I've brewed close to 25 batches, all one gallon. After each batch is carbed, I throw in the refridgerator to stop the process. Now I'm out of room in the fridge. If I take out and store in my basement (65 year round) will the carbonation process resume, resulting in overcarbonated/exploding beer? And I know, I need to drink it faster.
It depends. If you primed correctly, not only will you have properly carbonated beer but the risk of exploding bottles will be zero. Recommend you use an online calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/) to compute the actual amount of priming sugar needed. Actual carbonation levels are dictated by style-of-beer, but as head brewer you get to pick whatever you want. Using this method the entire quantity of priming sugar is consumed by yeast and the carbonation process stops naturally. May take a week, may take a couple of weeks . . . just depends. Word of Caution: priming sugar is measured by weight (not volume) and you should invest in a simple postal scale (Amazon, under 10 bucks). Armed with these tools I would not hesitate to place any of my warmed bottles in front of my grandma.
Ahh, I had no idea it stopped (if calculated correctly). That makes sense. I've just been using the drops from Northern Brewer, and sometimes bottles were ready in a week, sometimes four. I'll use the calculator you mentioned from now on. Thanks!
What @PortLargo didn't bring up that should also be mentioned is that you first need to be certain that all of the fermentation sugars are consumed before you add your priming sugar. The only way to know that information is to take a couple of gravity readings when you think fermentation is complete. If these readings are the same, and they closely match the expected final gravity of your recipe, only then can you be sure that the fermentation sugars have been consumed. Then the yeast can direct their attention to your priming sugar for its controlled effect on producing the desired CO2.
Yes, I predict the next trend in brewing will be the decline of IPAs and sours and an increase in the popularity of flat beer, signaling the end of the carbonation process. Oh. Maybe I did misunderstand. A key mistake from my earliest batches of beer was that I recycled bottles without cleaning and sanitizing them effectively. The result was I got gusher infections, beers in which something bacterial persisted in the beer and chowed down on dextrins, stuff that yeast doesn't eat. Gradually, my beers declined in flavor and body and increased in carbonation. I implore you to pay attention to the cleaning and sanitation of your bottles if your beer seems to be a never ending foam. Soak bottles in hot oxyclean solution. Scrib with a scrub brush. Rinse 3 times in hot water. Final rinse with Star San. Give each bottle your attention. Bottle takes work. People hate it. But the work pays off. Alternatively, you don't have bottle infection issues but you are overpriming. In this case, you should use a priming calculator to determine how much sugar to add and then weigh it out, add to a just enough water to dissolve in a boil, cool, and add to wort. Paying attention to cleaning, sanitation, and priming will solve your issues.
It will end.. but only when all of those sugars are eaten up. Assuming you bottled at the beer's F.G., and put no more than the 5 oz packet of priming sugar into your beer (or whatever sugar you have around), then I see no reason why they wouldn't stop carbonating at a reasonable level. I've used table sugar and brown sugar on my last few batches and they bottle conditioned nice and quick. This calculator will actually show you which beer style needs what amount of what sugar. I use it on every batch and it's been very accurate: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/ . Also, if you're bottling a style that requires a higher volume of CO2, like a saison or a dunkelweizen for example, the normal 12 oz thin glass bottles may not hold up, especially if they've been used a lot of times. You may need to invest in the thicker, German pint bottles or Belgian bottles. Or start buying some Ayinger beers! and save the bottles.
Just one thing to note with what Lukass said - the OP makes ONE gallon batches, not five. So please don't go with 5 oz of priming sugar if you value your beer and your fridge! The NB priming calculator that he linked is a great tool, I use it all the time.
