over carbonated-what a mess!

[Davetct]

Thanks for the input. First off I brewed carribou slobber. Was my second brew. First one went well,anyhow I brewed it,primary for two weeks and then went to secondary. Made a bunch of mistakes that I wont get into here,but my og was 1.060 and fg was 1.020. I havent checked my hydrometer with distilled water yet at 59 so these are approximates. I ended up with 4.25 gallons. I used the entire bag of priming sugar,5 oz and two weeks later i had a mess. Bottles arent busting,damned strong glass So which do you think contributed the most to the over carbonation? Too high of an fg or too much priming sugar. I leaning toward too high fg but I appreciate your thoughts. TNX Dave

 

[KepowOb]

Generally it's not that the FG was too high, but that you didn't actually reach your FG. That would seem strange for something that went two weeks in a primary followed by more time in a secondary, but if it was finished fermenting at 1.020, then it was finished and that wouldn't result in any problems (a lot of us have had beers get stuck at 1.020).

I'd be curious as to what those "bunch of mistakes" might be, because depending on what they were, it could be what caused the problems....

5oz of priming sugar into 4.25 gallons will results in an over-carbed beer, but I don't think it's be enough to cause bottle bombs.... my best guestimate puts that in a C02 volume around 3.0ish... some beers (like wheat), go much higher than that.

 

[benco]

What temp did you pitch at and ferment at and maybe a little more of your process. Sounds like an infection so far.

 

[fuelish]

Sounds like an infection so far.

No it doesn't, at least not to me...sounds like he used 5 gals worth of priming sugar in 4.25 gallons....what leads you to jump to claiming infection??? Likely too much priming sugar with perhaps an incomplete ferment, if OP was expecting a lower FG, maybe....

 

[fuelish]

Bottles arent busting,damned strong glass

Just wondering, are they popping the caps, or is it just overcarbonated when you pop a cap??? And, yeah, details of mistakes can only help get figured out what might've went wrong, if anything

 

[Davetct]

Thanks folks for all of the input. I'll try to get more of the info. The mistakes I made i dont think led to infection. Im a starsan junky! I had a hard time cooling it down,didnt take too awful long but didnt have a good cold crash. now the next thing,which most people dont consider a mistake is I ended up just dumping the wort in the fermenter instead of siphoning it. I know not a big deal at all but thats what I did. I pitched two packs of yeast at 73 and had a vigorous fermentation for a week or better. It fermented at 70 degrees. Almost needed a blowoff tube because it was bubbling the starsan right out of the airlock. I only put it into the secondary to try to clean it up a little. Racked it that time. My fg after two weeks was 1.022. The third week I was still getting a little action out of the airlock for the first couple of days. Being a new brewer impatient,I bottled it the next weekend. 21 days after I brewed. I myself think it fg hadnt come down enough,but being new,thats just a hunch. With 4.25 gallons that i bottled i had originally was going just to put 4 oz of sugar but my first brew,a fat tire clone,was a little lite on the carbonation with 5 0z in 5 gallons. The fg on that one was 1.010.Soooooo,I just dont want this to happen again and didnt know if the priming sugar was so "touchy" with the amount you use.
Thanks alot for reading and the input. I really appreciate it. Have two more brews in the ferementers now and one in the bottles now. TNX Dave

 

[KepowOb]

Again, I don't think you overcarbed it enough to result in bottle bombs... Brewer's Best lists German Wheats as having C02 volumes of 3.3-4.5 (source). If your beer was fermented at 70F, 5oz of priming sugar would give 4.25 gallons would give you a C02 volume of slightly under 3.

Obviously if you still had fermentable sugar in your beer (FG wasn't reached yet), it could easily be the answer, but after three weeks at 70F, you'd expect it to be done.

Going into the secondary might have either given it an infection, or if the beer hadn't yet finished fermenting, perhaps it stalled at this point? Generally when you do use a secondary, you want to transfer only after fermentation is complete.

My first suggestion to avoid this would be to not bother with a secondary, unless you need to (adding fruit, or dry hopping). Your beer will clear up just fine in the primary, and as long as you don't plan on leaving it in there for months and months, you won't have any problems at all.

 

[KepowOb]

Just wondering, are they popping the caps, or is it just overcarbonated when you pop a cap??? And, yeah, details of mistakes can only help get figured out what might've went wrong, if anything

I just picked up on this now... when you say a big mess, what do you mean if the bottles aren't exploding on you? I had misunderstood the first time around.

 

[beergolf]

How long are you putting them in the fridge before opening?

5 oz priming sugar in 4.25 gal is a little high but not excessive. Most likely the brew was not at a stable FG before you bottled it, or you are opening warm beers.

 

[Davetct]

Thanks folks,the big mess it that its a pita to try to drink I uncap them after they get cold in the fridge,few hours,then put my thumb over the top and give is just a tick of a shake and lordy,then its on!! If I dont do that its about 3/4 foam when i pour. I agree with your thoughts on the secondary KepowOb. I am lucky and have a beer guru that I buy my kits from locally and he doesnt recommend secondary,just three weeks in the primary. I really dont think it was done fermenting. I have one brew that should be ready in a few days and two in fermenters. Just didnt know if sugar was that touchy. only 1 oz over. From listening to yall doesnt sound like it is. Thanks alot for all of the help folks. I really appreciate it CU Dave

 

[KepowOb]

Your problem is that you aren't leaving them in the fridge long enough. Give them at least 24 hours, or even better, several days, and you'll be fine.

If it wasn't done fermenting, you'd likely have a much bigger (and more dangerous) mess.