Foaming bottles

Hello!

I am getting close to the end of my first homebrew batch not to worry though as I have another batch that should be hitting its maturity within the next few days.

However, when it comes to the bottles I use I am pretty much limited to twist off's as I dont have to many of the pry off's or popper style bottles.

That said, I do have a pop off style bottle, I believe they call them kolsh. Anyways, I opened it last night and it was like opening a champagne bottle! The contents came flying out much like a volcano. I nervously put the cap back on and marched over to the sink where I opened it again and let it spew its contents for what seemed like a minuite or so.

Any ideas as to why this kind of thing might occur? I believe I may have filled these bottles around the end of the bottling bucket? Either way, I was still able to drink the beer that remained and it tasted much like the reset of the batch. I just though it was wierd as none of the other bottles exuded this type of behavior when being opened.

Do you think its because the seal is better on this type of bottle? Maybe it was just a fluke?

I use pop top bottles pretty much exclusively. Occasionally i will use a swingtop bottle like a grolsch or other crazy looking bottle i might have sitting around.

This is sort of unrelated and doesn't really answer your questions but sometimes when i open really old homebrew (3-6 mbonths after bottling) i will get this foaming volcano action you describe. It is kind of delayed too so it is deceiving. I'll pop the top off the bottle, turn around to grab a glass, when I turn back around to pour it I find it spewing all over my countertop like a volcano.

I've only noticed this on old homebrew which I find odd because they were carbonated normally back when I was drinking the bulk of them (1 month old or so).

I don't believe its due to the type of bottle or the type of cap used but I could be wrong.

The foaming has nothing to do with the bottle. It is most likely a function of:

1. Bottling too soon before the yeast had a chance to work its magic and consume all the fermentable sugars.

2. Too much priming sugar, or an uneven distribution of priming sugar.

3. A infection.

i agree with wonderbread.

it could also be that you are not chilling your bottles long enough before opening or setting them on their side before opening.

wonderbread23 said:

The foaming has nothing to do with the bottle. It is most likely a function of:

1. Bottling too soon before the yeast had a chance to work its magic and consume all the fermentable sugars.

2. Too much priming sugar, or an uneven distribution of priming sugar.

3. A infection.

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:rockin: we have a winner!!!

If there was a variance in sugar densities, i.e., if the wort had not been stirred properly, then extra sugar could have settled out at the bottom of the bucket. If you went straight from primary to bottles, it's possible that the sugariest beer was at the bottom, and so the yeastie-beasties got a feastie -- which means you got a foam volcano.

There is one more way to get a foam volcano not mentioned above... put a small piece of dry ice into beer that's already carbonated... WHOOSH! Lots of fun, but also wasteful.

This has happened to me once. When I bottle, which is in the summer. I pour the corn syrup mixture into the bottom and then siphon my beer on top. The best mixing. I let it sit for a bit then bottle. No more foam volcanos.

likwidbliss said:

This has happened to me once. When I bottle, which is in the summer. I pour the corn syrup mixture into the bottom and then siphon my beer on top. The best mixing. I let it sit for a bit then bottle. No more foam volcanos.

Click to expand...

When you prime, you let it sit? Aren't you worried that the sugar will settle to the bottom?

I opened another on of those Grolsh bottles last night and it was the same kind of deal. Also, the beer is not near as clear as the others.

turboint3gra said:

When you prime, you let it sit? Aren't you worried that the sugar will settle to the bottom?

I opened another on of those Grolsh bottles last night and it was the same kind of deal. Also, the beer is not near as clear as the others.

Click to expand...

Was there extra sediment too?

Justibone said:

Was there extra sediment too?

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Ya it seemed like it.

Sounds kinda like uneven sugar.

The solution is: during the first week or so of primary, shake or stir the beer every now and then. Stop shaking a few days before bottling time. When bottling make sure the beer is mixed after you add the bottling sugar (though don't aerate/oxygenate it; use a sanitized spoon or something).

It shouldn't happen again, if you go that way. I think it was more the fact that you bottled the Grolsch bottles last and the sugar wasn't evenly distributed, rather than the fact that they are Grolsch bottles.

Could also be that the bottle hasn't had enough time to carbonate. You should allow three weeks or so before consuming as the beer won't carbonate properly. The sugar that is used for priming is consumed by the yeast and sits in the headspace of the bottle. It needs a little time to dissolve back down into the beer. If you open a bottle too soon you may notice that it foams up after the cap is popped off. Here is a video that better explains what you're problem may be.

[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw[/ame]