Over Carbonated with no obvious reason

[BlackDogBrewing]

I brewed Austin's Evil Brown recipe back in May. It spent 2 weeks in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, OG was 1.058, FG was 1.013. I bottled 5/25 with 4.5ozs of priming sugar/12 oz water. All of the bottles I've opened have been very heavily carbonated, but no gushers. I just noticed I'd had a bottle bomb as well. Everything was sanitized, all the bottles I've opened have been consistent. Any idea why it's so heavily carbonated. I have dozens of batches under my belt, but never had this happen before. It's delicious, just overcarbonated, I've always used either 4.5 or 5 oz priming sugar before. Recipe below.

Steeping Grains
- 4 oz Chocolate Malt
- 8oz Crystal 60L
- 8 oz Vienna Malt
- 8 oz 2 Row malt

Fermentables
- 7lbs extra pale Liquid Malt

Yeast
- White Labs, WLP 005 in 650ml starter w/1/2 cup Breiss light DME, fermented at 68 degrees.

Hops
- 1oz Brewer's Gold 9.3%aa 60min
- 0.5 oz Kent Golding 7.2%aa 15 min

 

[frazier]

I'll get the ball rolling by saying, "I don't know." My first guess would be that fermentation was not complete - although 1.013 after four weeks seems like plenty done to me. I have no second guess.

What yeast were you using?

 

[Ichthy]

How cold was the beer fermented? You should use a priming calculater and adjust for beer temp before you add sugar. If this beer fermented on the cool side you may be overcarbed because of the residual CO2 left in the beer.

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

How cold was the beer fermented? You should use a priming calculater and adjust for beer temp before you add sugar. If this beer fermented on the cool side you may be overcarbed because of the residual CO2 left in the beer.

I used White Labs British Ale WLP005, fermentation temp was about 68 degrees.

 

[Grinder12000]

What do you mean over carbonated! like REALLY over carbed? How long has it been since you bottled. I'm the expert on gushers! After 40 batches I ran into a bad string. Took a while to track down the problem.

 

[Ichthy]

That should be about 2.5 volumes, which might be slightly overcarbed for the style, but shouldn't give you gushers.

How long do you leave the beer in the fridge before drinking? I sometimes get a lot of foam if the bottle hasn't been in the fridge for a day.

Also, is it possible you missed your volume and bottled less than 5 gallons of beer?

 

[NorCalAngler]

I would guess you either had a lower volume, the beer wasn't done fermenting, or an infection is setting in and fermenting out the residual sugar. My first beer was overcarbed and I have been using the carbonation chart in Brewing Classic Styles ever since without a problem. Most ales brewed in the 60s need around 3oz of corn sugar for carbonation to style.

You had a bottle bomb, which I think takes far more pressure than the amount of sugar you're talking about would create. Is there a possibility your priming sugar didn't mix well and some bottles got a lot of sugar while others are undercarbed?

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

What do you mean over carbonated! like REALLY over carbed? How long has it been since you bottled. I'm the expert on gushers! After 40 batches I ran into a bad string. Took a while to track down the problem.

Not gushing when opened, but a huge head that just about spills out over a 20 oz nonic glass, 12 oz bottle. A bit of a carbonation "sting" on the tongue, 1 bottle bomb.

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

I would guess you either had a lower volume, the beer wasn't done fermenting, or an infection is setting in and fermenting out the residual sugar. My first beer was overcarbed and I have been using the carbonation chart in Brewing Classic Styles ever since without a problem. Most ales brewed in the 60s need around 3oz of corn sugar for carbonation to style.

You had a bottle bomb, which I think takes far more pressure than the amount of sugar you're talking about would create. Is there a possibility your priming sugar didn't mix well and some bottles got a lot of sugar while others are undercarbed?

The carbonation seems pretty consistent throughout. I've never looked at a carbonation chart before, just always used those 4.5 or 5 oz packs of priming sugar from Norther Nrewer or Austin. I guess I need to start using a chart...

 

[Grinder12000]

How long has it been since you bottled the brew ??

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

How long has it been since you bottled the brew ??

I bottled on 5/23, so 12 weeks since bottling.

 

[dogtailale]

Whats the temp you are at.

I brewed 1 batch a couple years ago they had to be literally 34dg B4 you could open them.
If they were 40dg you'd loose half the beer to foam.

 

[Grinder12000]

12 weeks - not an infection then. Any idea what the temp of the brew was when you bottled it? That can add or take away from carbonation. Anything out of the ordinary with temps?

When all else fails just chalk it up to gremlins. I have had some oddities I can't figure out and I just move on to the next batch.

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

Whats the temp you are at.

I brewed 1 batch a couple years ago they had to be literally 34dg B4 you could open them.
If they were 40dg you'd loose half the beer to foam.

It fermented a bit warm, about 70 degrees F. The bottles were fully cold on opening, about 34 degrees.

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

12 weeks - not an infection then. Any idea what the temp of the brew was when you bottled it? That can add or take away from carbonation. Anything out of the ordinary with temps?

When all else fails just chalk it up to gremlins. I have had some oddities I can't figure out and I just move on to the next batch.

It was at about room temp when bottling. The only thing I can think of is it may have gotten too warm during the 2 weeks of bottle conditioning. Maybe the Gremlins got to it.