Argggg! Over carbonated AGAIN!

Ok this is getting silly, This is the third beer that I've made that was over carbonated (Only this time the beer itself is bad too) I just made this recipe http://hopville.com/recipe/1645084 gave it 3 weeks to ferment, hit target FG, bottled with the appropriate amount of priming sugar (5oz for a 5 gallon batch) and a large amount of my bottles spew foam out when opened! The beer tastes super sugary and seems really heavy...or thick. The weird thing is it seems under carbonated (even though the bottles spew when opened)

I had over carbonation issues with a Tripel & a Kolch that I made but they tasted great, you just have to let it sit for a while to let the carbonation to expel.

Anyone have any idea what happened to my Oktoberfest? (or my other over carbonated beers for that matter) I'm really disappointed because I hit my target gravity, target final gravity and thought I did everything right and I'm still having issues. Thanks for any help anyone can give.... I'm getting discouraged hah

Couple of ideas, I overcarbed my first few beers as well. Are you sure you finished my five gallons of beer? Boil off, true loss ... Might have been closer to 4.5. Also I found the 5 ounces for 5gallons to be a bit much. You can find online priming calculators and in my experience depending on style a little less than 1:1 was better

I'm still real new. But I've noticed that mine gush less the colder they are.

The last time I primed with sugar was about 3 years ago. I brewed for 2 years before I finally switched to carb drops. I keg and bottle about evenly these days, but I will never prime with sugar again. Was always inconsistent for me. I love carb drops.

Try this: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html?11812056#tag

For "american style" Pale ales and IPAs, I've found the "sweet spot" for carbonation volumes is 2.5

It is important to know the temp of your beer at the time you want to bottle. Equally important is the volume or amount of beer you are trying to carb.

How long in the bottle? You may be opening them too soon. they gush like they are over carbonated before they are ready. The CO2 created into the headspace may not have been forced back into the beer yet. Also, a few days in the fridge after they are ready is necessary as well most of the time. Just some suggestions from dealing with the same problem..........

If you are priming with 5 ounces of sugar with a 5 gallon batch and you are getting gushers you have one of three problems.

1. It was not really 5 ounces. It was way more.
2. Your beer was not done fermenting before you bottled it.
3. You have some type of sanitation issue causing your problem.

I am leaning toward #2 or #3

To eliminate 2 let your beer sit in primary for a few weeks.

To eliminate 3 replace all tubing used to transfer, replace the bottling wand, put a new spigot in your bottling bucket, and sanitize everything well. Also make sure you bottles are clean and properly sanitized. A good sanitizing solution is a must. I recommend Star San.

KayaBrew said:

It is important to know the temp of your beer at the time you want to bottle. Equally important is the volume or amount of beer you are trying to carb.

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Isn't it important to know the highest temperature reached at/after the end of fermentation? Since more CO2 off-gasses at a higher temperature, that value is used to compensate for CO2 left over from fermentation. So if you crash cool at 40 before bottling, that's not the value you enter, but the temp you fermented/ D-rested at (60ish?), right?

It won't cause gushers, but 5 ounces for 5 gallons is high for many beer styles. You'd do better to consult a priming sugar calculator for this.

How long is your ferment?

I go 21 days in primary, then bottle straight from there.

Overcarbonation is due to one of 3 issues:
1.) Beer is not done fermenting when you bottle (trying to bottle at 7-10 days type thing)

2.) Too much priming sugar (I go 2/3-3/4 cup of corn sugar)

3.) Infection. A slow, steady foaming that just keeps coming out of the bottles continuously after opening is generally a sign of infection in my experience.

Or you're opening them too early. Many times, the yeast will product CO2 (the gushing) but that CO2 won't actually get absorbed by the beer for a few weeks, hence the under carbonated beer with the gushing at opening. Put them down, walk away for two weeks and try again. FYI- I usually bottle carb a minimum of 3 weeks (I personally schedule out 28 days) before trying a new brew.

Patience is key, look at Revvy's sticky...


Anyway - for most beers 3+ weeks in the bottle, then 48 hours in the fridge. You say the beers spew foam but are undercarbed, you aren't giving the beer time to properly dissolve the CO2.

5 oz for 5 gallons is on the high side, but should not cause gushing if you let them sit longer and properly chill. Nonchilled beer will eventually dissolve all the CO2, but it will take weeks.

tennesseean_87 said:

Isn't it important to know the highest temperature reached at/after the end of fermentation? Since more CO2 off-gasses at a higher temperature, that value is used to compensate for CO2 left over from fermentation. So if you crash cool at 40 before bottling, that's not the value you enter, but the temp you fermented/ D-rested at (60ish?), right?

Click to expand...

+1 - Many of the calculators are a little confusing, in that they ask you for the beer temp but don't explain the what/when/why. It would be easy to think you should stick a thermometer in your bottling bucket and enter that number.... Not necessarily correct depending on how you fermented as tennasseean pointed out.

My over carbonation problems ended when I started to rack the beer from the primary to a "bottling bucket," aka my brewpot. Off the trub, I can more accurately measure how much beer I will actually be bottling, and calculate how much sugar to use. Prior to doing this, I was bottling straight from the carboy, and was most likely overestimating how much beer I was actually getting into the bottles.