Saving a double batch of overcarbed beer.

[MarkInBuffalo]

I brewed a chocolate/coffee stout that tasted great throughout the entire process until I opened the first bottle after 10 days and had a gusher. One week later-3 more gushers, 2 bottle bombs. I'm positive this beer was at FG before bottling. I brewed using Hershey's syrup in secondary and I'm afraid that when I moved it to bottling, I kicked up a bunch of the Hershey's, adding way to much "Priming sugar" to the bottling bucket. This was a ten gallon batch and I'm currently sitting on 96 bottles of overcarbed beer.

 

[b-boy]

Get them into a fridge. That will slow down the fermentation. You might want to release some pressure and recap as well.

 

[MarkInBuffalo]

I thought of re-capping. If I'm expecting gushers in each bottle should I take caps off, wait for end of the "gush" and recap, or what? Have no experience with trying to salvage an overly carbed batch. Thanks.

 

[b-boy]

Can you crack the caps enough to release carbonation without creating a gusher? It will take a while.

 

[ktblunden]

Chill them down in the fridge, then bleed off the pressure very slowly. Put a quarter over the cap so your bottle opener doesn't bend it. Once the pressure is released use your capper to recrimp.

 

[MindenMan]

My beer too suffers from premature pressure relief. I got in a hurry somewhere during brewing. I used lactose to final sweeten along with cocoa nibs soaked in vodka. Anyway, I have had to relieve pressure in the bottles 9 or 10 times, to where they didn't blow over, and two weeks later, they were once again gushers. I open my bottles into a 44 oz soda cup, as that is the largest container I have to contain the excess foam. My beer has been bottled almost 6 months, and it still acts the same now as then. If I ever make another chocolate beer, I will make a smaller batch, and pay closer attention to my process detail.