only bottleing 4.5 gals!!!!!

[badbeer]

hello fellow brew buddies!!
I am bottling my first brew this week end, a 5 gal recipe for an oktoberfest. However, due to cosmic forces beyond my control (that my story and I'm sticking with it!) I could only transfer 4.5 gals to my secondary! Now at bottling time I realise the package of priming sugar is for 5 gals, not 4.5! should I reduce the amount of sugar a bit(maybe one or two table spoons less) so I don't over carb the batch which could have it's own troubles??? or would it be ok to use the whole package with not much worries??
thanks again
BADBEER

 

[dmoore714]

You could reduce to 4.5oz of priming sugar if you wanted to be precise about it. Probably not a big deal though, at 4.5 gallons.

I rarely get a full 5gallons of finished beer out of a 5gallon recipe, but as long as Im within a half gallon I usually use the full 5oz of priming sugar. If I'm off by more than that, I might adjust a little.

The only time I had a problem with breaking bottles was my first stout. Due to the ingredients (powdered peanut butter in secondary) I lost a lot to trub in secondary. Ended up with less than 4 gallons, but (without thinking) used the whole 5oz of priming sugar. I noticed the stress marks on the bottles after a few days, and kept a close eye on them after that. When I saw the first one break I cold crashed and drank the rest of the batch QUICKLY before I lost any more :cross:

 

[JuanMoore]

Or you could use a priming sugar calculator like this one, and choose whatever carbonation level you want to for the beer, and know that you'll hit it exactly.

 

[Evan_L]

I'm assuming it's linear so 10% less beer = 10% less sugar or 4.05oz. The difference probably wouldn't be noticeable if you didn't have a scale to be precise.

 

[thadius856]

Definitely use a calculator. Tossing in 5 oz would be inappropriate for many styles (too much or too little CO2).

 

[JuanMoore]

I'm assuming it's linear so 10% less beer = 10% less sugar or 4.05oz. The difference probably wouldn't be noticeable if you didn't have a scale to be precise.

It's not linear due to the carbonation already in solution leftover from fermentation.