Oops! Added too much sugar during bottling. What now?

[HeWhoDividedByZero]

I just finished bottling my first ever batch of apple cider. I am using a craft-a-brew kit from Grolsch, and when I made this batch, I only used a half-gallon of raw juice, while the instructions are for a full gallon. However, I forgot this when mixing the priming sugar. The instructions said to use two tablespoons of sugar for a gallon, but I forgot that I had only a half-gallon of cider. Now I have four bottles with double the amount of sugar the instructions called for. This batch has been fermenting for about two months, and I noticed yesterday that there were no longer any bubbles coming up in the fermenting vessel, which to my understanding means the fermentation process was complete. I have not measured the specific gravity of this batch yet because the graduated cylinder I ordered to use my hydrometer has not yet arrived. Should I burp the bottles to prevent them from exploding, or is there a better course of action?

 

[MaxStout]

I'm assuming you bottled in glass?

Put them in the fridge and let them chill overnight. Chilling will force some more of the CO2 into solution and reduce the pressure in the headspace. Then very carefully open them one by one to vent off the excess CO2. Do this while wearing some good eye protection--not joking here.

Recap and put back in the fridge.

 

[mac_1103]

Two tablespoons of sugar in one gallon should only give about 2.5 volumes of CO2. I don't know if that's overcarbonated for cider, but it certainly isn't bottle bomb territory.

edit - that's assuming that the primary fermentation really was finished.

 

[mac_1103]

Put them in the fridge and let them chill overnight. Chilling will force some more of the CO2 into solution and reduce the pressure in the headspace. Then very carefully open them one by one to vent off the excess CO2. Do this while wearing some good eye protection--not joking here.

Recap and put back in the fridge.

If he literally just finished bottling, the priming sugar hasn't fermented yet. So this will keep anything bad from happening, but he'll be drinking sweet flat cider.

 

[Zambezi Special]

Two tablespoons of sugar in one gallon should only give about 2.5 volumes of CO2. I don't know if that's overcarbonated for cider, but it certainly isn't bottle bomb territory.

edit - that's assuming that the primary fermentation really was finished.

I worked to metric and 2 tablespoons of sugar (if not in Oz) is about 24 gr.
In 3.8 liter is only just over 6 gr/litre
I standard use 6-8 gr/ltr
IF fermentation was finished

 

[InspectorJon]

He put 2 tablespoons of sugar in 1/2 gallon (1.9 L), not 1 gallon. Best option might be to put it in the refrigerator and drink it in the next week or so before it gets a chance to over carb. It might be flat/still and a little sweet.

 

[Zambezi Special]

He put 2 tablespoons of sugar in 1/2 gallon (1.9 L), not 1 gallon. Best option might be to put it in the refrigerator and drink it in the next week or so before it gets a chance to over carb. It might be flat/still and a little sweet.

Ouch. Yes
Or throw it all back in the fermenter, let go for a couple of days and bottle again with the right amount of sugar

 

[ncbrewer]

You can see there are multiple ways to handle this, but you need to make sure to relieve pressure - it is definitely over carb'd and they could explode. My understanding is that cider can be either carb'd or still, so I think I would put baggies over the bottles with a rubber band, and poke a pin hole in them. That would prevent an explosion. They might oxidize, so I would keep them refrigerated and drink them quickly to minimize oxidation. Be careful with these. As noted by maxstout, be extra careful when opening them, and chill them first. I would wear leather gloves and other protection if practical.

Edit: "other protection if practical" to "other protection definitely".

 

[mac_1103]

Or throw it all back in the fermenter, let go for a couple of days and bottle again with the right amount of sugar

Probably best IMO.

Much easier to solve if he used PET bottles. Or flip-top bottles as suggested in the kit instructions.

 

[ncbrewer]

I'm assuming you bottled in glass?

Put them in the fridge and let them chill overnight. Chilling will force some more of the CO2 into solution and reduce the pressure in the headspace. Then very carefully open them one by one to vent off the excess CO2. Do this while wearing some good eye protection--not joking here.

Recap and put back in the fridge.

It looks like this wouldn't relieve much pressure if done very soon after bottling, and waiting longer could make it dangerous. How would you know when to do it? And if it should be done more than once?

 

[mac_1103]

It looks like this wouldn't relieve much pressure if done very soon after bottling, and waiting longer could make it dangerous. How would you know when to do it? And if it should be done more than once?

If I had made a mistake like this in swing-tops or PET bottles, I would probably release the pressure every six hours or so for a couple of days. Then leave them at ambient for a couple more days and then chill them. This is semi-educated guesswork based on the assumption that natural carbonation generally takes about four or five days.

It's a lot harder and riskier in glass. Maybe wait 12 hours. Chill. Remove caps. Replace caps. Let them warm up and leave them at ambient for another 12 hours. Maybe repeat two or three times? Using appropriate PPE at all times of course.

The OP says that he has four bottles, which implies that they're 16 ounces each since it was a half gallon batch. This makes me think that they're probably Grolsch-style swing-tops, which are easy to "burp" and should be able to handle up to 4 volumes of CO2.

 

[HeWhoDividedByZero]

If I had made a mistake like this in swing-tops or PET bottles, I would probably release the pressure every six hours or so for a couple of days. Then leave them at ambient for a couple more days and then chill them. This is semi-educated guesswork based on the assumption that natural carbonation generally takes about four or five days.

It's a lot harder and riskier in glass. Maybe wait 12 hours. Chill. Remove caps. Replace caps. Let them warm up and leave them at ambient for another 12 hours. Maybe repeat two or three times? Using appropriate PPE at all times of course.

The OP says that he has four bottles, which implies that they're 16 ounces each since it was a half gallon batch. This makes me think that they're probably Grolsch-style swing-tops, which are easy to "burp" and should be able to handle up to 4 volumes of CO2.

12oz bottles but yes. It wasn't a full half gallon as I lost some when I racked from the gallon primary vessel to a half gallon one.

 

[mac_1103]

OK, 12 oz bottles are a bit of a problem. They're only rated for 3 volumes of CO2. If they've been at ambient temperature since yesterday evening you should get them cold ASAP. It seems pretty unlikely that they're already dangerously overcarbonated, but you have to deal with fixing this now and it probably won't be easy.

OTOH, you could put them in a very sturdy box and then put that box in another very sturdy box and then put that box somewhere far away from anyone or anything that might be harmed and just leave them alone until they explode and throw the whole mess away. (edit - in case it isn't clear, this part is not entirely serious; if someone did want to take it literally, they would have to find very heavy duty boxes indeed; like maybe very thick wooden crates or something)

 

[amber-ale]

1) put them in the fridge now on top of a towel
2) when cold, grab one using a towel, wrap up in another big towel and open it. If too few bubbles, great, drink it and wait a day then repeat.
3) when enough bubbles, call your friends over for a party and drink all of it. Try again with the other half of the kit. BEING CAREFUL to wrap in towel incase they burst.
4)have fun, make more, learn and have fun! You successfully made cider

 

[mac_1103]

call your friends over for a party and drink all of it.

He's got four 12 ounce bottles; wouldn't need much of a party.

I thought of this too late to be helpful, but in hindsight I would have popped the tops, covered the bottles loosely with sanitized foil, and given them a week at room temp to let the sugar ferment without building up pressure; then dose each bottle with the correct amount of sugar and recap to carbonate.

 

[malchizedec]

There is always the option of pasturising them after a few days. Big pot, bring to temp and then refrigerate them.

The flavour will change but it removes the time issue..... if not the caution.

 

[HeWhoDividedByZero]

Since starting this thread, I have been keeping the bottles covered in the fridge at night and on the counter during the day, burping daily. I have not noticed any significant release of gas from the bottles when opening them. I just did a taste test and can't feel any carbonation. Would it be safe to just let the bottles carbonate at room temperature for the remainder of the process?

 

[mashdar]

IMO not worth risking it. Exploding bottles are no joke.
Either drink them or pull the caps, cover in sanitized foil, let it ferment out, and re-prime.

 

[amber-ale]

Well, no.
You have not solved the over primed problem.
And keep them well covered on the counter, just in case and to prevent skunking due to light.
Or get 4 clean (new) green pop bottles, pour your 4 bottles of beer (slowly)into the pop bottles, screw on lids and test squeeze twice a day. When plastic bottles firm, it is carbonated enough.
Drink
Start again

 

[mac_1103]

Since starting this thread, I have been keeping the bottles covered in the fridge at night and on the counter during the day, burping daily. I have not noticed any significant release of gas from the bottles when opening them. I just did a taste test and can't feel any carbonation.

I'm not sure what you mean. Does covered mean capped, or just loosely covered? Does burping mean that you pop the cap and immediately recap, or something else? If the bottles have spent several days at ambient without being tightly capped, then the priming sugar has probably already fermented without carbonating the cider.