hefeweizen gushing

i bottled a hefeweizen yesterday and open a bottle today (just to sample it)
and it gushed (of cource no carbonation yet) . open another one and it too gushed/ the beer tastes good.
is this normal with hefes?
when i cool the bottle there is no gushing

what was your SG and FG? Sounds like an infection to me. Either that, or you bottled before it was done fermenting.

Happened to me to, but after bottling. I primed 13L of hefeweizen with about 150g of raw cane sugar. I have to get the beer really cold before I open the bottle, or else half the beer gushes out. I don't think I primed with that much sugar, and it's definitely not an infection, the beer has stayed in the bottles for almost a month and there are no visible signs or something bad in taste.

edit: my FG was 1.009

dooksh said:

is this normal with hefes?
when i cool the bottle there is no gushing

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Any beer opened warm will gush.

Moral: Chill beer before opening.

SG 1.057 FG 1.010
bottled after 10 days in the primary. fermentation was done after 5 days.
the last time i had a gush brew the beer tasted bad but this beer actually tastes very good.

If you had waited 3 weeks you never would have noticed.

You have a two fold issue here, but nothing's wrong, except you are impatient.

1) You opened it warm. Cold temps absorb co2 better than warm, that's why we recommend chilling for a couple of days, or even better a week, to pull in the co2.

2) You opened it after only 1 days....the co2 hasn't had time to be absorbed in solution yet. So it gushes, rather than going into the beer like you want it.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

If you look at the video in the blog, what is happening to you is exactly what happened to Poindexter in bottle number one, at 1 week.

Walk away and let the yeast do their job. They will be fine in 3-4 weeks, especially after you chill them for a couple days (not the same as sticking it in the freezer because you are even more impatient.)

thanks revvy.

Revvy I have a question.

I have a batch that has conditioned for two months. When I open it after it has chilled for a few days the head in the bottle starts to rise slowly. Did I just just a tad too much priming sugar? It is not exploding out of the bottle but slowly rises for the first swig or two then goes away. What do you think?

joekerr1 said:

Revvy I have a question.

I have a batch that has conditioned for two months. When I open it after it has chilled for a few days the head in the bottle starts to rise slowly. Did I just just a tad too much priming sugar? It is not exploding out of the bottle but slowly rises for the first swig or two then goes away. What do you think?

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I'm not Revvy but my guess is that it's just a highly carbonated beer. How many oz of priming sugar did you use for how many gallons of beer? And what was your fermentation temp? From that I can tell you how many volumes of CO2 you carbed your bottles to, 3vols is usually all the standard glass bottle/cap is rated for.

joekerr1 said:

Revvy I have a question.

I have a batch that has conditioned for two months. When I open it after it has chilled for a few days the head in the bottle starts to rise slowly. Did I just just a tad too much priming sugar? It is not exploding out of the bottle but slowly rises for the first swig or two then goes away. What do you think?

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And it tastes fine? It could be any number of things, overcarbed by too much sugar. Maybe something inside the bottle causing a nucleation site, or lastly an infection, which if it tastes fine, it probably isn't.

We kinda need more info on your carbing. How much sugar, temp your beer was at, whether you bulked or bottle primed. Did you cold crash it?

I just made my first beer ever, and it is a Hefe, and in general, I think it is overcarbonated. Having acknowledged this, I did have one particular bottle that after opening it began gushing, I tipped it at an angle, and it kept foaming out of the bottle into the glass it was against. I bet it continued for a solid minute before I finally drank some of it to get it to stop. And this was a cold bottle. I don't know if this is prone to Hefe, but it was crazy to see.

No, gushing is not prone to Hefes. Gushing == too much CO2 to remain in suspension at the temperature of the liquid. Revvy is absolutely right, have patience. If they still gush after several weeks and some serious time in the fridge, then you have two options.

1) work on your reflexes and purchase larger glasses\
2) add it to your list of stories that start with, "Hey, remember that time I over carbed my beer...?".

I agree with Revvy's #2 reply...too early to be absorbed...