Overcarbed bottle question

[hou_me]

So...

I am enjoying a molasses porter that I made a few months back- flavor is great, will be better in six months or so, the only problem is that it is way overcarbed because, well, because I'm an idiot. No bombs or anything like that, but it has way too much head and takes quite awhile to settle down. Can I just pop all the caps and then recap with new caps to relieve the pressure?

-ben

 

[fuelish]

You could do that, but....waste of time/energy and slight risk of infecting opened bottles (slight)....and that's only going to burp the CO2 that's in the headspace of the bottle, unless you leave them uncapped for some time, which might increase chance of infection/oxidation.....best to learn from your mistake(s) .....hopefully no future bottlebombs, but I'd do my best to keep this very cool, or, much better, cold until it's gone if it's overcarbonated already. I've had a few caps pop from overcarbonation, but luckily no bombs, which can be dangerous, am sure....good luck, put 'em in a fridge, drink up, and don't do whatever you did to lead to this in the future (you allude to this being a result of you're being an idiot, so am assuming you already might know what lead to this???...just wonderin')

 

[hou_me]

Two mistakes when I bottled this batch, but it really came down to putting too much priming sugar in the batch. I primed for a full five gallons and it should have been closer to three and a half. The reason it was short was because I forgot the damn sugar in the first place and didn't realize it until there was already beer in bottles. I knew it was too much sugar and put it in anyway and tried convincing myself that there was four gallons left and it would be okay. I was wrong. The good news is that this batch's aggravation led to me kegging finally, so it's not all bad.

-ben

 

[CraigKing]

Bumping this thread back up.

I've had 2 bottle bombs thus far from a batch I made back in January. It is an imperial chocolate stout, so I was trying to cellar it till this coming winter. However, it would seem I added too much priming sugar. I've had one 12oz bottle and one 22oz bottle explode so far. I've been storing them in my basement which maintains ~62 degrees, but apparently that isn't cold enough.

I'm going to pull them out of my basement and move them into a separate fridge. I'm a little nervous going near them.

 

[hou_me]

Yikes. Good luck with those babies.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[CraigKing]

Got home from work today and found that another 22oz bottle blew up.

With some safety glasses on, I transferred all of the remaining bottles to a cooler, and put them on ice. I'm just going to try to drink them all up as soon as possible. I might try the idea that was mentioned before about popping the caps, letting them de-pressurize, then re-cap them and see what happens.

 

[DakotaSouth]

Just dealt with two bombs weekend before last. Donned safety glasses and popped all the caps. Had 5 more foam out of the bottles at uncapping.

I reseated tbe caps on this red ale and a week later it is like last weekend didn't happen.

It was 5 ounces of priming sugar in a little more than 4.5 gallons of liquid. Same amount I have used in the past. After a bunch of reading, it appears that 4 ounces in 5 gallons might work better. That is what I plan to try in the next batch. Should be bottling it in two weeks.

 

[CraigKing]

Agreed, I'm going to reduce the amount of priming sugar I use as well.

 

[MindenMan]

As a rule, I add 0.75 oz per gallon of priming sugar to my bottling bucket before racking. If I make a light bodied beer, like a Mild, or ESB, I might go 1 oz per gallon to increase the mouth feel a little. I have a Strong Scottish Ale that has blown a few bottles already, maybe a dozen or so. I may consider opening a few of them into a bottling bucket, and then re racking.

 

[Hello]

Just dealt with two bombs weekend before last. Donned safety glasses and popped all the caps. Had 5 more foam out of the bottles at uncapping.



I reseated tbe caps on this red ale and a week later it is like last weekend didn't happen.



It was 5 ounces of priming sugar in a little more than 4.5 gallons of liquid. Same amount I have used in the past. After a bunch of reading, it appears that 4 ounces in 5 gallons might work better. That is what I plan to try in the next batch. Should be bottling it in two weeks.

Except if you don't keep them cold then they will continue to carbonate and it will be just like before. Keep then cold and drink them quick.

 

[CraigKing]

I may consider opening a few of them into a bottling bucket, and then re racking.

I hadn't thought about that. Instead of opening the bottles, letting them vent, then re-capping. Any advantages to putting them all back into a bottling bucket?

 

[DakotaSouth]

Except if you don't keep them cold then they will continue to carbonate and it will be just like before. Keep then cold and drink them quick.

Absolutely the plan. Appreciate it.