Priming Sugar Dilemma

[StevieDS]

A bit of advice would be great...

I bottled my AG the other day, an English pale ale. The previous batch I bottled using 150g of castor sugar to prime and I was happy with the carbonation levels so this time I decided to use the same amount. Unfortunately I forgot that I had brewed a bit short this time to 18 liters instead of 22.5 as I did previously. This is the equivalent of about 190g of sugar in a 22.5 liter batch or about 4g per 500ml bottle.

Is this far too much, is it going to end up champagne fizzy?

Thanks.

 

[pittsy]

er yes ish it will be ok but fizzy like a good fizzy lager , i would of thought more like 80/120g for a 23l brew was more right for an ipa , i do 150g for my hefeweizen .

 

[StevieDS]

Yeah you're probably right, its only my 3rd ever brew so im still learning the basics.

The best way to learn i find is to balls it up, cos you won't do the same again

 

[IPA]

My advice is to release a bit of CO2 after 7 days or the bottles might turn into hand grenades. Hopefully you have not used crown corks!

 

[Ceejay]

I plugged some figures into the KOTMF priming calculator, and assuming you bottled at about 18C, this should come out at around 3.0 volumes. That's not outrageously bad. The top of the range for an American Pale Ale is 2.8 vols. Most Hefeweizen is around 3.5 to 4.5 vols :thumb:

 

[StevieDS]

A really fizzy beer I suppose I can live with, but should I open and recap them as IPA suggests to avoid blowing up my brewing cupboard?

 

[IPA]

I plugged some figures into the KOTMF priming calculator, and assuming you bottled at about 18C, this should come out at around 3.0 volumes. That's not outrageously bad. The top of the range for an American Pale Ale is 2.8 vols. Most Hefeweizen is around 3.5 to 4.5 vols :thumb:

Read the caution note at the bottom of this calculator where they warn about exploding bottles!

 

[StevieDS]

According to the online priming sugar calculators it should give me a CO2 vol of about 3 which will be really fizzy but hopefully not grenade volumes. Some styles were recommending up to about 4.5 so hopefully it'll be fine.
Any other advice would be great though.

 

[pittsy]

yeah i would just do 1 week in warmth then store cold , in fact try 1 after around 4 to 5 days it may be enough.

 

[StevieDS]

yeah i would just do 1 week in warmth then store cold , in fact try 1 after around 4 to 5 days it may be enough.

If I do that will it turn out really sweet due to unfermented sugar?

 

[pittsy]

i doubt it , most of the sugar will have been eaten and only a small amount may be left which won't make much difference to taste i'd bet .

 

[StevieDS]

An update on this...
Just cracked a bottle of this tonite, has been in the bottles about 4-5 weeks and although it is a lovely beer it is extremely fizzy. It didn't gush when I opened the bottle but I had to pour it very carefully.
I'm a bit annoyed that I spoiled my first AG with a stupid mistake, I don't really like too much carbonation in a beer

 

[IPA]

Try 85g in 23 litres it will give you the carbonation I think you are looking for but you will have to wait a bit longer before drinking it , at least six weeks. Also the beer will taste all the better for it.

 

[rpt]

I used 100g of white sugar in 23L of Wherry. When I cracked open my first bottle last night the carbonation was perfect for an ale. For a lager I will try 150g.

 

[StevieDS]

Try 85g in 23 litres it will give you the carbonation I think you are looking for

Yeah I didnt mean to use so much, just wasn't thinking and forgot that i had brewed short.
I just had another of these tonite and this one was perfectly carbonated, nowhere near as fizzy as the one from last night even tho its from the same batch which was batch primed??? :wha:

 

[pittsy]

It may be that the c02 wasn't (isn't) totally absorbed into the brew thus too much fizz in first bottle (ie foam)

 

[StevieDS]

It may be that the c02 wasn't (isn't) totally absorbed into the brew thus too much fizz in first bottle (ie foam)

So what does that mean, it needs longer to condition?

 

[pittsy]

well the c02 that is produced will rise to the top of the bottle and if opened at this point will be very fizzy but end up a little life less after brew has settled in glass , so if unopened and moved to cold storage the beer will absorb the c02 into itself and will give bubbles in the beer for some reasonable time after poured into a glass. The closer to 0c (around 2c is ideal) the quicker and better c02 will be the absorbed . so no longer isn't wanted just moved to cold storage i think.

 

[StevieDS]

Is it possible to reduce the carbonation after bottling? For example if I removed the caps then recapped them would it reduce the carbonation by an appreciable amount?