Naturally Carbonating Keg Stuff up

[Hughesy]

Hi All,

Yesterday (10/4/11) kegged my first beer (Australian Pale Ale + BE2) and decided to naturally carbonateas I have some time up my sleave.

Unfortunately, I think I may have added too much priming sugar to the mix. I dissolved approx 150g of brewing sugar into a 19L Cornelius keg. However I checked on the FAQ section of this fabulous website and discovered that I should have only applied half of that.

What do I do? Will my keg explode!? Should I just vent the keg through the valve to release any excess CO2.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Matty A]

I would just allow the gas out of the valvue. I don't think it will explode as kegs can withstand alot of pressure (some people carbonate with 30psi for a couple of days)

 

Unfortunately I don't have a keg and only going about what I have heard. Hopefully someone who uses kegs can help.

[Ollie]

Does anyone know if this will increase the alcohol content by two fold?

Or will it just make the beer taste horrifically sweet?

Fingers crossed for you Paul!

[Guest]

Yep, Matty is correct.

 

I carbonate at almost 40psi for about 30 hours or so.

 

Your keg won't explode as the PRV (Pressure Relief Valve) is there to stop this happening. You really have 2 choices now:

 

1/ leave it be to carbonate as usual. Yes, it is likely to be over carbed but to bring it back to normal just release the pressure valve then shake and let sit for 10 minutes or so and repeat until you can pour a nice beer.

 

or

 

2/ leave it a day or so and release the pressure valve. Do this a few times over the next few days. However, without a guage attached you could run the risk of releasing too much pressure then having to carb it up again anyway.

 

Personally I'd just let it go do its thing now then pour a beer when it's finished to see how it is. If it is overcarbed just do step 1. [rightful] Don't worry, you have not ruined it.

[Guest]

Does anyone know if this will increase the alcohol content by two fold?

Or will it just make the beer taste horrifically sweet?

Fingers crossed for you Paul!

The alc% will increase slightly but nothing to be too concerned about imo. The beer won't be noticable in taste when talking how sweet.

[Trusty1]

I did this with my first naturally carbed keg. I kept it warm for months but it just didn't ferment out. IT was terrible, both sweet and flat. It was the very first brew that I tipped out, very dissapointed. You can bear with it and keep it at the right twemp and hope, or free up the keg for your next batch where you will only put 1/3 cup of sugar in.

 

It won't double the ABV, as the majority of the alcohol is produced during primary fermentation where, generally, you are using 1.7kg of extract plus 1kg of 'sugar', a total of 2.7kg of fermentables. When bottling the secondary fermentation adds about 0.5%.

[Hughesy]

Thanks to all those who replied for your insights.

 

I have released the pressure quickly and there appears to be carbonation happenning so i think I will just let it go and hope for the best. I figure it is better to be too bubbly than flat.

 

I will try and let you know how it turned out.

[Guest]

Thanks to all those who replied for your insights.

 

I have released the pressure quickly and there appears to be carbonation happenning so i think I will just let it go and hope for the best. I figure it is better to be too bubbly than flat.

 

I will try and let you know how it turned out.

 

It will be fine. If overcarbed just release the PRV every so often. Nothing to worry about.