Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Over-carbonation mystery solved  (Read 2852 times)

Offline ccfoo242

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 808
  • I drank what? - Socrates
Over-carbonation mystery solved
« on: August 28, 2012, 06:48:04 am »
Some of you will read this and go "duh!" but I figured I would post in case someone else made the same mistake.

When figuring out the amount of sugar to use for bottle conditioning I was calculating it based on the temperature it would be stored at after bottling (room temp) and not the temperature it was at the time of bottling.

I've been dropping the temp to clear the beer out so it was only up to around 40-50F by the time I was putting it in the bottles. This was giving me up to 1 more volume of CO2 that I wanted.
Intra cervisiam est deus.

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: Over-carbonation mystery solved
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2012, 08:35:16 am »
if you use the crash temp though you might end up under carbing. it should be the highest temp the beer reached after active fermentation was over. if that is 65 then you crashed to 40-50 use 65 but yeah the bottle conditioning temp is too high likely.

"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline ccfoo242

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 808
  • I drank what? - Socrates
Re: Over-carbonation mystery solved
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2012, 08:44:44 am »
Hmm...I didn't think of that. Well would I remove all doubt by letting the beer warm up to room temp before bottling?
Intra cervisiam est deus.

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: Over-carbonation mystery solved
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2012, 08:52:59 am »
Hmm...I didn't think of that. Well would I remove all doubt by letting the beer warm up to room temp before bottling?

Yes I beleive you would. I imagine there is a time factor involved as well. if the beer is at 70* for 2 minutes I dought it has released all the co2 it's going to. but after a day or so... I'm shooting in the dark here.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline nateo

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2336
Re: Over-carbonation mystery solved
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2012, 09:01:00 am »
You could always get a degassing wand to remove nearly all the CO2 before you bottle, but that's probably overkill.
In der Kürze liegt die Würze.

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27070
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Over-carbonation mystery solved
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2012, 09:02:52 am »
You could always get a degassing wand to remove nearly all the CO2 before you bottle, but that's probably overkill.

Seems like that would oxidize the beer, though.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Jimmy K

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3643
  • Delaware
Re: Over-carbonation mystery solved
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2012, 09:12:24 am »
You could always get a degassing wand to remove nearly all the CO2 before you bottle, but that's probably overkill.

Except, I saw some calculations once that showed that those charts depend on dissolved CO2 and possibly even tiny bits of residual fermentables. The amounts of sugar prescribed simply won't create the entire volume of CO2 the chart says.
Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.
AHA Member since 2006
BJCP Certified: B0958