Bottles Keep Foaming Over

I'm having a serious problem. I just bottled my Chocolate Stout about 2 weeks ago and I have been letting them sit. When I open them up, it's like Russian Roulette. Sometimes the bottles open fine, and other times there is uncontrollable foaming. I put the right amount of priming sugar in my bottling bucket, I don't know what is causing this. Does anyone have any tips on how I can keep my already bottled beer from foaming over?

Are the bottles chilled. It's best to let thim sit in the fridge for at least 1 week to help it all settle out.
It's alos possible that your priming sugar was not uniformly mixed in. Can you tell us a little more about your bottling procedure, the ammount of priming sugar you used, and what the final gravity was pre bottling?

I'd actually wait another week, preferably 2 more before chilling them for at least 48 hour but preferably and entire week.

You could be at the "false carbonation" stage where there is Co2 in the headspace and somewhat in the beer,but it hasn't fully gone into solution yet, the carbonation hasn't peaked and leveled off as the gas is absorbed back into the beer....

Also, if you are opening at room temp, then that is probably the real cause. If it was not referigerated when you opened it, that's more than likely why it gushed. It is a good idea to chill them at least 48 hours, preferably a week...this will help pull the co2 back into solution.

I would let them sit at carb temp for another week, then take a couple and chill them for a antoher 3 days or a week...and check those....if they are fine, then chill down and enjoy the rest.

If you check out my post here, you will see a vid that shows exactly what happened to your beer, how the carb hasn't leveld out yet.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/1030387-post8.html

Besides it's a stout, most stouts need 4-6 weeks to mellow and condition anyway...

SO quit playing Russian ROullette with your bottles, go brew something else, and let these do what they need to do.

It was my first homebrew...and honestly I didn't take any hydrometer reading (big mistake). My bottling procedure was boiling the amount of sugar in the kit with 2 cups of water, pouring the mixture in my bottling bucket and letting it sit for about a half hour. Then I bottled it. I'm thinking that maybe the priming sugar didn't mix uniformly with the fermented beer, but I don't know how to make it uniform.

Revvy, I appreciate the help. The beer wasn't opened at room temp...it was refrigerated for about 3 or 4 hours. I do agree though, I think it may need some further refrigeration. Thank you for your help.

You poured the prim sugar solution into already racked beer?
if so next time put the sugar solution into the bottling bucket first then rack the beer onto it, it will mix better. Also you don't have to let it sit you can just bottle away after all the beer is in there...

+1 to all revvy's stuff above too...

ericmunley said:

Revvy, I appreciate the help. The beer wasn't opened at room temp...it was refrigerated for about 3 or 4 hours. I do agree though, I think it may need some further refrigeration. Thank you for your help.

Click to expand...

3-4 hours is not a lot of time.....and like I said, also you may be at the early stages of carbontation (like in the video) that's why it's inconsistant from bottle to bottle, the carb hasn't levelled off yet....each bottle is it's own little microsystem. Given enough time they all will reach stasis....

but I still wouldn't even bother openning them til AFTER 3 weeks, not before...

Generally speaking the 3 weeks at 70 degrees that we recommend is only a guideline, a minimum...the higher the grav, the longer it takes to carb and condition. Don't forget, just because a beer is fizzy doesn't mean it is still not green, and tastes like a$$...

I've had stouts and porters take 4-6 weeks to carb...I have a 1.090 Belgian Strong Dark Ale that is 2.5 months in the bottle and it is barely beginning to carb up, I don't think it will even begin to stop tasting green and like rocket fuel for about another 2-3 months....

Hell during the winter I am lucky if I get ANY BEER to carb up inn 8 weeks, since my loft stays in the low 60 all winter...I wrap them in sleeping bags and other things to keep them warm.

I appreciate all the help. Like I said, I'm new at this. I let it sit in primary for 2 weeks, secondary for 2 weeks and in bottles for 2 weeks like the instructions said. It's been about 2 or 3 weeks since the 2 week bottle conditioning was up. I will put the rest of the bottles in the fridge for a few days and hopefully the problem is figured out. Thank you again Revvy and Greenwood.

GreenwoodRover said:

You poured the prim sugar solution into already racked beer?
if so next time put the sugar solution into the bottling bucket first then rack the beer onto it, it will mix better. Also you don't have to let it sit you can just bottle away after all the beer is in there...

+1 to all revvy's stuff above too...

Click to expand...

The secondary fermenter was the bottling bucket...so I didn't have much choice as far as what order to put the priming sugar in.

I hear ya. In that case an ever so gentle stir or swirl helps it to mix well.
Whe that's the case for me I just leave it in primary until I bottle. The extra time on the yeasy really helps it clean up any off flavors...

Get rolling on your next batch so you're not tempted to open the last one...