Forgot Bottling Sugar, Beer Still Carbonated

[groverdill]

We bottled our Pale Ale in Grolsch-style bottles, but realized later that we forgot to add our priming sugar. Two weeks later, when we checked them: perfect carbonation!

Just curious: does anyone know how this could have happened? The bottles were stored at room temperature while conditioning, so perhaps that increased the carbonation chances. Very curious...

 

[brewt00l]

Your beer was still fermenting when it hit the bottles.

You had enough fermentable content in the beer to supply enough food to carb up.

 

[zoebisch01]

You may want to keep a close eye on those. They could overpressurize if your gravity was still sufficiently high pre-bottle.

Welcome!

 

[Soulive]

Your beer was still fermenting when it hit the bottles.

+ 1, you bottled too early. If you had added the sugar, you'd be cleaning up bottle bombs now. For the future, don't rack out of primary until you hit your FG...

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Your beer was still fermenting when it hit the bottles.

Exactly you bottled too early but in this case it worked out for you. Next time I would be more careful about making sure that fermentation is finished before bottling because if you didnt forget the priming sugar you probably would have made some awesome bottle bombs!

Buy a hydrometer!

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Wow I guess Im slow!

 

[Yooper]

Yes, I think the others are correct. It's a very good thing you forgot to add the priming sugar! Did you bottle when your hydrometer reading was stable for at least three days?

Or, maybe you didn't forget? Maybe your brewing partner did it, and you didn't realize it? I am guilty of this myself- my husband "helps" me sometimes and adds things to help me out. He's put sulfite in twice (or not at all), stuck his unsanitized hand in things, and sampled at will. Now, he is only allowed to lift carboys, crush fruit, and cork the wine bottles. And drink the wine and beer when it's time.

 

[groverdill]

Your beer was still fermenting when it hit the bottles.

That must be it. It was highly active, and we must have re-racked too soon while it was still fermenting. Thanks for the help.

 

[malkore]

So, in the future, do NOT rack until the beer is ready.

When is it ready?
Well, you shoud know your OG. From there, you can estimate teh FG. When you get 3 days in a row with the same gravity that is at, or very near the expected FG, its safe to rack or bottle.

 

[david_42]

Isn't there a Three Stooges routine on beer making?

 

[uglygoat]

do you know the gravities of your beer? when you first pitched the yeast, and when you bottled?

casked ales rely on the residual sugars left in the brew to carbonate, but it's in a much more stable vessel. ie. the cask doesn't tend to explode.