Just cracked open the first bottles on my first ever batch of home brew. It was the Bavarian Hefe extract kit from NB. After weeks of stressing like a first time father, the end result was awesome. My only question/concern is with the carbonation. My beer seemed to be almost overly carb’d. I didn’t loose any during conditioning, but they were highly carb’d. When I bottled I used the recommended 5oz. (by weight) of corn sugar. Just curious if this is normal with bottling and if I’m just used to the carbonation you get with commercial beer or if there is an adjustment I could/need to make. Other than that, I can say I’m hooked and will be brewing again this weekend.
That 5oz fits all business is done for simplicity and it can be off by quite a bit. The temp the beer was fermented at determines how much CO2 stays dissolved, and it can be as much as 1vol of CO2 or more. That or you bottled before the last couple of points of gravity was used up, it happens sometimes.
No problems, just pour into a decanter first and then pour to the glass as the head tames down. Hefe is supposed to be pretty highly carbonated.
Lots of priming calculators out there to help you with the correct amount of sugar to add but here is Norther Brewer’s.
I usually back down a bit on the highly carbonated beers but that is out of personal preference.
If you’ve only cracked a few, then there is the chance that some are more carbed than others. If the sugar didn’t mix completely in the beer, then some will be overly carbed and some under. I’ve had that happen.
