Overprimed a batch - now what?

[WelshPaul]

I've got my maths wrong when priming a batch of blonde ale and the test bottle that I opened went off like a rocket. Is there a reliable way to open and degas bottles without losing half of their contents? I'm not too worried about disturbing any sediment as they are due to be put away until autumn, which should be plenty of time to settle.

 

[bobsbeer]

You could try really chilling and then re capping. Not tried it but may help prevent too much co 2 coming out of solution. Try one and see.

 

[PD]

by how much did you over prime ? how much priming sugars ended up in each bottle.
There is no reliable way to " de gas " beers, although you may have to release some gas by opening a bottle and closing it again.... depends how fizzy they are.... Are they in glass bottles or PET's

 

[WelshPaul]

I added 105 grams of caster sugar to a 12.5 litre batch, which is far too much. They have been stored at room temperature for nearly a month now so I may set my kegerator as low as it can go and put a couple in there prior to opening to see what effect that has.

 

[PD]

8.5 gms of sugar per bottle..........wear a " sou'wester" when opening your bottles ! ...... :grin:

 

[WelshPaul]

Yes, I was following the guide for carbonating with sugar in the link below but it's simply too much, regardless of style.

http://byo.com/resources/carbonation

 

[graysalchemy]

Are I see you forgot your batch was only 12.5L not the 19L those figures were for.

I always use a g/l calculation generally I use 4-4.5g/L for a bitter. I find that 7g/l is way to much for even cider IMHO. :thumb:

As suggested you could try opening a few releasing the pressure and re capping, that will knock some of the gas out of it. :thumb:

 

[WelshPaul]

I suppose that in a worst case scenario, I could open them over a thoroughly sterilised mixing bowl to catch the inevitable spillage and then decant that back into the bottles.

 

[graysalchemy]

sound like a plan. :thumb:

 

[GeeK]

You could always use them in hand-to-hand combat!