Lots of head

So this is my first post, second brew.

I made a Sierra Nevada clone, which taste very close and is clear yada, yada, yada...

My problem is that no matter what I do, it foams up horribly when I pour it from a bottle into a glass.
Any ideas what could be causing this?

does it seem overcarbed or gush when you open the bottle? do you pour it particularly vigorously?

How long have they been in the fridge before you open them? How much sugar did you prime with?

Also rinse glass with water before serving so there is a coat of water on the inside and less foaming.

How long have they been carbing up? Three weeks at 70 degrees is the baseline, then put them in the fridge a couple of days to dissolve that CO2 into solution. If you are pouring bottles that are not yet fully carbed, you can actually get too much foam.

If you are SURE that they are carbed up, then look at your process. How much priming sugar did you use? Did you boil the sugar and use the solution, did you just toss dry sugar into the beer, did you try to prime bottles individually?

Sounds like a priming problem to me. Maybe too much sugar was added when bottling.

If they aren't gushing and/or don't taste off or sour you probably don't have an infection.

Homebrew dad gave the answer I was going to give. Put those beers in cold storage so the liquid can absorb the c02.

If you feel like the beer is super foamy, yet when you drink it isn't bubbly and effervescent this is likely your solution. If it's a case where th bubbles really pop on your toungue and cling to the sides of the glass within the beer liquid (not in the head space) then maybe it's a priming problem.

Most righteous first post and thread title btw!

You lucky sob!

To your brew troubles, jbaysurfer and homebrew dad are on the right track

Did anyone else click on this thread expecting a bit more?

Really though, homebrewdad and jbay nailed it. let 'em sit in the fridge for a few or more days after they're carbed up.

I added the correct amount of sugar (the store had it all measured out)
I have had it carbing for about two weeks now. There are no funny tastes, and nothing funny happening omn the side of the glass... just a ton of head when you pour it!
I am thinking I may have jumped the gun on the brew too, book says it will prime at 3-6 weeks and I am pushing the two week mark.

Stores often just toss in 5oz of sugar which is usually too much. You should probably be using a calculator to figure out how much sugar to add. That way you can also use the amount that is appropriate for the style. I like to shoot for 2 volumes of co2 for British styles, 2.5 for American and 2.8 for Belgian and French.

Also, if you had the beer in the fridge for less than 24 hours then there is a good chance that the co2 has not gone into solution and that might be responsible for your gushers.

Genjin said:

Stores often just toss in 5oz of sugar which is usually too much. You should probably be using a calculator to figure out how much sugar to add.

Click to expand...

Both of those statements are very true. Try the tasty brew calculator, never lets me down.

To add to that, I find it unlikely that the store knew what your actual final volume was when bottling. They may have guessed, but didn't know your loss due to boil off, trub, beer left in the fermenter, etc. I did the same thing on my second batch. Since then I have started measuring it out on a gram scale once I know what the actual volume is. I also use the online calculator previsously mentioned.