Silly Noob mistake, please help!

[BrewNoob2010]

The recipe that I used for my first batch did not account for secondary fermentation. It called for priming sugar to be added at the end of primary, just before bottling.
I decided that I wanted to do a secondary fermentation stage, so I siphoned my brew into a secondary bucket, but added the priming sugar without thinking. I realized today that I should have added the sugar just prior to bottling. I won't be able to bottle until tomorrow at earliest (2 days after priming).
Am I doomed to have a flat first batch? Will adding additional sugar save my carbonation without the risk of exploding bottles?
Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[turtleboy3737]

give the yeast time to ferment the sugar, then prime again before bottling.

your beer will have a slightly higher alcohol %

note: do not bottle until the fermentation is done or you will wind up overpriming and blowing up some bottles

 

[thebamaking]

i definately wouldnt add more sugar. at this point you really only have 2 choices, toss it or bottle it. i would definately bottle it, even when the left over yeast do start feeding they aren't going to have finished in just 2 days, in fact, i think it takes 2 days for the process to even get going good, and as you know, about 2 or 3 weeks to finish it. i would just bottle it and relax, it might be semi-flat, but it's better than bottle bombs or a vinegar-tasting unbalanced beer, because 4-5 ounces of dextrose can have a significant impact on the taste of your beer if you let it ferment, and you also run the risk of running low on yeast to carbonate...just my opinion.

 

[turtleboy3737]

aren't going to have finished in just 2 days

I have seen full fermentations done in 2-3 days.
priming sure is not a lot of sugar and with the amount of active yeast in a full batch a lot of that sugar will be gone in 2 days... if he bottles without re-priming it will wind up un-carbonated and gross.

wait until the yeast metabolize the sugar you put in there, then re-prime and bottle. yes, the beer will be negatively effected by the extra sugar but its better than uncarbonated beer.

 

[mattd2]

wait until the yeast metabolize the sugar you put in there, then re-prime and bottle. yes, the beer will be negatively effected by the extra sugar but its better than uncarbonated beer.

+1 on wait a bit (maybe check the gravity is not changing to be sure) and then prime again and bottle. I don't think you will really tell the difference the original priming sugar made.

 

[Revvy]

i definately wouldnt add more sugar. at this point you really only have 2 choices, toss it or bottle it.

No, neither of those are the 2 choices he has..

The only choice is to let the beer finish fermenting the priming sugar he wrongly added, and then he should let the beer sit a couple weeks to clear, and then just prime with new sugar and bottle.

The idea to dump this beer, for simply adding extra sugar, is silly. He didn't make a dump worthy mistake. In fact there are very few dump worthy mistakes in brewing, ever...

Why would you suggest that? All he did was add 5 ounces of sugar in secondary. Many of us have added pounds of sugar after primary fermentation is over, it's pretty common i high grav belgian beers.

And if he's sat the beer in secondary after adding sugar, even for a few hours, there's not going to be enough c02 being produced to get trapped in the bottles, and the beer would be undercarbed.

Just let the beer finish out, and then bottle with new priming sugar, as if this never happened.

 

[bosox]

Everything I've read usually gives me the impression that priming sugar doesn't have much of an effect on alcohol context or taste, and is solely done to carbonate. I would also suggest waiting maybe a week, then adding more priming sugar and bottling. I doubt you'd see any difference.

 

[azscoob]

but it's better than bottle bombs or a vinegar-tasting unbalanced beer, because 4-5 ounces of dextrose can have a significant impact on the taste of your beer if you let it ferment, and you also run the risk of running low on yeast to carbonate...just my opinion.

Huh? why would the beer become vinegar tasting? that 4-5oz of dextrose will ferment out in each bottle the same as it would in the fermenter and that doesnt effect the flavor any, why would it change the flavor if its in a pail?
I have to agree with Revvy on this, let it ferment out and clear, then repeat the bottling steps as usual.

 

[BrewNoob2010]

Thanks for the help. I'll let it go for a week and then check the SG and see it holds for a couple of days.
Fortunately I bottled a few bottles to compare the differences between primary only vs secondary fermentation, so I'll be able to gauge the effect this mistake had on my final product.

 

[BeerWars]

Don't sweat it. Congrats on your first brew!