Accidental Carbonation in the Primary?

I just brewed my first Imperial IPA. It was also my first beer using a yeast starter. The morning after I brewed, I checked the beer: no bubbles. Not what I expected, but I figured I would wait one more day because our house was ~63F. On day 2, still nothing and I figured that I had a stuck fermentation. In frustration, I kicked the bucket and out effused a ton of CO2. Well, apparently there had been a blockage in the valve, and it was carbonating in the primary! The beer is now pleasantly bubbling away as I type.

Has anyone else had this problem? Is it worth it to keep this batch? I figured I would continue like it never happened, transfer it to the secondary to get the CO2 out and pray it turns out decent in the bottle. I don't want to go through the trouble if I am sure it is going to be really off.

What do you think?

You're perfectly fine, don't even think about tossing this batch! Co2 and beer are good friends, there is absolutely nothing to worry about! Leave it alone, in the primary and walk away for a few weeks. All will be well.

I have never had your problem but do not throw it out as CO2 is a byproduct of fermentation. Keep the temperature nice and cool and it should turn out fine.

Welcome to the forums.

Welcome ColbySt!
I'm glad you're here and hope to see you around the forums.
Don't ever, EVER, let me hear you talking about tossing a batch a beer again!

Your beer is doing exactly what it's suppose to be doing right now. If in doubt, always ask but we will tell you never to toss a batch until it's finished, bottled, and aged. Then if it tastes like it makes you want to vomit, we'll let you toss it.

Thank you for the quick replies. I will wait it out, but I am not sure what my strategy should be...

Should I hold out until the primary stops bubbling or should I transfer it to the secondary to try to lower the dissolved CO2 content? It could take a week or two until it is done going flat. I haven't taken a reading, but I bet the yeast stalled out above my target final gravity with all the pressure from the carbonation. (I started at 1.089 with the goal of 1.020)

Start by reading this blog

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

And get outta the idea that bubbles should be used as a gauge for anything...

Then read this blog ;

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Time_heals_all_things_even_beer/ and you'll learn about NOT THINKING ABOUT DUMPING YOUR BEER....

Heck, just read all my blogs...


Also don't be so quick to move the beer to secondary, quite a few of us don't use secondary and leave our beers on the yeast cake for 3-4 weeks, and let the yeast clean up the byproducts they produced during fermentation...

I just got my score sheets back from a couple contests I entered over the summer, and although I didn't place in the top 3 my scores were acceptable to me...but one thing that stood out in ALL the beers I entered was the appearance, especially the clarity of the beers...and they all sat in primary for a month.

Check out WortMonger's pressurized fermentation thread here. Pressurized fermentation (around 5psi) is employed in some commercial breweries. The pressure minimizes ester production and encourages flocculation resulting in cleaner, clearer beer!

Most likely your fermenter was offgassing somewhere else, or it would have blown up. You are lucky that didn't happen as it is the only thing that could have ruined the beer.

Minimizing dissolved CO2 is pointless. When it is done fermenting and aging, you are just going to stick it into bottles so more CO2 will dissolve into it. Just use Beersmith to calculate residual CO2.

I concur... I like my primary pressurized.