Beer already fizzy in primary before bottling!?

[CosmicJam]

Hi,

Well my APA has been in the primary fermenter for 20 days now at around 60-65F (yeast is US-05) and a couple of days ago it reached its FG of 1013 (OG=1052). Its at 59F now and is really starting to clear nicely so will bottle this weekend.

The only problem is it is kind of carbonated already! Taking samples gives a pretty frothy head and lots of bubbles streaming up, takes a long time before I can get a good test with a hydrometer. What does this mean with bottling? Do I need to use less sugar? I'm using carbonation drops and they say to use 2 per 22oz bottle. Should I use 2 or just use 1? Kinda tempted only use 1 drop in half of my bottles and 2 in the other half to see what happens

What do you think? Thanks

 

[MBasile]

There is naturally CO2 in solution from the fermentation process and semi-sealed fermentation vessel, less than 1 volume though IIRC. This is what you're seeing. Also, frothy head might be from the sanitizer if you're using StarSan.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Totally normal. Bottle as you normally would, that li'l bit of co2 won't affect it at all.

 

[Revvy]

All beers have some co2 present and are somewhat "fizzy" seeming, but until you actually trap the co2 in a bottles and it gets forced into solution, it is not really carbed. In fact most priming to style charts take into consideration the amount of co2 already in solution (based upon the highest temp during fermentation.) But that really is not tihe same thing..which you'll learn eventually. I mean if you pour the beer into a glass right now and drink it, you'll know immediately that it is far from truly carbed up, despite how it appears. Iti's semantics but in reality, true carbonation (like you think of when you drink a beer) and having co2 in it, are not the same thing.

 

[unionrdr]

& def use the right amount of priming sugar,whether it's in solution for bulk priming or the drops. I used to use cooper's carb drops,which work fine. I just moved on to bulk priming,which is more accurate,& allows me to prime with different sugars. Not to mention evenly through the whole batch.

 

[CosmicJam]

Ok cool, thanks everyone.

This is my first batch (from a kit thrown in when I bought my gear) so for my next one I will do bulk priming to get more control. Maybe I did exaggerate slightly about how fizzy it was (it is slightly different from a bottle of beer carbonation) but I was still a bit suspicious of it. The last thing I want is my bottles to explode!

Cheers

 

[unionrdr]

It's a common sight in hydrometer tests to see co2 bubbles &/or foam. It's just trapped gas venting outside of the closed environment it's fermented in. No worries,m8.