Overprimed my Wheat Beer: What Should I Expect?

[maltoftheearth]

I intended to brew a 5 gallon batch of wheat beer but (through poor planning, it was my first BIAB) I had 3.5 gallons to bottle. Unfortunately, I added enough priming sugar for 5 gallons of wort. I added 6oz of corn sugar hoping to achieve a volume of 4.0 for CO2 according to Palmer's specifications for German wheat beers in "How to Brew".

What can I expect? Will these become bottle bombs? Or will I just have too much carbonation/head?

 

[Germelli1]

You very well could have bottle bombs. I would carefully vent the caps then re-seal them with your capper! That way you don't have to fully uncap these bad boys.

Normally I would say don't worry about it, but for a beer style normally on the high side plus an extra 30% carbonation sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

 

[unionrdr]

I'd say to expect a nominal yield of 1 sealing... I am become Sheba,destroyer of beers...Sound familiar?

 

[marmonduke]

If I bottle a batch I like to put the cases of bottles in a couple trash bags, then into a plastic storage tote with a lid and put in the basement to minimize should they turn into bombs.

 

[DannPM]

The limit of normal bottles is anywhere from 4-5 volumes depending on who made them. Cover them with a heavy blanket to keep potential glass shrapnel from causing causalities. Also, wear safety goggles when handling them to avoid learning braille.

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

I'd probably let these guys sit at room temp for a week so they get a little carbonated and then throw them in the fridge (or a cooler with ice asap). Then you should hide your kids and hide your wife and drink them as quickly as possible.

 

[maltoftheearth]

I have the bottles sitting in a freezer at 45 degrees, I will throw a blanket over them so they don't ruin the freezer if/when exploding.

The braille comment was quite good.

 

[jaycount]

If they're in a fridge/freezer the yeast will (should) go dormant. Did you put them in the fridge immediately after bottling? If so they won't have carbs at all...

 

[beeber]

Get the biggest glass you can find, at least 22 ounces or more, pour it in, let it foam up and subside. Then drink!

 

[maltoftheearth]

If they're in a fridge/freezer the yeast will (should) go dormant. Did you put them in the fridge immediately after bottling? If so they won't have carbs at all...

They were put in a freezer w/Johnson control unit at 50 degrees until I decided how to proceed with the bottles. This morning I dropped it another 5 degrees when I saw the replies indicating that these might become bottle bombs.

I figure I can always warm to 65 to carbonate for a few days without that harming anything, right?

 

[Germelli1]

Just pop one open about everyday and check it's status!

 

[maltoftheearth]

UPDATE - apparently the initial cooling put those yeast to sleep for a good long time. I left the bottles at 70F for almost two weeks. I opened one bottle yesterday and there was minimal carbonation at best. Took them out of the 70F controlled freezer and letting them have some room temperature for a week to speed things up.

 

[brianwaynemiller]

How did this turn out for you, malt?

Reviving this thread as I have done the same thing (about 4.5 oz of Brewer's Best priming sugar for a 3.66 gallon batch). Mine is with an English pale ale, so I'm a little less worried because the recipe wouldn't have called for a super highly carbonated beer...but I'm not sure. (I'm a n00b still.)
Do I have less to worry about because of the style?

Germelli1, what do you mean by "vent" the caps - just pop them open and re-clamp the same caps? I'm almost inclined to just rip the caps off of all of them and re-seal.

How long will it usually take before I can tell if there's potential for bottle bombs or not? They've been in bottles (and in boxes under a blanket) for about 36 hours now. I'm traveling this weekend and would like to bring some with me, but I want to avoid bringing dangerous beer in my friend's car.

Thoughts?

 

[bknifefight]

You won't have bottle bombs, brianwaynemiller. Your beer will be overcarbonated for style, but who cares? Your beer should sit in the bottles for 3 weeks before you start drinking it. At 36 hours you may have carbonation but it's better to wait.

 

[brianwaynemiller]

Cool, thanks. Definitely wasn't planning on drinking any of the brew soon, but as I'll be gifting some to out of town friends and telling them to shelve it for a couple weeks, just wanted to make sure I don't need to have them store it in a bulletproof chamber.

 

[bknifefight]

I'd wait until it is ready and you are happy with it before gifting it.

 

[maltoftheearth]

How did this turn out for you, malt?

Reviving this thread as I have done the same thing (about 4.5 oz of Brewer's Best priming sugar for a 3.66 gallon batch). Mine is with an English pale ale, so I'm a little less worried because the recipe wouldn't have called for a super highly carbonated beer...but I'm not sure. (I'm a n00b still.)
Do I have less to worry about because of the style?

Germelli1, what do you mean by "vent" the caps - just pop them open and re-clamp the same caps? I'm almost inclined to just rip the caps off of all of them and re-seal.

How long will it usually take before I can tell if there's potential for bottle bombs or not? They've been in bottles (and in boxes under a blanket) for about 36 hours now. I'm traveling this weekend and would like to bring some with me, but I want to avoid bringing dangerous beer in my friend's car.

Thoughts?

I am curious about the caps as well because mine is now severely undercarbonated. I have taken the bottles and tipped them upside down on two separate occasions and there is now carbonation but not enough. Putting them in the fridge does not help much either. On the plus side, there IS carbonation it is just not much. My wheat tastes great but it tastes like it was cask conditioned.