Whoops! I added too much priming sugar

[mantaray]

So I scaled a pilsner recipe in brewersfriend from 5 gallons down to 3.25 gallons.
Unfortunately, I failed to realize until it was too late that the CO2 priming was not scaled as well.

This resuIted in me adding 4.5 oz of table sugar to 2.91 gallons of beer.
I was shooting for 2.4 volumes of CO2 and ended up with 3.75 volumes.

Am I sitting on some ticking time (bottle) bombs?

 

[VikeMan]

If this is in standard brown homebrew store bottles, I would be very careful and I would keep them very cold. And I would consider loosening the caps and letting them off-gas for a bit, then recap.

Back in my bottling days, I did do some hefe batches that I carb'd to 3.5 volumes, and I felt that was somewhat risky. Luckily I had no mishaps.

 

[dmtaylor]

Kaboom.

You might want to uncap all and pour back into a fermenter for a few days, then reprime and rebottle.

 

[mantaray]

Kaboom.

You might want to uncap all and pour back into a fermenter for a few days, then reprime and rebottle.

This is a good idea, but why would I "reprime" ?
If I wait a few days, shouldn't there be enough residual sugar to continue carbonation?

 

[Dland]

I would not pour back to bucket, the resulting oxygenation will downgrade the flavor.

If it were me, I'd chill them real cold and open one or two and see how they respond. If they still seem too over carbed to drink/serve, and it is otherwise good beer you don't want to waste, maybe uncap them and re cap in a minute or so..depending on if/how much they gush. If they gush when close to freezing, they will be kind of dangerous at higher temps.

If they do not gush much when very cold, when you think they are done working, another option would be to decant larger mug/picture at around 30F and let it even out before enjoying the beer.

When messing around with potential bottle bombs, it is not a bad idea to wear appropriate gloves and maybe even eye protection....

 

[dmtaylor]

This is a good idea, but why would I "reprime" ?
If I wait a few days, shouldn't there be enough residual sugar to continue carbonation?

Capping again with part of the priming sugar fermented and part residual unfermented will give you unpredictable results. Better to let the priming sugar ferment out again completely. After which, you'll need to prime again with the correct amount.

Also, cold will not prevent overcarbonation. It will only delay the inevitable slightly.

 

[VikeMan]

Also, cold will not prevent overcarbonation. It will only delay the inevitable slightly.

Cold won't make CO2 go away, but it can prevent explosions.

3.75 Volumes CO2 at 68F -> 47.2 PSI
3.75 Volumes CO2 at 38F -> 24.2 PSI

That 24.2 PSI is less than bottes with 2.5 Volumes of CO2 see at 68F (27.6 PSI).

 

[Closet Fermenter]

When messing around with potential bottle bombs, it is not a bad idea to wear appropriate gloves and maybe even eye protection....

Definitely go with eye protection. I know a guy who now wears an eyepatch due to a bottle bomb. He was not even messing with or very near the bottle, but in a chair in the same room. Obviously, it was not refrigerated. Point is, you can’t be too careful if you think there’s a chance of a bottle going off.

 

[dmtaylor]

Cold won't make CO2 go away, but it can prevent explosions.

Tell that to my uncle's refrigerator when (decades ago) I rushed to bottle a witbier after just 3 days in primary.

 

[VikeMan]

Tell that to my uncle's refrigerator when (decades ago) I rushed to bottle a witbier after just 3 days in primary.

I believe it. But clearly there was more pressure than the bottles could handle. 3.75 volumes of CO2 @38F won't do that, unless the bottles are defective. (And those same defective bottles would also fail at 2.5 volumes @68F (or a little lower). I know you know what I'm talking about, but if anyone is confused: It's not the concentration of CO2 (independent of temperature) that matters. It's the pressure that concentration of CO2 exerts at a given temperature.

 

[mantaray]

Hey @VikeMan,

I decanted my beer into my fermenter, put the airlock back, and have been letting it sit at room temp.
The airlock is bubbling and things are happening, so that is good.

But I am still a bit puzzled by this approach to dealing with overcarbonating.

If it takes 2-3 weeks to fully carb in the bottle, how is 3 days in the fermenter going to off-gas completely?

Since I carb with table sugar, do I not run the risk of adding additional sweetness to my beer?

Thank you for your time.

 

[VikeMan]

Hey @VikeMan,

I decanted my beer into my fermenter, put the airlock back, and have been letting it sit at room temp.
The airlock is bubbling and things are happening, so that is good.

But I am still a bit puzzled by this approach to dealing with overcarbonating.

That approach wouldn't have been my recommendation, mainly because it will oxygenate the bejeezus out of the beer, at a time when the yeast doesn't need much O2.

If it takes 2-3 weeks to fully carb in the bottle, how is 3 days in the fermenter going to off-gas completely?

Carbonation (with yeast and sugar) is a biochemical process. Off-gassing of CO2 that's already in soultion just requires a difference in pressure, so equilibrium can be reached relatively quickly. Think of it like letting air out of a tire. Or imagine opening a fully carbonated bottle of beer and putting it on your counter for three days. It's going to be pretty flat.

But if you mean "How can fermentation of the priming sugar happen in the fermenter in three days when it would have taken 2-3 weeks in the bottle?", the answer is that it might or might not. But it would go faster in the fermenter than in the bottle, because the (closed) bottle causes pressure to build, which slows the yeast.

Since I carb with table sugar, do I not run the risk of adding additional sweetness to my beer?

No. The table sugar will ferment completely, making (mostly) ethanol and CO2. It won't add sugary sweetness because there's no net increase in sugar.

 

[mantaray]

@VikeMan thanks for the swift reply. I realize I mentioned you but I should have mentioned @dmtaylor as they made the original suggestion.
My apologies.

I'm less worried about oxygenation, since the alternative is to pitch the pilsner

So I guess I will restate my question to dmtaylor as, "If it takes 2-3 weeks to fully carb in the bottle, how is 3 days in the fermenter going to off-gas completely?"

It seems like this is too short of a time to ensure that all sugar has completely fermented off as CO2.

 

[dmtaylor]

I never said "3 days" in regards to how long it would take your pilsner priming sugar to re-ferment out. I said "a few days". I cannot give you an exact number of days. It might be 2 days, 3 days, 7 days, who knows. Although 3 days is probably not far from the truth either.

I agree with all of @VikeMan's input below.

Carbonation (with yeast and sugar) is a biochemical process. Off-gassing of CO2 that's already in soultion just requires a difference in pressure, so equilibrium can be reached relatively quickly. Think of it like letting air out of a tire. Or imagine opening a fully carbonated bottle of beer and putting it on your counter for three days. It's going to be pretty flat.

But if you mean "How can fermentation of the priming sugar happen in the fermenter in three days when it would have taken 2-3 weeks in the bottle?", the answer is that it might or might not. But it would go faster in the fermenter than in the bottle, because the (closed) bottle causes pressure to build, which slows the yeast.

The table sugar will ferment completely, making (mostly) ethanol and CO2. It won't add sugary sweetness because there's no net increase in sugar.

 

[mantaray]

I never said "3 days" in regards to how long it would take your pilsner priming sugar to re-ferment out. I said "a few days". I cannot give you an exact number of days. It might be 2 days, 3 days, 7 days, who knows. Although 3 days is probably not far from the truth either.

I agree with all of @VikeMan's input below.

Fair enough, fair enough. It will be what it will be.
I appreciate all the insight. Thank you.

 

[Zambezi Special]

Just for the heck of it, when you bottle again, use 1 pet bottle and you can follow carbonation by squeezing the bottle.
I'm quite warm, and normally carbonation is done 3 days or so, but I leave them longer as some other process is still going on. There is a clear improvement in taste.
I'm not 100% sure about terminology, but I would say that (under my conditions) carbonation takes about 3 days, but I bottle condition for at least a week (and then continu this bottle conditioning in the fridge for at least 2 days before drinking)

 

[hout17]

Glad you asked for advice and are taking it seriously. Bottle bombs are no joke. Hope the brew turns out decent for you.