Possible over carbonation?

tgerts17 · Apr 16, 2014

I just completed my first extract brew. It is a hefeweizen. Bottles have been sitting at room temp (75degrees) for 8 days. I popped one in the fridge for 24hours and tried it last night.

I was real pleased with the taste at first and the beer had a nice creamy head on it. The head stayed all the way to my last sip. When I got to my last sip I kind of felt like it had an over carbonated tonic water taste. Which was weird because the rest of the beer tastes good.

Is this normal or could it be overcarbed? Should I get the rest of the bottles in the fridge ASAP or leave them for the three weeks at room temp?

This was a five gallon kit and I followed directions and used 1 cup of priming sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water at bottling.

I appreciate any thoughts.

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Pie_Man · Apr 16, 2014

One cup of dextrose sounds right for a hefe, assuming a five gallon batch.

I wouldn't put too much stock into the flavor from the last sip of a beer. You mentioned the head lasted to the end of the glass. Foam usually tastes carbonic, sometimes even somewhat metallic (especially in dark beers), to me.

Did you have a stable FG at bottling time?

tgerts17 · Apr 16, 2014

My wife broke my hydrometer before bottling. Shame on her. So no final reading. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I really liked the taste until the very end. It was probably the foam like you mentioned.

I've never seen foam stick around so long in a beer. Right to the last drop.

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duboman · Apr 16, 2014

tgerts17 said:
My wife broke my hydrometer before bottling. Shame on her. So no final reading. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I really liked the taste until the very end. It was probably the foam like you mentioned.

I've never seen foam stick around so long in a beer. Right to the last drop.

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We call that lacing on the glass and it's the sign of a good beer! Sounds like a winner to me