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Kegging and already bottled carbonated beer

hayes_nt

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Mar 9, 2018
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Coffs Harbour, Australia
Have a British Brown Ale that was bottled in larger than normal bottles with reduced amount of dextrose on bottling.  However, I have a lava flow on opening (no bottle explosions) even after days chilling.  I have to admit to having issues with my numbers using my BS3 equipment profile in comparison to my GrainFather profile/recipe inputs but in this case I think I have probably underdone my Wyeast 1275 yeast starter even with the amount of non-fermentables contained within the recipe.( OG 1.047 FG was 1.022 ,expected 1.016  in BS3) FG was stable for 3 readings prior to bottling.

Can I keg this beer (have just gone to kegging due to the above and the higher than normal ambient temps we have been experiencing) and reduce the carbonation to something resembling normal within the kegging/maturation process ??? and what do I need to do??

This was my Valentines Day present to my wife and she loves the Brown Ale and if she is happy, I'm very happy.

Have just opened another bottle and after everything quietened down I recorded a hydometer SG  1.010.  Can I assume an infection is the likely cause?

Any advice extremely grateful.
 
Unless you are going to consume the beer really quickly, you well end up with a lot of oxidation trying to recover the beer in a keg.  It will also be pretty messy.

It looks like you bottled too soon and the yeast either stalled on you (not common in my experience with WY1272) or you did not allow it to ferment out completely.  To be honest, if I were targeting 1.016 and measured 1.022, the carboy would have gone back into the fermenter for another few days. 

Was your last gravity reading on beer which had been degassed?  If it still had carbonation in the beer, then the gravity reading would have been affected by the CO2 bubbles on the hydrometer and in solution.

I run into this at least once a year when I over carb a batch.  What I do is set up my capper in a tray to catch excess beer.  I then chill the bottles down to near freezing and remove them one at a time.  I use a bottle opener to lift the edge of the cap until I hear the gas escaping and then reseal the bottle.  I then allow a test bottle to warm up to cellar temps (50F to 55F) and try it out.  If it still foams out, I repeat the procedure on the remaining bottle.  Either way, I take the first acceptably carbonated bottle and allow it to come to room temperature.  Shake out the CO2 in short shakes and then when there is not more foam or carbonation I will retest the gravity.  If it is then down to the 1.010 level, I will look for other signs of infection in the aroma and flavors.
 
I waited an hour or so to do a hydrometer reading and am very particular about bubbles whilst reading, so 1.010 it was. No off flavours detected.
I had a couple of brews that fermented/ finished 4 or five points higher than expected, no gushers and including this one all have poured and tasted fine.

Call it a lesson learnt and I'm doing a spring clean of the item that I think maybe causing my problem- a plastic cube that I cool my boiled wort in, as my ambient water temps are high.

Thanks for the advice.
 
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