Help with too much sugar in bottling effort.......

[klay23]

ok, noobie here first of all and first brew ever, so bear with me, lol.

brewed and waited the 2 weeks, all went well, no issues. then decided to bottle yesterday. decided to go with mason jars, seemed cheap easy and plentiful at a local store and had a little coolness factor i guess. well, what i didnt know is this, when using a spoon to measure sugar, apparently it is supposed to be flat, not a big heaping spoonful. useful information that was needed yesterday.

well, end result is the tops of the jars were bending from all of the pressure and carbonation. I heard of the horrors of them exploding and decided quickly to get them open and spread them out into more bottle, thinking maybe i filled them up too much. so after doing this i went to eat, when i returned, found same issue, too much pressure and more bent lids in that short amount of time. so i read somewhere on some website to put back into fermenter and put airlock back in place and wait. well, i did that? and i am real sure that the beer is now VERY airated from being poured back in the one gallon jug. have i killed it?? this was a one gallon brooklyn brew house kit. I will say this, the beer smells awesome, yummy even, and strong, i love it? but now, what do i do? help????????

 

[ChshreCat]

Mason jars are designed to hold in a partial vaccuum, NOT pressure. Quite the opposite. They will NOT work for beer, period. Good that you got them out of there.

Odds are that, yes, you aerated it. Fortunately, off flavors from aeration develop over time (at least they get worse over time) so if you bottle up soon, drink once it's carbed, you might still enjoy the beer.

Just NO MORE mason jars!

 

[klay23]

Should I prime them again with sugar? Is it not needed?

and thank You for your help.........

 

[Intrevix]

I think you're OK in terms of priming it. Do you have access to bottles?

If you were gentle with the pouring, then I think you'll be just fine in terms of drinking it as soon as it's all nice and carbed (just as ChshreCat said).

The best thing you can do is start another brew so you'll have something else to fall back on if this brew doesn't work out too well.

 

[klay23]

nope, no bottles in hand. any ideas on the quick? no local shops either that i know of,,,,,,,,,,,????????

 

[codyjp]

nope, no bottles in hand. any ideas on the quick? no local shops either that i know of,,,,,,,,,,,????????

If it's a gallon batch just buy a 12 pack and start working.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

If it's a gallon batch just buy a 12 pack and start working.

Every beer drinker has 12 empty bottles laying around!!! I made 12 empty bottles just last night.
You can also bottle in 20 oz soda bottle. Just make sure ya keep beer in clear containers outta sunlight

 

[klay23]

bottles arent the issue. i have 12 bottles, lol. but no caps, or can i use screw ons? will that work?

 

[klay23]

and i havent seen a single bubbe in the fermenter since i put the beer back in it......? is that bad, should i reprime with sugar now?

 

[cadarnell]

some 20oz. plastic pop bottles might be your best bet ... this all sounds like a learning experience to me .. i do think you will have to re-prime the beer when you do figure out how you are going to bottle it .. if all else fails and it still smells really yummy .. just chill it down and mix it with a commercial beer of the same style .. or drink it flat ... good luck

 

[ChshreCat]

You don't want to prime until you bottle. If you add sugar now, the yeast will just eat it up and you'll have to add more when you do bottle. You're not getting any bubbles because the yeast ate up the priming sugar already and are just waiting for more. Don't worry. They'll survive and be ready when you are. Order some caps and then bottle it up.

 

[klay23]

thanks everyone, smells so good, just gotta get it bottled. is it fine to sit as is for a week or so? imagine it may take a little bit to get stuff mailed here etc????

 

[shawnbou]

Just another 2 cents here ... since you probably will have to add priming sugar again you may want to look into either batch priming or Cooper's or Munton's carbonation drops. Both will result in more consistent carbonation and you won't have to worry about measuring out a level teaspoon of sugar into each bottle.

Batch priming would be your best bet for the future, if you have a bottling bucket and a way to transfer that beer to it. But offhand I don't know how much to tell you to use for a gallon batch.

If not, Cooper's Carbonation Drops (never used Munton's but they're similar) are quick and easy, and less mess.

Good luck!

 

[unionrdr]

The cooper's carb drops would be great for now. 1 carb drop per 12oz bottle,fill,& cap. Best at 4 weeks or so. 3 weeks is ok,but 6-7 weeks plus,& the get soda pop bubbles,head,& co2 bite.