Need solution to over priming

[Tyru007]

Bottled a batch of brown ale last night using 3.5 oz of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch. Unfortunatley I forgot that I had some losses and the volume was more like 3.75 gallons.

Any solutions to over priming bottle conditioned beer?

 

[Changeduser123]

With this amount of sugar, it corresponds to an average carbonation. So no bottle bombs.

Are you concerned about this, or about the fact that the carbonation level does not correspond to the style you want ?

 

[Tyru007]

I'd like to try and adjust the carb more to style since I wanted to send a few out for competition.

I've alread got the bottles in the plastic bin just in case.

 

[Mike_A]

You can bleed off the pressure in the head space a few times to reduce the carbonation. Think of a 2 liter bottle of soda - every time you open it, some CO2 comes out and eventually it goes flat. The more headspace in the keg (you should have plenty, with only 3.75gal inside), the fewer times you should have to bleed the pressure off. I don't know how to quantify how much pressure you'll be letting off.

If you shake the keg after bleeding the pressure out, you can do bleed it off more frequently, again just like a soda bottle you're shaking the dissolved CO2 out.

 

[Tyru007]

You can bleed off the pressure in the head space a few times to reduce the carbonation. Think of a 2 liter bottle of soda - every time you open it, some CO2 comes out and eventually it goes flat. The more headspace in the keg (you should have plenty, with only 3.75gal inside), the fewer times you should have to bleed the pressure off. I don't know how to quantify how much pressure you'll be letting off.

If you shake the keg after bleeding the pressure out, you can do bleed it off more frequently, again just like a soda bottle you're shaking the dissolved CO2 out.

Unfortunately I bottled instead of using a keg. I could pull the caps of 12 or so bottles, recap and test until I get to 4+ bottles with the right carbonation. Other than carbonation, would this impact the beer?

 

[LordUlrich]

If it were me I would not worry about it. Recaping the bottles opens you up to alot of potental problems(infection,oxidation, etc). I have also heard you should slightly overcarb for competition anyway.

 

[CPooley4]

I wouldn't worry about it. I've got you calculated at a 2.65 volumes of CO2. This is assuming the highest temp was 65 degrees prior to bottling. If it was higher, say 68 degrees, then I have you at 2.6 volumes. American Brown Ale calls for 1.5 to 2.5 volumes. You're quite close and judges have no way of measuring the CO2 level in your beer. I'm guessing you won't get many (if any) comments regarding it being too carbed.

My brew chart below in my signature has a kegging/bottling calculator that could be a good reference for you in the future as well. Has recommended CO2 levels for each style along with a calculator and how to for both bottling and kegging.

cp