Over Carbonation?

[Whoaexedge]

Anyone ever have an issue of overcarbonation? I brewed a Double IPA and it came out really good. My friend commented he thought it had too much carbonation. Is that possible?

 

[kh54s10]

There are different levels of over-carbonation. One would be by taste, in that it is more "fizzy" than the style of beer dictates. Or you could have problem over-carbonation, where you may risk bottle bombs.

Carbonating to style requires adjusting the amount of priming sugar you use depending on the style of the beer, the amount to be bottled and the temperature at which it was fermented.

Accidental over-carbonation can be due to bottling before it has reached final gravity, infection, too much priming sugar or a combination of these. This would bring a concern of bottle bombs.

 

[Odin_Brews]

Sure you can overcarb. One time I must have a bad mix with my priming sugar and ended up with 6 bottles that shot beer all over me and my kitchen and 50 bottles that were totally flat. If you're bottling you can look up a priming sugar calculator and see how many volumes of CO2 you have based on how much sugar went in. compare that with bjcp guidlines for DIPA.

 

[KepowOb]

There are different levels of over-carbonation. One would be by taste, in that it is more "fizzy" than the style of beer dictates. Or you could have problem over-carbonation, where you may risk bottle bombs.

Carbonating to style requires adjusting the amount of priming sugar you use depending on the style of the beer, the amount to be bottled and the temperature at which it was fermented.

Accidental over-carbonation can be due to bottling before it has reached final gravity, infection, too much priming sugar or a combination of these. This would bring a concern of bottle bombs.

^
This.

I have a Red Ale that I overcarbed. I'm don't have any exploding bottles, but I overcarbed it for my taste. It's still drinkable and my wife says it's fine, but I find it way too heavily carbonated. If you like your beer, you might just prefer high-carbonation levels, while your friend might like lower carbed beers.

As kh54s10 says, style guidelines do give different carbonation ranges for each style. That said, IPAs tend to be one of the more carbed beers generally, (I think).

My dad is from England and always says commercial beers are all overcarbed, since he's used to drinking bitters from pull taps that are carbed to 1.5ish levels. Anything more, in his opinion, is overkill.

 

[TriggerFingers]

Dark beers are notorious for not finishing out, and can start fermenting again in the bottle (either yeast or bacteria). When you have one that is truly over carbed it will almost bubble out of the bottle or keep a 5 inch head in a glass for 30 minutes. IPA's can finish high and it may be a preference for some to have it lower.

1st--make sure its finished....my 1.065-1.075 IPA's always finish dry (which I like)---1.011-1.013
2nd--make sure you adjust your priming sugar accordingly--some styles 3/4 cup corn sugar or 2/3 cup white cane

Also, if your friend drinks a lot of draft or nitro beers most bottled homebrew can seem overcarbed (nitro beers to me seem watery, which I don't usually care for).

 

[Whoaexedge]

Thanks everyone.

to your point TriggerFingers, this beer was 1.070 and finished at 1.010. It seems higher than 8.2 percent when I drink it though.

I don't necessarily think its over carbed. I am always worried about undercarbonation I guess. I bottle conditioned for 6 weeks.