Tried my beer after 5 days in the bottle... Should I be concerned?

[Javaslinger]

Ok, my first batch ever... and first off it tastes GREAT! Super pleased! Great hops aroma and flavor. Went for a Citrus IPA with Mosaic and Sorachi Ace and it's wonderful..

After 5 days it's definitely carbonating. I tried it semi- warm straight from the basement. Maybe 62 degrees. The beer foamed right out of the bottle. I was able to pour a glass but it was extremely foaming...

It is possible these are destined to explode as they further carbonate? It doesn't taste overly carbonated now or even finished carbonating.

Is it perhaps because I hadn't chilled the bottle before opening it?

Just wondering if I need to drink these before they explode!

 

[morbster]

Yep, you should have chilled the beer beforehand. If you don't chill it from its carb temperature, the majority of the CO2 is undissolved. If you took your beer today, tossed it in the fridge for a couple hours, then tried again, I guarantee you would have different results.

 

[Burquebrewer]

CO2 will come out of suspension much faster in a warm beer. However, unless you put wayyy too much priming sugar, the risk of bottle bombs at 5 days is slim.

Stick a bottle in the fridge overnight and try it in the morning when it is fully chilled. If it is still over-carbonated, pry the caps of each bottle just enough to hear a hiss and then reseal them with your capper.

If the one you chill is the right level of CO2 in the morning, stick them all in a place where they can chill to about 33-34F to stop the fermentation and let them cold condition there for a month or so before moving them to the refrigerator.

If they aren't ready yet, leave them to carbonate further. If you are concerned they may over-carbonate, continue checking them weekly in this manner until the carbonation level is where you want it.

I over-carbonated a few batches back when I first started brewing and learned quickly to measure my priming sugar by weight, not volume. A lot of recipes will call for 2/3 cup of corn sugar for 5 gallons or something like that, but if you have 4.75 gallons or 5.5 gallons at bottling time, your carbonation levels will be off if you round it off or guess at your beer volume. There are several good calculators on-line that will tell you precisely how much sugar you need BY WEIGHT to get the right level of carbonation.

Good luck

 

[Revvy]

Read this and watch the video... and walk away from your beer....

 

[jamina1]

5 days usually isn't enough time to carb properly -- and chilling is essential as others have said. It's possible, this being your first batch you also may have some secondary fermentation going on.

My first batch had a lot of bottle bombs (when opened, even when chilled, they foamed like crazy) and it was just poor procedure on my part.

The bottling was messy, I got too much yeast in the bottles and I probably overprimed them too so several started fermenting again in the bottle instead of simply carbing.

The key here is to keep calm, let your beer sit for a couple more weeks, chill it, and then enjoy. I guarantee it will be better later.