Gushers

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Chombo

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So i have made a few batches of brew and for some reason random bottles will be gushers, not really sure why.

all have conditioned for over 4 weeks some for a few months and all gushers have been chilled for over 48+ hours. and none of them have off flavors, infact they are all delicious. is there any reason for this? starsan was used on all bottles, and i have been quite careful with sanitization so im confident it isnt an infection problem. any ideas? its kind of annoying because the gushing is kicking up all the yeast at the bottom making some pretty cloudy beers. thanks!

:mug:
 
Maybe little bits of gunk left in the gusher bottles? I carefully inspect every bottle I use. I hold them to the light and look inside to make sure there are no little pieces of gunk in the bottom.
 
We need more info before folks start armchair theorizing. Let's get down to basics.

How are you bottling your beer, bulk or individually?
How much sugar are you using?
What temp are bottling at?
Do you crash cool or not?
What temp are you storing them at?
 
Usually, gushers come from either not mixing your priming sugar good enough (some bottles have more sugar than others), or from infections caused by not having your bottles clean and sanitized.

We could use the information the Revvy is requesting to help figure out what needs to be done to prevent this in the future.
 
My experience with a gushing situation like yours, reinforcing what Homer said, is poorly mixed priming sugar.

NOT to try to discredit Revvy, as his avatar shows, he the Jedi-master to my padwan. So do not hesitate to answer his questions as completely as possible.

My experience: gushers do to a sanitation/infection issue - a few good beers most gushing. My cleaning/sanitation will be poor for the batch, I'm in a hurry, not paying attention, etc. So all or most of the bottles end up bad, instead of just a few.

A few gushers, and mostly good beers - mixing issues. The sugars will mostly mix giving a few over-carbed beers.

Again just a generalization on my experience.

I have also had gushers from rushing to bottle before letting fermentation finish, that was an entire batch thoughi, as too much sugar from the malts remained in the wort, so with the added corn sugar it went nuts.

A good, quick rememdy, that has worked well for me: sanitize a rubbermaid container, cooler (something shallow and wide) place your bottles in it, and start popping tops. Let the gushers gush, if a bottle isn't gushing recap it right away. Recap your gushers and put em in the fridge, or wherever you store your bottles. Poor the beer out of your container into a glass and enjoy :)! The CO2 is heavier then air and bottle pressure is greater then atmospheric, so if you don't dawdle or watch the Lost finale after you pop the tops your risk of oxygenizing your bottles will be slim to none.

Hope that helps. CHEERS!
 
I just did a little mechanical work on some bottles this morning. I'm having the same difficulty. I burped them in the sink. It's apparent which ones they have quite a lot of head room after foaming. I'll just drink those mysely sometime. I'm not going to refridgerate - just finish bottle aging.

The last couple batches I've tried to decant into a bottling pot with a siphon hose to leave the trub behind. Some yeast always seems to get through.

I've put about 3 tablespoons of corn sugar in first. Give it a good mix, and a couple gentle stirs along the way.

I have tried to avoid stirring the beer too vigorously to avoid disturbing the settled yeast on the bottom of the pot.

Is this why people go to secondary? I was thinking of starting a new thread "Philosophy of Seconrady Fermentation" to get opinions.

The gushers are kind of fun to watch as long as you get them before they go al nuclear!

The similar threads at the bottom of the page have interesting titles. Is this a technical term?
 
I had a gusher this week. When I poured the bottle out, I saw two clumps of what looked like mold or something similar stuck to the bottom of the bottle. I added water to the bottle, swished it around, and watched as the clumps poured out. Ewwwwwwwww... The other bottles are fine.

I've had uneven carbonation problems, but they've never been as extreme as a gusher due to infection. When I have uneven carb, I get a bigger hiss on opening, and more head when I pour. When I get a gusher as soon as I open the bottle, foam starts coming out. With that said, I use less priming sugar than most people (closer to 4 ounces instead of 5 ounces) so I probably don't run into way too much sugar in one bottle issues as much as others.
 
Some yeast always seems to get through.

If *no* yeast got through, there wouldn't be any carbonation. A certain number of yeast are in suspension -- even if the beer looks clear -- so unless you filter you will never get rid of all the yeast. (I suppose you could centrifuge... that'd get most if not all of the li'l fellas.)

You mean you get chunks of trub in bottles? I've never done that, I guess because I siphon to a bottling bucket fairly carefully. Also, my trub is not a crumbly cake while it's still wet, it's more like a trub-slime on the bottom of the bucket. ;)
 
If *no* yeast got through, there wouldn't be any carbonation. A certain number of yeast are in suspension -- even if the beer looks clear -- so unless you filter you will never get rid of all the yeast. (I suppose you could centrifuge... that'd get most if not all of the li'l fellas.)

You mean you get chunks of trub in bottles? I've never done that, I guess because I siphon to a bottling bucket fairly carefully. Also, my trub is not a crumbly cake while it's still wet, it's more like a trub-slime on the bottom of the bucket. ;)

Justibone

Most of the time its not a problem in itself to have the last two or three bottles to have a little extra - I'll use the term "sediment" - in them. It's just that it appears that these are also the bottles that might be having the caps bump out.

The liquid yeast I just tried for the first tiime had little round balls of yeast maybe 1.5 mm in dia floating in it. They settled out fairly fast. I wasn't overly cautious decanting into my bottling pot from my fermenting pot. That last few bottles had a couple millenia worth of sediment - cretaceous, paleozoic, etc. :)

Seriously - Maybe I just need to be more careful with the decanting to bottling step, but what about secondary? How do you time it? Do you need to leave some of the original sugar? I'm not really set for more of an investment in Carbouys right now. I'm thinking Id get oxidation with my SS pot method.

?
 
Justibone
what about secondary? How do you time it? Do you need to leave some of the original sugar?

In wine, you rack off the lees (trub, sediment... all the same stuff) at about halfway through the fermentation. Since beer is so much different, it's not really necessary, so most people don't. Usually when a beer brewer is doing a secondary they are 1) perfectionist 2) clear beer fans or 3) making a doozie of a big ol' beer.

If you want less gunk in your bottles, and you have a big fridge, you could always cold crash your beer just before bottling. The cold temperatures will help the yeast to settle out a little better.

I don't think you need a secondary... I think something else is responsible for your issues. :(
 
We need more info before folks start armchair theorizing. Let's get down to basics.

How are you bottling your beer, bulk or individually?
How much sugar are you using?
What temp are bottling at?
Do you crash cool or not?
What temp are you storing them at?

Thanks everyone this is all great insight!

to answer Revvys Questions:

Bottling in bulk
3/4 cup per 5 gallon batch, sometimes 3/4 cup for 5.5 gallons
bottling at around around ~20C (~68F)
no crash cool
i store them at around ~20C for bottle conditioning


More info: *Most* (not all, i check clear ones for organic material) of the gushers have been in ceramic bottles with swing top caps, i cant see inside of them for any gunk, but i always soak them in bleach/water mixture (tsp bleach per gallon of water) the night before bottling day and rinse well before i sanatize with starsan right before i bottle. they have never had off flavors so im not convinced its an infection.

when i prime i boil the dextrose in 2 pints of water, then pour in the carboy then gently mix with my long stir rod (as to not disturb trum that much) and let it sit for 20-25 minutes.


could the inside of ceramic bottles be textured or something causing gushing? the original beers didnt gush (maybe because yeast was filtered from them) also there is always a good 1/8 inch of trub at the bottom of my bottles.
 
..minie - the beer is great - not sour or anything. It's got to be not re-mixing the priming sugar as I progress or more yeast in the last couple bottles (?).

I'm thinking an auxilliary fridge is in my future.

I'm kind of starting to think about clear beer for my friends. I don't mind some floaties.....
 
Thanks everyone this is all great insight!

to answer Revvys Questions:

Bottling in bulk
3/4 cup per 5 gallon batch, sometimes 3/4 cup for 5.5 gallons
bottling at around around ~20C (~68F)
no crash cool
i store them at around ~20C for bottle conditioning


More info: *Most* (not all, i check clear ones for organic material) of the gushers have been in ceramic bottles with swing top caps, i cant see inside of them for any gunk, but i always soak them in bleach/water mixture (tsp bleach per gallon of water) the night before bottling day and rinse well before i sanatize with starsan right before i bottle. they have never had off flavors so im not convinced its an infection.

when i prime i boil the dextrose in 2 pints of water, then pour in the carboy then gently mix with my long stir rod (as to not disturb trum that much) and let it sit for 20-25 minutes.


could the inside of ceramic bottles be textured or something causing gushing? the original beers didnt gush (maybe because yeast was filtered from them) also there is always a good 1/8 inch of trub at the bottom of my bottles.

I've only ever had 1 gusher, and you could actually see the gunk on the bottom of the bottle from being unclean. Guess I missed one. I have since gone to soaking overnight in hot oxyclean. Even then, I've found bottles that did not come clean. They get pitched.

I'd try and find a way to check the cleanliness of your bottles. The gunk that often collects on the bottom can and will harbor bacteria that will cause gushers.
 
More info: *Most* (not all, i check clear ones for organic material) of the gushers have been in ceramic bottles with swing top caps, i cant see inside of them for any gunk, but i always soak them in bleach/water mixture (tsp bleach per gallon of water) the night before bottling day and rinse well before i sanatize with starsan right before i bottle. they have never had off flavors so im not convinced its an infection.

I don't think the intention was to imply infection, but an inconsistency in how much yeast is in the bottle... I think.
could the inside of ceramic bottles be textured or something causing gushing? the original beers didnt gush (maybe because yeast was filtered from them) also there is always a good 1/8 inch of trub at the bottom of my bottles.

the yeast at the bottom is normal (don't drink it - it'll make ya fart till ya blow an o-ring).

Interesting idea about the interior texture - no idea... I would think that would effect a pour, not just opening.

I was thinking light level differences? The opaque bottles "do better" than the clear(er) ones <shrug>?
 
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