Over carbonated bottles [emoji36] Any fix?

[chewyheel]

I bottled a barleywine back on December 28. My goal was 2 volumes of CO2. I added 2 ounces of table sugar to a 5 gallon batch of 48 degree beer that I see in the garage to cold crash as best I could. I used the calculator on brewers friend to get that amount.

Since then I’ve opened 3 to see how they’re progressing, they taste and smell great, so I know it’s not contaminated. It’s the same every time, pop the top, very aggressive “psst” then a few seconds later the foam is up and over cascading down the bottle and I’ve lost a couple ounces before I can even pour it.

This is super frustrating because I added so little priming sugar and I used Wyeast 1968, which flocculates very well, my attenuation for this particular batch was 80%. I just don’t get how it can be so damned carbed.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[MaxStout]

Two oz of sugar for 5 gal of 48 degree beer sounds about right for 2 vols. Could be that either your beer wasn't finished fermenting prior to bottling, or it became infected.

 

[z-bob]

Chill them down almost freezing. Loosen the caps and let them off-gas and warm up a bit. They shouldn't foam over if they are that cold. Recap.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I know it’s not contaminated

They might be contaminated. Contamination doesn't automatically mean there are off-flavors.

The only other possibility is that it wasn't done fermenting.

You can degas a sample and take a hydrometer reading to see where it is now.
You could also find a lab that tests for wild yeast / diastaticus to confirm whether it's a contaminant.

I would definitely store those bottles somewhere they won't cause damage if they explode. You could uncap and recap them to release some of the pressure. It'll be messy but less so than an explosion.

FYI when entering the temperature in a priming calculator, you need to enter the highest temperature the beer reached since the end of fermentation. I'm guessing that's not 48°F.

 

[chewyheel]

Thanks for the tips guys. I’m pretty sure fermentation was done, my FG was 1.011, which was lower than I expected.

I’ll try to de gas and recap I reckon.

I didn’t know about entering the highest temp after fermentation, I’ll definitely keep that in mind for future batches.

 

[ncbrewer]

I didn’t know about entering the highest temp after fermentation, I’ll definitely keep that in mind for future batches.

It wouldn't have helped with this particular problem - it would have had you add more priming sugar.

 

[chewyheel]

So I ended up throwing them all in the fridge for a few days. I then proceeded to very gently and slowly open the caps, which proceeded to steadily ooze foam out. I let them sit until they stopped oozing and re capped.