Carbonation issues?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MBM30075

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
215
Reaction score
0
Location
Roswell, GA
So, I just brewed batch #8 a couple of days ago, and it got me thinking.

My favorite beer style is a Dunkelweizen. My first batch was one. After 5 grueling days, I racked to secondary and after about another 5 days decided I could go ahead and bottle.

Well, after about 2 days (12 days from initial brew), that first batch was OUTSTANDING! It was EXACTLY like the Weihenstephaner I was trying to emulate. That lasted for a couple of weeks as I drank my way through the batch. It was GLORIOUS!!!

For this batch, ambient temperature was about 70 degrees (no more than 3 or 4 degrees of variation in either direction). I saved a 6 pack of bombers for 3 months per a friend's instructions, in order to catch them at their "peak." Well, after about 2 months I couldn't stand it any more, so I decided to try one. It wasn't good. It was obviously over-carbonated. The head wasn't creamy, but instead was a little more fizzy and dissipated quickly. Most of the banana aroma that the head HAD given off was gone, replaced by a smell and taste that were obviously the CO2.

I've got a handful left (2 or 3), and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to save them. Should I crack the cap and let some CO2 bleed off? If so, should I do this warm or cold?

In the future, am I keeping them too long at room temperature before drinking? Was that first batch simply a fluke that was still fermenting in the bottle since I rushed it?

There are a lot of variables here, and I am not experienced enough to put my finger on exactly what went wrong. I have decided, though, that if a beer I've brewed tastes exactly how I want, I'm going to drink it then, and screw the waiting. The beer was perfect after 2 weeks; why oh WHY did I wait for it to get BETTER THAN PERFECT???

Thanks for any insight!
 
So, I just brewed batch #8 a couple of days ago, and it got me thinking.

My favorite beer style is a Dunkelweizen. My first batch was one. After 5 grueling days, I racked to secondary and after about another 5 days decided I could go ahead and bottle.

Well, after about 2 days (12 days from initial brew), that first batch was OUTSTANDING! It was EXACTLY like the Weihenstephaner I was trying to emulate. That lasted for a couple of weeks as I drank my way through the batch. It was GLORIOUS!!!

For this batch, ambient temperature was about 70 degrees (no more than 3 or 4 degrees of variation in either direction). I saved a 6 pack of bombers for 3 months per a friend's instructions, in order to catch them at their "peak." Well, after about 2 months I couldn't stand it any more, so I decided to try one. It wasn't good. It was obviously over-carbonated. The head wasn't creamy, but instead was a little more fizzy and dissipated quickly. Most of the banana aroma that the head HAD given off was gone, replaced by a smell and taste that were obviously the CO2.

I've got a handful left (2 or 3), and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to save them. Should I crack the cap and let some CO2 bleed off? If so, should I do this warm or cold?

In the future, am I keeping them too long at room temperature before drinking? Was that first batch simply a fluke that was still fermenting in the bottle since I rushed it?

There are a lot of variables here, and I am not experienced enough to put my finger on exactly what went wrong. I have decided, though, that if a beer I've brewed tastes exactly how I want, I'm going to drink it then, and screw the waiting. The beer was perfect after 2 weeks; why oh WHY did I wait for it to get BETTER THAN PERFECT???

Thanks for any insight!

If they are overcarbed, then yes, you can bleed the bottles to relieve some of the pressure. Do this warm as CO2 comes out of solution easier in warm liquids.

Since a Dunkel is a wheat similar to a hefe, you should drink it young. My best wheats(wit and Hefe) were best at about three to five weeks after pitching. They really start to lose their wonderful flavors after that.

The waiting/aging stuff is more reserved for the big, hoppy/high gravity beers. It allows the flavors time to meld and marry. Think of a pot of chili...right off the stove, it's pretty good, but the next day for leftovers it's so much better.
 
was the final gravity consistent for 2-3 days before you bottled? perhaps it hadn't finished fermenting.
 
Justa guess ,but it sounds like you may have bottled too soon. 10 days from brew to bottle seems a bit quick, it might not have been finished fermenting.

I totally missed that...geez it's early and I was up late...

What was your sg at pitch time and fg at bottling?
 
As it was my first batch, I am not sure that the following are correct:

OG: 1.078
FG: 1.020

I didn't know then to adjust for temperature, and I SWEAR that the OG is correct, even though I know it CAN'T be! I checked it several times, though!

Anyway, that gives me 7.66% ABV, which is ridiculously high for this style.

So, if you throw out the OG and just assume it was within range, then the FG seems to indicate that fermentation wasn't done, right? I mean, shouldn't it have gotten down to 1.014-1.016?

Thanks for the quick replies!!!
 
As it was my first batch, I am not sure that the following are correct:

OG: 1.078
FG: 1.020

I didn't know then to adjust for temperature, and I SWEAR that the OG is correct, even though I know it CAN'T be! I checked it several times, though!

Anyway, that gives me 7.66% ABV, which is ridiculously high for this style.

So, if you throw out the OG and just assume it was within range, then the FG seems to indicate that fermentation wasn't done, right? I mean, shouldn't it have gotten down to 1.014-1.016?

Thanks for the quick replies!!!

At 1.020 it could have been done...or not. Unless you took readings over three days, one can never know. I would have to say that, if you are experiencing overcarbonation, and you bottled with the correct amount of primer then yes...it was not done.

What kind of yeast?
 
Back
Top