My first IPA is a little too carbonated.

[VegasBrew1]

Howdy brewers. Batch #11 was my first IPA. Nothing but amber ales to this point. I use the Palmer chart to figure out the amount of table sugar to add at bottling. Always has been spot on in the past. This batch was my first attempt at dry hopping. 3 oz Cascade just thrown in, no hop sock. Cold crash and then bottle with 3.8 oz table sugar for a 5 gallon batch. It wasn't a disaster, no bottle bombs. But I just have to wait too long for the head to recede. Hop flavor is in the sippin', but not a great (but not bad) amount of aroma. Does dry hopping effect bottle carbonation? I did pretty good regarding the siphoning, no apparent hop detritus in the bottling bucket. PS, I dry hop in primary, then cold crash. Any relevant experiences would be appreciated. Before I started brewing, I really wasn't an IPA fan. Kinda of loving 'em now however. Cheers.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Dry hopping shouldn't have any effect on carbonation. I've never bottled with sucrose (table sugar). I always use dextrose (corn sugar). I know that it takes slightly less sucrose to achieve the same carbonation level as dextrose, so it sounds to me like you used a little too much table sugar to bottle with. I prefer slightly undercarbed to overcarbed, so I always shoot slightly low on my volume of C02.

 

[flars]

3.8 ounces of table sugar would have been about 2.4 volumes of CO2. This is the CO2 volume I shoot for in an IPA, using corn sugar. Are a number of bottles exhibiting the same foaming, or is the first or last bottles filled? Could be uneven mixing into solution of the priming sugar.

edit: Have the bottles been conditioning for at least two weeks before chilling a few days?

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

Volume you bottled was exactly 5 gallons? Even after trub/yeast cake loss and beer absorbed by dry hops?

 

[ChucknBeer]

Maybe the hops gave the beer a very thick foam? I also made an IPA recently and I am very happy with the foam consistency and longevity, at day 10 in the bottle. Crazy thick, but it doesn't feel overcarbonated.

 

[VegasBrew1]

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah, it was more like 4.5 gallons actually into bottles. Bottle conditioned for 3 weeks, then the whole batch into the fridge. The first 1 I opened was still not cold enough. Now with proper pouring, they do get a decent amount of foam with great longevity to it. But not too much anyway. Tastes pretty good too. Cheers.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Dry hopping doesn't effect carbonation (or at least the volume of CO2) but it actually can effect head. The hop particles in the beer create nucleation points for CO2 bubbles to stick to. In other words, when you open the bottle and CO2 bubbles start to form, they find all the hop particles and attach to them so you get more bubbles (i.e. more head). My IPAs always have more head then other brews that were carbed to the same volume.

 

[Aa760]

Cold crashing causes an increase in residual dissolved CO2 in my experience. Happens to me a lot. When cold crashing, I adjust the priming sugar with the brewers friend calculator. It allows temperature to be input. Using that volume of sugar and an estimated temperature of 38 by the time you remove from cold crash and start bottling, BF estimates ur at 2.95 volumes of CO2, which matches your description. Check out the nomograph in Palmers book in the appendix on priming.

 

[Aa760]

Correction. The nomograph is in the back of brewing classic styles.

 

[fartinmartin]

If that is US gallons, that's more table sugar than I would have used, I would have used a little under 3oz.
There are three main elements,
Ferm has finished,
Amount of priming sugar,
Conditioning temperature and time,

And of course experience so keep going and make your notes.

 

[ChucknBeer]

Don't mind the logo in the glass. This is the head that my IPA shows at day 10 in the bottle. No over-carbonation.

 

[fartinmartin]

Oh no Chucknbeer, that's too much.
I want beer in my glass.
And a head of dense small creamy froth that lasts.
I wonder if time will produce that from your Brew, or will your head always be that thin?