three oz of sugar in 3gl of beer?

[Dmp]

Ummm. I just bottled this stuff up like 2 days ago. and I just opened one of the bottles up and it was fully carbonated...Am I going to have bombs in a few days?!

[Dmp]

wait...I don't think it is actually over carbonated...Think its just a little infection...***so that's what that funny flavor is...HMMMMMM

[HighCountry]

I don't think you'll have bombs. It doesn't take much time for the yeast, if they're in good numbers, to gobble up some simple sugars. I remember JZ saying that 5 days (as opposed to the oft-cited 3 week number) is ample time for bottle conditioning. But there may be more going on there than just carbonation. The yeasties may be doing some final cleanup and flocculation - so for that reason I would wait for a while before I started cracking those bad boys. In my experience 5 days is enough time, but I always wait longer. But I haven't really bottle conditioned anything for a long time. So I might be wrong.

[HighCountry]

wait...I don't think it is actually over carbonated...Think its just a little infection...***so that's what that funny flavor is...HMMMMMM

Oh, crap. I take everything back that I had said earlier. I was going to say that it's probably some Brett that got in there and took off. Happens a lot in bottles.

That's what I meant to say.

[Dmp]

wait...I don't think it is actually over carbonated...Think its just a little infection...***so that's what that funny flavor is...HMMMMMM

Oh, crap. I take everything back that I had said earlier. I was going to say that it's probably some Brett that got in there and took off. Happens a lot in bottles.

That's what I meant to say.

Ya, Im goign to crack another one of these boys open tonight. ....that motha fucka better not be gushin'! holla!

[HillBeer]

Yeah, I conditioned a dark ale in bottles for three days, after eleven days fermenting, and the first bottle I opened was carbonated enough to cause the bottle to overflow. Scared, I moved them all immediately to the fridge.

Now I open one tonight after a week in the fridge, and there's not nearly as much carbonation in that bottle. I'm not sure if this has to do with uneven sugar distribution, temperature fluctuation, or infection. I, like you, used the 3ozs of sugar, but for 6 gls of beer. I'm going to open another one tomorrow and see what the deal is.

It's my understanding, that if these need to condition longer, I should be able to pull the bottles back into a 70 F environment and restart the yeast feeding on any left over priming sugar. Am I right?

[BDawg]

Just like warm soda, warm beer makes the CO2 come out of solution much faster than when it is cold.

Priming 3 oz into 3 gallons is the same ratio as priming 5 oz into 5 gallons. That's definitely the right amount of priming sugar.

I think you simply need to chill them in the fridge all the way down to 40F and if they are flat, take them back out and let them sit for another week at 70F.

If some gush and others are flat, then either some are contaminated or you didn't distribute the priming sugar enough before you bottled.

HTH-

[HillBeer]

Yeah, for whatever reason this recipe called for only 3 ozs of priming sugar in a 6 gal batch. It seems to have done the trick, however, as I opened three more bottles to find that they all pour with a nice thick head and leave plenty of carbonation on the tongue. I'm going to take the bottles I only conditioned for two days and place them back on the shelf at 70 F.

The beer tastes pretty good, and definitely finishes hoppy. No overt off flavors or smells. Not bad for my first batch ever. I haven't really tested it on anyone other than my girlfriend though, and I have a feeling she would say it was good if it tasted like raw sewage.