carbonation issue

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doubleb

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I get a huge head out of the bottle and the beer is undrinkable. Its happened to two batches and I suspect that the amount of corn sugar was too much. Actually one of the two was primed with 1/2 cup DME and 1/2 cup of maple syrup packaged by my LHBS for one of their kits. The beer carbonated quickly and at two weeks had a nice head. But one or two weeks later you have to pour the beer right against the glass so the head is under control. With both of my bad batches the beer was undrinkable. It has an awful taste and in both cases actually tastes the same even though the beers were completely different (one was a wheat and the other a brown).

I have started to use 4.5 oz of corn sugar instead of 5 oz (NB ships all their kits with 5 oz bags), but I saw a post on here that someone always uses 4 oz so I may switch over to 4 oz of priming sugar.

I really want to be able to let the stuff age and not all get over carbonated if this is the problem. Please let me know if you think I'm on the right track with reducing my priming sugar to 4 oz.

Sadly, a new batch of beer may also have this problem in a week or so. Its target OG was 1.030 and the priming sugar was 5 oz. It is a Northern Brewer kit.

Your input will be appreciated.
 
Well, I always use 4 ounces, but I'm not sure that your problem is over priming. If the batch tastes bad as well, I suspect infection. 1/2 cup DME and 1/2 maple syrup don't sound like too much, but I haven't used maple syrup before and I may be wrong. I think AHS would send the right amount, though, so I doubt that is the issue.

Especially since both beers had the same unpalatable taste, I think it's an infection. How did it taste out of the fermenter?
 
That really sounds more like an infection to me. I don't know which kind but I'm sure someone here does. As for priming, you really can't go wrong with the pre-measured bags that come in the kit.
 
Barring that there isn't any infections even 5 oz of corn sugar (CS) is not too much especially if you want a lot of carb bubbles as with a weizen.

Once your bottled brew has conditioned (carbing itself with the CS) and you like the level of carbonation have you put all the bottles in the fridge to retard that process or are you just leaving them sit out on a shelf?

They really should be refrigerated.

The process is really simple. When you prime inside a sealed container (the bottle) the yeast will continue converting the CS to alcohol. The normal offgassing is now captured and re-absorbed back into the beer which makes the carbonation bubbles.

As long as the brew has fermented itself out all the way and you don't overprime the result should be one great tasting and nicely carbed brew.

If you bottle early (fermentation not complete) and add more CS the yeasts will continue to convert that to alcohol, but in a bottle it will be overcarbing which can result in bottle grenades and cidery off-flavors.

This is one of the reasons I tell everyone to practice patience when brewing. The beer will be done when it's done. If you are too impatient then the results will not be the same as if you waited. :D

Be sure to let the brew age, mellow and clear in the secondary. It will also ferment out so there isn't any more sugars for the yeast to eat up and lower your FG even more.

Now, I don't know if any of this fits your experience/situation so, let's look at the possible infection. Do any of the bottles have a ring around the neck at the liquid level? That's a definite sign of infection. Don't be fooled by all rings in the neck. Some people accidentally stir up sediment when racking to the bottling bucket trying to get the last drops of brew. This could also be the case for the ring.

As for getting the last drops out...I don't practice or condone that. The reason is because when you go through the process of allowing your brew to clear you should only rack the clear brew. The clearer/cleaner the brew going into the bottling bucket the clearer/cleaner the brew going into the bottle and eventually into your glass. ;)

I hope some of this helps you with your problem.:mug:

BTW, what does it taste like?
 
Thank you for you input.

The maple syrup brown actually tasted like root beer when tasted out of the fermenter and when it initially carbonated. A week later the beer itself could not be tasted and had an unpleasant flavor.

Will all my brews turn into bottle bombs eventually if I don't refrigerate them to stop the carbonating? I let all the beers sit out until I'm ready to drink them. I don't have much room in the frig for all my brew. Can I cool them when carbonation is good then take them out until I'm ready to drink them? Or is that asking for off flavor due to temperature changes? Maybe I need another refrigerator.

I'm not counting infection out yet. I have checked the necks and haven't seen any rings yet, but I'll probably get new siphoning gear soon whether or not I have an infection.
 
Well, if your beers are so overcarbonated, you'd have to stick them in the fridge to hopefully stop them from exploding. I keep mine at room temperature, but I don't have any issues with carbonation.

I really think you have an infection. If it tastes fine out of the fermenter, I think your bottling equipment is at fault. Maybe the bucket, spigot, tubing, etc. Could you talk us through your process and maybe we could fiqure out what the problem is?
 
here is a quick reply in regards to infection. I have been using solely a cleaner until recently when I picked up some star san. So I'm not completely sure, but I think the maple nut brown was the last batch before I started with the star san. I'm gonna try some of the newest batch tonight and post back if I suspect any off flavors (its been bottled for 15 days now). The apfelwein tastes fine and has been bottled for 22 days.

My process has been changing a lot. Now doing PMs, using star san, and also less priming sugar. I will post back tonight. I'm gonna hit the LHBS or make an order for some tubing, a cane and a wand. I didn't get a bottling bucket w/ spigot till after the star san came in to play. I would just use the ferm bucket that came with my start up kit.

thanks again.

BTW I just tasted the IBA out of the primary and its tasting fine.
 
Could be a sanitation issue.

Isn't it cold outside (yet) where you are? It's in the 50s here and like 45 at night. Place your bottles on the back porch, in the garage, etc. (as long as the temps aren't down to 32F they'll be alright) ;)

My parents use to live in West Haven way back in the mid-70s.
 
if the maple brew wasn't sanitized, it could be infected.

if you happened to rack both brews on the same day with the same racking hose/equipment, it may have become infected at that time.
 
This batch was dumped the other day. The not yet cooled bottles were big gushers. When I opened each one and set it down in the sink bubbles would come out like crazy so I decided to dump em all. I still have a 6er in the refridgerator in case I need to remember what the beer tastes like.

Thanks again for the replies and info.
 
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