Extremely fast carbonation and under priming?

[kommi1974]

Hey all,

I just bottled a 5 gallon batch of an AIH Perfekt Weizenbock. Using the calculator on Screwy Brewer, it calls for C02 volumes to be 3.71 to 4.74 for a German style Weizenbock. I didn't put anywhere near that amount. I must have been looking at a different style by accident and I only used about 8.5 Tbs. of Glucose with the last Tbs. being brown sugar as I ran out of the latter.

To even hit 3.7 @4.5 gallons with a temp of 70F, I would have needed to used around 15 Tbs. I only used 1/2 that amount. Obviously I am not rebottling or wanting to open the bottles and even attempt to add more sugar. The thing is, I was moving some of the PET bottles I used to bottle and today they were ROCK HARD. I don't even see how they could be this hard in just a few days considering I only used 1/2 of the recommended amount of sugar for this style.

Before anyone asks, my beer fermented out completely, sitting in primary for 3 weeks. The final gravity was 1.016, just as the recipe called for so I know I didn't have any unfermenttables going into bottling. The OG was 1.068 or so.

So now my questions are:

1. Is the hardness at just a few days in the PET bottles representative of carbing this quick? Is that even possible?

2. Is my beer going to taste flat now since I only used about 1/2 of what is recommended for this style?

3. Should I even try to add more sugar and recap or is that a big no-no and not to be messed with?

FWIW, my Porter I just got done with and conditioning for a month and refridgerated only had about the same amount of sugar (8-8.5 Tbs) and it is perfect, just carbed enough for a nice dark beer.

This is my first wheat beer and it tasted so good prior to bottling that I'm now worried it's going to be severly undercarbed.

If anyone can chime in, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[ncbrewer]

There seems to be some disagreement about carbonation in wheat beers. One article (http://hbd.org/brewery/library/YPrimerMH.html) shows 3.3 - 4.5 volumes for German wheat beer. Another (http://www.mashspargeboil.com/achieving-the-right-carbonation-in-your-home-brew-beer/) shows 2.5 - 2.9 volumes for Weizen/Weissbier. I prime my hefeweizen at 2.7.

 

[kommi1974]

There seems to be some disagreement about carbonation in wheat beers. One article (http://hbd.org/brewery/library/YPrimerMH.html) shows 3.3 - 4.5 volumes for German wheat beer. Another (http://www.mashspargeboil.com/achieving-the-right-carbonation-in-your-home-brew-beer/) shows 2.5 - 2.9 volumes for Weizen/Weissbier. I prime my hefeweizen at 2.7.

Interesting. I went back to the calculator and when adjusting the amount to 8.5 Tbsp or so, I would have the Co2 volume at around 2.4 for about I'm guessing around 4.5 gallons considering 2 hydrometer samples and beer I left behind when racking to the bottling bucket. Should I just not worry about it and let her ride?

 

[ncbrewer]

I'd leave it alone if it was me, even though it won't be perfect.

 

[kommi1974]

I'd leave it alone if it was me, even though it won't be perfect.

I am going too. All I know is the carb level I did it at is great for my robust porter, so I'm not going to complain. Next time I won't make the same "error." I know what I did, I followed the Robust Porter recommended priming sugar for some reason even after looking at the recommended amount on the priming calculator on Screwy Brewer. At the end of the day, as long as it is lightly carbed and tastes great I'll be happy. Hell, even the flat sample prior to bottling tasted great, warm and with zero carb.

 

[kommi1974]

I was going to ask if anyone here would even attempt to add more priming sugar (I do have some carb drops) since it's only been two days? As I mentioned earlier, I'm probably just leaving it be, but wanted to hear if anyone thinks it would even be worth the while....

 

[ncbrewer]

One thing I'll add - 3.71 - 4.74 volumes is a lot of pressure for an ordinary bottle. I don't know the limits, but it would be a good idea to check before carbing so high.