Fixing Over-Carbonated Beer - Swing Top Bottles?

[Avocado Fruit]

Hi guys.

A simple question I'm sure for all the experienced folk on here. I have researched fixes for over-carbed bottled beer - the solution being to slowly vent the bottles periodically. This seems to only work with crown bottled caps, as the swing tops always have that initial sudden pop.

Is there a cure for this? The over-carbonated bottles aren't heavy gushers, although they do slowly rise if left for more than 30 seconds. They have been stored cold and still produce a massive head.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ajhutch]

To me, the pour seems the obvious time to try and do anything about it, unless you are worried about them exploding. How long was the gravity stable for before you bottled, and did you use a priming calculator?

I wouldn’t trust myself to do the venting properly and would be worried about ending up with flat beer. Over carbonated beer in the glass can be dealt with by swirling or drinking slowly, undercarbonated beer in the glass is going to stay that way.

 

[Avocado Fruit]

To me, the pour seems the obvious time to try and do anything about it, unless you are worried about them exploding. How long was the gravity stable for before you bottled, and did you use a priming calculator?

I wouldn’t trust myself to do the venting properly and would be worried about ending up with flat beer. Over carbonated beer in the glass can be dealt with by swirling or drinking slowly, undercarbonated beer in the glass is going to stay that way.

Cheers for the reply. The gravity was stable for about a week - it was bottled after secondary. I did use a calculator, but I overestimated the amount of beer to be bottled. I totally understand why it's overcarbed (my bad), just trying to find a solution.

 

[Ajhutch]

Ok in that situation, I would definitely go with a slow pour or a double pour (bottle to glass to another glass). It sounds like you should be safe from bottle bombs, but if you can keep them cold that’s a good idea.

 

[-Bezza-]

I did use a calculator, but I overestimated the amount of beer to be bottled

Are you going to confess to just how much you over estimated? The difference between 20l and 23l shouldn't be particularly noticeable, for example, so might be useful to know what you're dealing with exactly.

 

[Avocado Fruit]

Are you going to confess to just how much you over estimated? The difference between 20l and 23l shouldn't be particularly noticeable, for example, so might be useful to know what you're dealing with exactly.

I'm working with small batches. If I remember correctly, I estimated 12l and ended up with around 8L.

 

[-Bezza-]

I'm working with small batches. If I remember correctly, I estimated 12l and ended up with around 8L.

Probably not going to amount to a whole load of difference at the end of the day.

For example, if you're aiming for 2.5x volume at 8*C, you'd be putting in 58g sugar. Same sugar into 8l gives 3.1x volume. So obviously that's higher carbonation but I can't see that being drastically different so itself not a cause for concern. You're 20g over, or about 50%, so it will have some impact.

And apologies if I'm noting the obvious but you also need to consider where that volume was lost - for example, if you've put the sugar into the FV before bottling and left behind 4l for whatever reason, you'll end up with roughly the right amount of sugar in the bottles.

Of course that doesn't resolve the fact that you think your beer is too fizzy though. Just potentially points to the 'error' being somewhere other than being in quantity of beer. Temperature has a fairly meaningful impact in the calculators which when compounded with the volume error, could account for the extra sparkle?

Only other question is whether the over-carbonation is just meaning it's an issue when pouring or if the beer is too fizzy for your tastes. If it's the latter, another solution in addition to those above is to pour aggressively into a bigger glass to knock out the CO2. Let the head settle a bit before drinking.

 

[terrym]

If your beer is in 500ml bottles and a bit 'lively', buy a 1 litre or 2 litre serving jug, and initially pour your beer into that. Then when things a have died down a bit in the jug serve the beer from your jug into your glass.
Wilko do a 1 litre jug for the eye watering price of £1.50
http://www.wilko.com/glassware/wilko-functional-glass-jug-1l/invt/0316128

 

[Pavros]

Pour into a jug and then keep topping up your glass as Terrym says. That's what I do with any lively bottles (or when using the cml pale ale yeast which gets disturbed as soon as I open a bottle).

 

[Slid]

If your beer is in 500ml bottles and a bit 'lively', buy a 1 litre or 2 litre serving jug, and initially pour your beer into that. Then when things a have died down a bit in the jug serve the beer from your jug into your glass.
Wilko do a 1 litre jug for the eye watering price of £1.50
http://www.wilko.com/glassware/wilko-functional-glass-jug-1l/invt/0316128

Here is the real Wilko jug

http://www.wilko.com/baking-utensils+gadgets/wilko-measuring-jug-2l/invt/0097387

I have two and they are invaluable for brewing as well as just serving. 2L is a bit of a laugh, TBH, as a 1.9L of beer from a 2L re-used cider bottle of HB beer needs a pint pot and a 2L jug.

Tertiary use for a 2L wilko jug is when your mash gets too much grain bits in the bottom of your Grainfather, or other one container brewing machine (the system will trip out to prevent scorching on the boiling plate). On 60 brews with mine, I must have bailed out the entire contents into the Peco boiler that came with the HBC BIAB stuff 15 times. Last one today. No real hassle, just another 3/4 hour or so on the brewing process...

There was a tennis ball sized lump of little grain bits in the bag after squeezing it. You don't want that burning on your element.

 

[Avocado Fruit]

Only other question is whether the over-carbonation is just meaning it's an issue when pouring or if the beer is too fizzy for your tastes. If it's the latter, another solution in addition to those above is to pour aggressively into a bigger glass to knock out the CO2. Let the head settle a bit before drinking.

Thanks again for the tips guys. All have been taken on board! I have a few 1L measuring jugs lying round somewhere so I will be sure to fish them out. I was hoping to fix the issue in the bottle in order to look the part at my brewers meeting next week haha .

Since I posted this I have had one or two gushers, so I think it's definitely an over-carbonation issue as apposed to a conflict with my tastes.