random overcarbed/infected bottles???

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jmfitzgerald

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so on my last couple of batches, i've had 2 or 3 bottles out of the entire batch that ends being WAY overcarbed... the capper i use, pushes a little indentation in the top of the cap, and i can tell what bottles are effected, because it looks like that little indentation turns into a bulge, aka getting ready to blow off??? when i open these bottles, the flavor isn't horrible, but sometime's they are gushers, and some times when they don't gush, but trying to fill a pint glass, i can only get about a 1/4 glass of beer with the rest of the entire glass filled with foam. is this an issue with an infection or not having properly cleaned bottles??? i really don't understand. i clean everything VERY well, sanitize everything, and mix the priming sugar in the entire batch in a bottling bucket... any thoughts why only 2 or 3 bottles turn out this way when the rest is great beer???
 
If it doesn't taste/smell bad, it's possible that too much priming sugar just got into the bottle.

Do you prime each bottle individually, or do you batch prime? If you're batch priming, it's possible the sugat solution didn't mix well with the beer, and a couple got too much sugar.
 
I've had a bottle infection before because I didn't get the bottles "visibly clean" after a previous brew.

When I figured it out and went back through my bottles I found some that were crusted so bad I couldn't get them completely clean with a bottle brush. So I tossed them.

These beers never gushed but were very sour.

I did have two batches of gushers that I never figured out the cause. They tasted fine but poured with 12 inches of head.
 
i lean towards the infected or not properly cleaned bottles because i batch prime, and i'm always very good about mixing it in. so all the bottles should have the exact same priming sugar content going into them.

i don't think i've really tasted a sour taste yet, but at the same time, but bottles aren't too old yet. as soon as i see a bulge on the cap, i pop the top to prevent a bottle bomb.

just curious if any other ideas were floating around out there, but i guess i'll just have to really inspect ALL my bottles on the next batch and hope to rid this problem.
 
Mark the last few bottles you fill next time. If they overcarb, your priming sugar isn't getting mixed. Are you making a syrup?
 
i batch prime. starting off making a syrup by boiling the corn sugar with water, cool it, then pour it into the bottling bucket first, then rack the beer on top of that to initially mix it in. then depending on the beer, if i blend anything else in like coffee or an extract, i still gently stir everything together one more time before bottling. like i said the weird thing is it usually ends up only being 2-3 bottles out of an entire 5G batch.
 
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