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quickerNu

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I haven't been around here much lately. All the typical busy life stuff, work, kids, school. Haven't brewed much either. It hasn't just been that, though. I though I had overcarbonated SEVERAL batches of beer, and hadn't been sampling my brews much either. Seemed every time I poured a drop of beer into my glass, the whole glass would fill up with foam.

Seriously, less than 2 oz of beer would completely fill the glass like spray-in insulation! Beer after beer I tried- same thing. I thought maybe it was something in the glass, so I would quickly rise one before pouring- little help. Then I tried popping the top several minutes before I planned to pour-which is a pain- still no help. This, coupled with my time constraints, pretty much had me not drinking homebrew, which in turn discouraged me from brewing.

Feel kinda silly now. I was rinsing out a glass and had to run off for a second, so I left the glass under running water for a few minutes (Yes I am a terrible water waster). Came back, pored the water out, but left the glass pretty wet, and attempted to pour a bottle of my Edworts Haus Pale. Perfect pour. It sure hit the spot after mowing. I really enjoyed that beer. Must have been a fluke, so after I enjoyed it, I pored another- perfect again. Well, then several more of different batches with the same good result.

I am not sure what it was, but something in my beer glasses had built up and caused my insta-foam beer pours. Even a good rinse and towel dry hadn't helped. I used to hand wash all of my glasses, then I got dishwasher lazy. Didn't have any immediate effects, but maybe something built up over time. I wish I new exactly what had done it, but I guess back to proper thorough hand washing for me, and brewing again- now that I can enjoy the fruits of my labor! :rockin:
 
How long was it in the bottle the first time you tasted (when it foamed)? How long was that in the fridge? Then, how long was it in the bottle after it pored perfectly? How long was that in the fridge.

Sometimes the C02 needs some time to balance properly. A very good rule of thumb could be 21 days at room temp and a week in the fridge.

Also, if you fear overcarbonation, I HIGHLY suggest weighing priming sugar if you aren't already doing it. That made a huge difference in my beer.

Congrats on the beer! I think everyone remembers the first sip of their "wow, thats it" beer.
 
Hi and I'm glad you're no longer discouraged!

Like above, though, I've never heard of soap or any other dishwashing film making more head - if someone knows otherwise, I'd welcome the correction!

So, I'm gently wondering if the problem isn't in your carbonation regime, rather than in your glasses. Have you read through this How to Brew - By John Palmer - Priming and Bottling

And don't be discouraged! Its handmade, artisanal, its supposed to be unique! :mug:

Cheers!

Jim
 
This could be kinda like Mentos and Diet Coke. If your water is really hard, you may not be getting a good rinse and as your glasses air dry in your dishwasher you're getting lots of hard water and other particles dried to the inside of your glasses. That could produce a ton of nucleation sites. If you beer is a little over carbonated and your glasses have lots of nucleation sites, BOOM. Instant foam.
 
Beerkrump- you must have it. We have rock hard water. I have over 50 batches under my belt, and beers that I had enjoyed were doing this overcarb thing all of the sudden. I got lazy and started using the dishwasher (on air dry) and I guess it slowly built up.
 
WOW didn't know build up could do that either. Well I have an American Wheat kegged and it has been doing the same exact thing. I thought it was overcarbed or something with my lines. I usualy use a specific glass and hand was but ever since I tapped this keg I have used a mug (lost the glass) I'm going to use a fresh plastic cup to see if maybe it is infact buildup.
 
Yep, beers I never had a problem with- even ones over a year old were doing it all of the sudden.Back to banning the wife from the pint glasses and hand washing them again. I need to post a pic- 1-2 oz of beer making 12-16 oz of pure foam is interesting....espacially with no bottle bombs or geysers upon opening.
 
Another thought... if the glasses were really warm and the beer cold, would that cause this? Then when he ran it under cold water for a while it chilled the glass down closer to beer temp? Just a thought if your kitchen is really hot.
 
Another thought... if the glasses were really warm and the beer cold, would that cause this? Then when he ran it under cold water for a while it chilled the glass down closer to beer temp? Just a thought if your kitchen is really hot.

The first thing I thought of was temperature.
 
Get a couple large glass mugs, I got 3 with my logo on them. That's all I drink beer out of now and my wife knows those don't go in the dishwasher. All the other glasses (pint glasses included) go in the dishwasher.
 
I still vote for temp/improper aging. I've had the exact same thing happen if I stash it in the fridge just long enough for it to get cold.
 
I will try cooling down the glass just as an experiment. It cannot be from improper aging. Beers that were a couple of months in the bottle conditioned at proper temps, then spent a week or more in the fridge started doing this. Then I went backwards to older brews that never had the problem, and they were all of the sudden doing it. I doubt there would be much change in the bottle from 6 month to 8, 8-12, 12-14 etc.

As far as glass temp being the issue, my house is pretty much 72 all the time, but I will chill a couple just to see. I will takes some pics tonight- last night I was busy at a Randy Rogers show for my B-day.
 
I'm going to pop the notion of hard water & using the dishwasher. Here in Pflugerville my water is extremely hard 432 bicarbonates and I use the dishwasher for my beer glasses because there are too many to handwash for me on a daily basis.

I have never had an overcarb situation, but have experienced a lack of head retention which I fully attribute to the dishwashing soap. Having said that, for some reason the recent LWPA I brewed had plenty of head retention with the same glasses which kinda threw a twist in my lack of head theory.
 
There are too many variables involved in the dishwasher question......which leaves the carbonation. If you are now measuring your carbonation / priming sugar by volume, I urge you to measure it by weight. I am a fairly serious amateur baker, in addition to a tyro at brewing, and stuff that is powdered, like flour, should never be measured by volume. From what I've seen of the powdered dextrose I get for priming -or if you're using DME it's about the same story- it can't be counted on to measure properly by volume. The only thing that makes me question this hypothesis is that the sugar / DME should actually pack light by volume, thus making for under-, not over-carbonation.

If it's the dishwasher, I'm guessing that some miracle product used therein is creating a bunch of those magical "sites" for bubbles to form, thus a version of the by now completely familiar Menos - Coke phenomenon.
 
I do measure priming sugar by weight, and a beer that is not overcarbed at 6 months, won't be overcarbed at 8,10, or 12 months. It happened over too many well- aged brews that had no problems for many months for the problems to be in bottling or priming practice.
 
How has the taste changed on those aged brews? Any change beyond what you'd expect from aging? I'd wonder if you have some sort of bug that got in and was slowly eating away at some of the unfermentables. That could bump up the carbonation months down the road.
 
Taste has been fine, other flat... I would pour in a couple ounces, wait for head to dissipate, add another couple of ounces, wait and so on. By the time I could have a a near full glass, it was flat.

I do appreciate everyone's input!
 
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