How To Avoid Overcarbonation of Beer

What are the Dangers of Beer Over Carbonation?

Beer cans and bottles can explode and shoot sharp fragments of tin or glass because of over carbonation. If a beer is bottled before the fermentation process is complete, the resulting carbon dioxide has the potential to build up enough pressure to force the container to explode.

The over carbonation of beer can also lead to excess alcohol content making the product unsafe for consumption. Accidentally over carbonating beers also makes it taste quite sharp on the tongue, is wasteful due to too large foam quantities, and can certainly alter the flavour you’ve worked so meticulously to craft.

Food products containing excess alcohol and carbonation may cause illness/injury if consumed and advises that consumers should not drink or open this product, and should dispose of it safely when it comes to over carbonated beers. To ensure that your commercial brewery product is always carbonated correctly, we recommend using carbonation testing equipment for regulation and carbonation stones for the infusion process.

How Does Beer Become Over Carbonated?

Typically a beer can become over carbonated if it is improperly stored in too warm of a location for too long. This careless storage causes the yeast to continue fermentation if left unwatched. To avoid this, once your beer has reached carbonation point (typically in the timeframe of 2 -3 weeks) be sure to relocate your product to a cool location below 12 degrees Celsius for storage. At this temperature the yeast within the beer will hibernate and stop creating CO2.

Another potential cause of beer over carbonation can be incorrect beer conditioning. If too much priming sugar was added into your beer solution or you prematurely bottled your beer before fermentation was fully complete, over carbonation is a risk. Be sure to measure your sugar quantities precisely and prime your solution so it is homogenous and accurate.

Another reason for over carbonation of beer is the use of low-quality ingredients in your process. Subpar quality or matured malt extract can often ferment and finish much more slowly than fresh malt extract, which leads to continued fermentation within the bottle. The same can also happen if you opt to use low-quality yeast or you add an insufficient quantity of yeast. Whenever possible, we suggest brewing with only high- quality fresh malt extract and enough fresh yeast.

Tech Solutions to Avoid Over Carbonated Beer

We have a range of tech solutions to ensure your beer is carbonated to perfection.

Beer Carbonation Tester

The Beer Carbonation Tester is designed to be used in the field to verify carbonation levels during equipment installation and keg swaps. This cost-effective and accurate tool in an essential for managing commercial brewery carbonation levels and quality control. The sturdy acrylic canister includes a handy label which tells you the appropriate CO2 volume based on your temperature reading as well as lightweight metal fittings which make the tester easy to grip. Tapering knurling helps you select the perfect amount of gas without overfilling or undercharging while also protecting against accidental release valve opens during transport.

Carbonation Stone (Full Assembly)

Carbonation stones are typically found on Bright beer fermentation tanks. Each carbonation stone, crafted from porous stone, ceramic or sintered stainless steel is a fully submersible body that diffuses CO2 gas directly into your brewing liquid. Our experts recommend mounting the carbonation stone on the lowest area of the Bright tank allowing the longest distance for the CO2 to travel to the head. Some of our brewing clients also use a carbonating stone inside their conical fermenter (or Uni Tank), a lesser seen set up, but one we can assist with nonetheless!

There is no doubt that using a top-quality carbonation stone is the best way to carbonate your beer and get that delicious, bubbly taste your customers love! With its porous stone, ceramic, or stainless-steel construction, this device diffuses carbon dioxide into your beer to give you tiny bubbles that dissolve into the drink and provide a truly authentic flavour.

Carbonation stones are also a wonderful tool to assist in wort aeration. Maintaining an optimal yeast health is crucial for a quality beer. When the oxygen-deprived wort is aerated following the knock down process, optimal yeast health can be achieved. This helps the yeast to maintain a healthy cell wall, making it far more tolerant to higher alcohol contents. Aerated wort can also reproduce more efficiently, allowing for generational longevity of yeast and an overall reduction in fermentation time.

Inline Beer Carbonation Stone

The Inline Carbonation Stone is perfect for brewers who need to fill multiple tanks with beer and are looking for consistent carbon dioxide levels. With this type of assembly, you can oxygenate as much or as little as required depending on how many days’ time before selling (or drinking) your tasty creation!

It can be used across several fermenters, allowing you to oxygenate as needed and carbonate ready beer at any time. With the Inline Carbonation Stone, you can carbonate your beer as required with just one assembly.

An Inline Beer Carbonation set up allows you to cover multiple tanks more quickly and frees up your carbonation stone from being submerged in the fermenter during the fermentation process. This helps to extend the life of your carbonation stones giving you extra value and usage.

Inline Beer Carbonation systems are also designed for incredibly easy use. Simply attach the non-valved end to your racking port and seal the exit valve. Then open your racking port allowing beer to enter the set up and turn on the required CO2 to carbonate your mixture.

Upon completion, beer to keg transferal is easy thanks to the exit valve.

Inline Beer Carbonation systems also cut down time during the wort aeration process. When oxygenating your wort prior to pitching yeast, simply pump the wort through the exit valve as you run oxygen through your stone. Then easily fill up your fermenter via the racking (or any other) port as you oxygenate saving labour and effort.

In Summary

Put simply, over carbonation of beer is costly, ruins your product and can also lead to dangerous outcomes for your customers if you are selling commercially. Over carbonation of beer can happen in several ways, the most common being an incorrect mixture or incorrect storage of your brew.

We are experts in brewery technology and are here to assist you every step of the way in your set up. Contact us to get the ball rolling on your own brewery!