxidation trying to get the beer back into a fermenter though

52 #2 stoppers and airlocks on each bottle?

:drunk:

hmmm. quite a predicament...
 
Back in the fermenter it is. I'd rather risk serious oxidation than serious bottle bombs.
 
blisterman said:
Back in the fermenter it is. I'd rather risk serious oxidation than serious bottle bombs.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you. Even 8 ounces (the recipes request) would have been too much. 2.2 pounds is a definite bomb. Hopefully, you can put them back into the fermenter without too much aeration.
 
+1 on back to the fermentor. You'll end up with aobut 1.5% more abv than you planned, but that's not such a bad thing. Especially compared to 50 detonations.
 
Lucky I chanced upon a reference in a thread to (non metric/imperial specific measurement) 3/4 a cup of sugar, and decided to recheck my measurement.
 
Ok, it's been defused, and back in the fermenter. It was already gushing out after one day, so good thing I caught it.
FG was 1.012. With all that extra sugar, the gravity's gone to 1.020. It tastes good too although very sweet. Hopefully it'll still taste alright, once it's been fermented again.
 
Hi,

I have a similar predicament. I added a tablespoon of priming sugar instead of a teaspoon to each of my 12 oz. bottles. I only did 12 bottles so going back to the fermenter is not really reasonable. Let them be or uncap/re cap after 4 days, a week?
 
onthe1 said:
Hi,

I have a similar predicament. I added a tablespoon of priming sugar instead of a teaspoon to each of my 12 oz. bottles. I only did 12 bottles so going back to the fermenter is not really reasonable. Let them be or uncap/re cap after 4 days, a week?
Click to expand...

I would let them sit uncapped (but with the cap, or maybe some tin foil over the top) for at least week, and let the sugar completely attenuate. Once the gravity readings have stabilized, add the proper amount of sugar and recap.
 
Can you cold crash the home brew in the bottle after 1-2 weeks to stop the yeast?
 
hopvine said:
I would let them sit uncapped (but with the cap, or maybe some tin foil over the top) for at least week, and let the sugar completely attenuate. Once the gravity readings have stabilized, add the proper amount of sugar and recap.
Click to expand...

Tough one here! Good suggestions made above, but I agree with this one. I don't think you should transfer the beer out of the bottles. Oxidation, infection, etc. I would foam lock or tin-foil (star-san'd) each one and let them re-ferment. Add a measured amount of priming sugar (or better, use priming tablets in this circumstance) and re-cap. You will actually have drinkable beer doing this. Not what you intended (drier and higher ABV), but drinkable.
 
dregnier said:
Can you cold crash the home brew in the bottle after 1-2 weeks to stop the yeast?
Click to expand...

I would have thought this would work, but not long ago my wife made some wine - sweetened back and put it in the fridge. It still fermented some more, but very slowly. So I'd say you can't count on the fridge to stop fermentation. (Also, guessing at how long to leave it before stopping fermentation would be risky.)
 
dregnier said:
Can you cold crash the home brew in the bottle after 1-2 weeks to stop the yeast?
Click to expand...
Assuming you are talking about refrigeration. It may or MAY NOT stop the carbonation process. Do you really want to risk a bottle blowing up in your frig?
Do a search in the Cider section for pasteurization. Bottle bombs are more common with cider because all the sugars are simple and completely fermentable.
You can do the stovetop pasteurization as outlined in the sticky, or my personal preference is the cooler pasteurization method. I've done in 3 times over the past 3 years, and it's simple, safe, and works well.
 
beergolf said:
I think the OP figured it out by now since he started the thread 7+ years ago.
Click to expand...

It's what happens when someone scans the forum for an answer to a somewhat related question, tags an existing thread that looks close and rekindles ancient history. Better to just start a new thread.
 

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