[barneyh]

My last 3 brews (porter, stout and red ale) have all had too much carbonation.  I used the Brewer's Friend calculator, but I just discovered that the AHA calculator calls for much less sugar.  Have I been using the wrong calculator or does the fermentation start again with unconverted malt after I bottle it.  (my final gravity was 1.022, 1.018 and 1.014)  In the dry Irish Stout I actually forgot to add the sugar and used only one or two tablets per bottle.
Any suggestions are much appreciated.

[erockrph]

My last 3 brews (porter, stout and red ale) have all had too much carbonation.  I used the Brewer's Friend calculator, but I just discovered that the AHA calculator calls for much less sugar.  Have I been using the wrong calculator or does the fermentation start again with unconverted malt after I bottle it.  (my final gravity was 1.022, 1.018 and 1.014)  In the dry Irish Stout I actually forgot to add the sugar and used only one or two tablets per bottle.
Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Hard to know for sure without knowing your exact process and recipes, but those FGs seem a bit high to me. How are you determining that fermentation is complete before bottling?

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[fredthecat]

My last 3 brews (porter, stout and red ale) have all had too much carbonation.  I used the Brewer's Friend calculator, but I just discovered that the AHA calculator calls for much less sugar.  Have I been using the wrong calculator or does the fermentation start again with unconverted malt after I bottle it.  (my final gravity was 1.022, 1.018 and 1.014)  In the dry Irish Stout I actually forgot to add the sugar and used only one or two tablets per bottle.
Any suggestions are much appreciated.

those are pretty high FGs, though i don't know what the OG was or the yeast types.

if you did a short ferment time and fermented them cooler than the temp they are being stored at after bottling i feel like they could start to eat up some more gravity points after bottling.

common knowledge and i think the instructions on the first homebrew kits i got said something like "bottle with 2/3 a cup of corn sugar per 5 gallons"

lookig back now, that is a really high carbonation level from that much sugar. i do roughly 80 to 100 grammes of sugar per ~18 litres finished beer i end up with.

[neuse]

I don't use the Brewer's Friend calculator, but from reading the forums it seems that lots of brewers do - I doubt if that is the problem. I agree that fermentation not being finished when you bottle could be the problem. Also, the beer volume used in the calculator should be the volume in the bottling bucket - not in the fermenter. That would make a significant difference.

[majorvices]

First, are you getting 2 separate hydrometer reading 72 hours apart that are stable/unchanged?

Second, are you brewing extract?

Third, is your hydrometer calibated (reads .000 in water)?

[denny]

And lastly, are you using the highest temp the beer reached to calculate your priming sugar?

[dmtaylor]

I've bottled about 160 batches since 1999.  Here's my experience:

Make sure fermentation is totally complete before bottling.  Best advice would be, wait until you are sure it is done.  Check gravity with a hydrometer.  Then WAIT 3-4 MORE DAYS.  Then check gravity again.  Don't bottle until you KNOW it's done fermenting.  And it's never wrong to just leave it for an extra couple of weeks, if you're lazy like I am. 

Use 2 tablespoons of priming sugar maximum per gallon.  If measuring by weight, in a standard 5-gallon batch, this would weigh out to be about 4.1 ounces.  Different priming calculators will recommend different things, however if you use these as your maximum amounts, you should only very rarely have any problems, which can typically be attributed to dry hopping, or other excessive particles in the bottles such as spices, fruit, etc., or potentially from a late refermentation or contamination, but hopefully not, per my previous guidance.  Don't use more priming sugar than those amounts, regardless of style.  You'll still have plenty of carbonation in your weissbiers and Belgians, I guarantee it.  No need to overdo the priming sugar for ANY style... ANY style.  And after you have some experience, you might find you want to dial these amounts back even more.  Maybe you only want 1.8 tablespoons per gallon, or 3.9 ounces, or whatever.  Set the limits based on YOUR personal experience and preferences, not anyone else's.

The sugar tablets will work, but quality can vary.  I have tried the lozenge types and would never recommend more than one of those per bottle.  However, in my opinion, you are better off adding your own priming sugar in bulk to the whole batch in the amounts I said above.

EDIT: My bad math is fixed, meant to say 2 tablespoons (not 1) per gallon.  I'm usually pretty dang good with numbers, so I find this especially embarrassing.   

[neuse]

Use 1 tablespoon of priming sugar maximum per gallon.  If measuring by weight, in a standard 5-gallon batch, this would weigh out to be about 4.1 ounces. 

Dividing this out directly, I get 1 fl oz = 1.64 wt oz. The Northern Brewer calculator shows 1 fl oz = 1.14 wt oz for corn sugar, or 1.09 wt oz for sucrose. I agree pretty close with the NB calculator for sucrose. Big difference in bulk density. Am I missing something?

[barneyh]

Thank you for all the suggestions.  I’v been fermenting at pretty cool temperatures.  I’ve not used more than 3.2 oz of sugar and although I let the beer ferment for 3-4 weeks, it looks like it hasn’t completed.  I’ve been using a refractometer for most of my measurements because I don’t trust the hydrometer.  I’ll focus on the end of fermentation
Thank you all cheers!

[dmtaylor]

Use 1 tablespoon of priming sugar maximum per gallon.  If measuring by weight, in a standard 5-gallon batch, this would weigh out to be about 4.1 ounces. 

Dividing this out directly, I get 1 fl oz = 1.64 wt oz. The Northern Brewer calculator shows 1 fl oz = 1.14 wt oz for corn sugar, or 1.09 wt oz for sucrose. I agree pretty close with the NB calculator for sucrose. Big difference in bulk density. Am I missing something?

Crap, I screwed up my math, I meant to say 2 tablespoons (which is 1 fl oz) maximum per gallon.

Northern Brewer's conversion has to be wrong.  Cane sugar weighs about 0.84 wt oz per 1 fl oz... or at least that's how it measures at my house.  If your humidity is close to 100%, yours might be a bit heavier, i.e., YMMV.  My humidity here in this house averages 50% year round.

Jeez, sorry about that.  Edited my post above.

[dmtaylor]

I've not used more than 3.2 oz of sugar

In how many gallons??

I've been using a refractometer for most of my measurements because I don't trust the hydrometer.

Well there's a potential problem.  Are you using a conversion calculator for your refractometer?  A refractometer doesn't read accurately when alcohol is present.  Use this one for best overall accuracy:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

Fall down the rabbit hole here:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=28544.msg404366#msg404366

[denny]

Thank you for all the suggestions.  I’v been fermenting at pretty cool temperatures.  I’ve not used more than 3.2 oz of sugar and although I let the beer ferment for 3-4 weeks, it looks like it hasn’t completed.  I’ve been using a refractometer for most of my measurements because I don’t trust the hydrometer.  I’ll focus on the end of fermentation
Thank you all cheers!

I'll trust a hydrometer over a refractometer every time.