over carbonation problem

UPDATE: See later replies below

I have recently tried a steam style lager and have since bottled it. however when removing the cap on day-4 it overflowed the bottle. About 5 days it was in the primary bucket, and the rest of the 17 days it was in the secondary.

I do not understand as I have a scale and accurately measure out the 4.5oz of dextrose and I actually used a little less in it; but it still overflowed. What could be the problem? I sanatized and scrubbed the bottles and buckets, but I'm still getting and overcarbonation problem.


There is a little yeast settled at the bottom of the bottle which I guess is normal since I dont have a filter system like the big breweries. So can anyone help?

Should I use a fining agent to cut down on the yeast problem?
Sould I use even less dextrose?

After only four days it was probably krausening in the bottle, just like day four in your fermentor. Leave them sit for a couple more weeks and try again. They are not supposed to be ready to drink for three weeks in the bottle.

mrk305 said:

After only four days it was probably krausening in the bottle, just like day four in your fermentor. Leave them sit for a couple more weeks and try again. They are not supposed to be ready to drink for three weeks in the bottle.

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I did not actually take the active brew on day 4 and bottle it [if that is what you meant]. It was on day 21 it was opened [bottled on day 17] .



So I will wait a couple of weeks and check back on it.

Would fining agents interfere with the yeast carbonation if I try it?

I'm so confused...how long has it ACTUALLY been in the bottle????

I bottled it after day 17 and it remained 4 days in the bottle. So; FOUR days.

So it's been ONLY four days in the bottle????? The only problem is that you are impatient....

You are simply openning the beer too early,

Watch poindexter's video from my bottling blog.




Like he shows several times, even @ 1 week, all the hissing, all the foaming can and does happen, but until it's dissolved back into the beer, your don't really have carbonation, with tiny bubbles coming out of solution happening actually inside the glass, not JUST what's happening on the surface.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

But until then the beer can even appear to be overcarbed, when really nothing is wrong.

A lot of new brewers who tend to kill their two cases off in a few days, don't experience true carbonation and the pleasures thereof, until they actually get a pipeline going, and have their first 5 or 6 week old full carbed and conditioned wonderfully little puppy! Then the come back with an "aha" moment.


Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Makes sure the beers are minimum of 3 weeks at 70 degrees before you even think of opening them, then make sure a couple of them are THOROUGHLY chilled for at least 48 hours to draw the co2 into solution. Then more than likely everything will be hunky dory....

UPDATE:

It is now on approx the 15th day and I tried to open the bottle just to test it and there was a loud 'pop' and the bottle proceeded quickly to gush out 3/4's of its contents.

Should I wait longer to open it?

(I know i should wait 3+ weeks or longer but I just tried one to see how it would pan out and all I got was a loud 'pop' and its contents on the ground)

Is there some sort of infection?
I dont see how since I cleaned the bottles really good.



I will put one in the fridge and wait and see if it still gushes out. Just a thought since the video shows he opened it on the 11th day and it did not gush out while mine did.

You already know the answer, you said it yourself in the above post....Just because despite you "knowing better" you choose to open early, still doesn't mean there's anything wrong...

REVVY:
I was just wondering about this since the video shows when he opened it on day 11 it did not 'pop' and overflow as badly as mine did. I guess he must have refridgerated it before pouring it.


I did not mention it before, but do you guys here think if a little yeast [not too too much] got into the bottles it would be a problem for carbonation?

drunkmalt said:

REVVY:
I was just wondering about this since the video shows when he opened it on day 11 it did not 'pop' and overflow as badly as mine did. I guess he must have refridgerated it before pouring it.


I did not mention it before, but do you guys here think if a little yeast [not too too much] got into the bottles it would be a problem for carbonation?

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cracking one open before the 3 weeks is one thing, analyzing that beer prior to it being done is another...nothing wrong with seeing how the process is going, but reserve judgment until the minimum 3 weeks is up

you should also be chilling the beers at least 48 hrs before drinking to let the co2 get into solution...co2 is way more soluble in chilled liquids

Hey

Im a newbie too and had exactly the same problem, some kind person on here told me that my beer needed to be cold as I was opening them warm.. they were right 12-24 hours in the fridge prior to opening fixed the problem. Are you opening yours at room temp like i was ?

I've had a beer take a full 30 days to reach a stable gravity. For 10 days prior to that, my hydrometer just kept slowly falling 1 point per day. It just wasn't done. If I had bottled it at 3 weeks, I might also have had gushers or bottle bombs. The yeast works on its schedule, not yours. Let the yeast tell you when it's done. Use your hydrometer!

NRS

heferly said:

cracking one open before the 3 weeks is one thing, analyzing that beer prior to it being done is another...nothing wrong with seeing how the process is going, but reserve judgment until the minimum 3 weeks is up

you should also be chilling the beers at least 48 hrs before drinking to let the co2 get into solution...co2 is way more soluble in chilled liquids

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For me, it's fair game after a week in the bottle. I usually try one after one week and then wait another two weeks, but if that sample is really good, it's on after one week.

you know i had the same problem when I first started, someone on here told me it was because i was opening the beer at room temperature. So chilled the bottles for 24 hours before drinking and never had a problem since. Give it a go

kiwiguy said:

Hey

Im a newbie too and had exactly the same problem, some kind person on here told me that my beer needed to be cold as I was opening them warm.. they were right 12-24 hours in the fridge prior to opening fixed the problem. Are you opening yours at room temp like i was ?

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Yes I did open mine at room temp and when I heard the loud 'POP' it had me wonder about if I had a bit too much yeast in the bottle since when I drained it some yeast got into the drain tube.

I would assume some yeast in the bottle is no harm no foul.

It also makes me think how the big breweries do it since with them you can leave a bottle of their stuff at room temp and open it and it will not gush out.



As an update to this reply I have since taken one of my brews "13 days since bottling" and I will leave it in the fridge for a couple of days to see how it pans out.

wait 3 weeks......

THE BEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE!

double post

biggerthanyou83 said:

wait 3 weeks......

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It doesn't seem to sink in for him.....None of us know what we're talking about, none of us have experience with this, no one else has ever posted the exact same situation on here, then waited and posted that their beer is now fine. No video has ever been shot of this phenomenon or anything else for that matter. He also doesn't grasp the difference between force carbed beers at commercial breweries (hence his last post) where the beer is already carbed prior to going into the bottles, and the carbonation process that happens inside the bottle, where pressure co2 builds up over time LIKE A MINIMUM OF THREE WEEKs...and then balances out, and is further balanced by the cold.

biggerthanyou83 said:

THE BEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw

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You mean the one I posted when I first answered his question as an explanation for his situation?

Revvy said:

It doesn't seem to sink in for him.....None of us know what we're talking about, none of us have experience with this, no one else has ever posted the exact same situation on here, then waited and posted that their beer is now fine. No video has ever been shot of this phenomenon or anything else for that matter. He also doesn't grasp the difference between force carbed beers at commercial breweries (hence his last post) where the beer is already carbed prior to going into the bottles, and the carbonation process that happens inside the bottle, where pressure co2 builds up over time LIKE A MINIMUM OF THREE WEEKs...and then balances out, and is further balanced by the cold.

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Revvy said:

You mean the one I posted when I first answered his question as an explanation for his situation?

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yeah.... i didnt ready any post first. i just replies with the 3 weeks.... and the video. Its ok to learn the hard way...

I just had a carbonation problem myself on a Fat Tire Clone, I only used about 3/4 bag of priming sugar trying to mimic the low carbination of fat tire. Layed it down for over three months, still foaming up like crazy on a pour. No idea what i did wrong????!!!

Well, there are several things to look at. One is making sure the SG readings were stable before bottling. If the beer has had an unchanging SG reading for a while (more than at least a couple of days), it's probably finished. But bottling too early is usually the problem with bottle gushers/bottle bombs.

I am going against the grain here, but I've never heard of opening a bottle early being explosive! I think that we need to talk about overpriming and/or bottling too soon as being very real risks of bottle bombs.

gatorhick said:

I just had a carbonation problem myself on a Fat Tire Clone, I only used about 3/4 bag of priming sugar trying to mimic the low carbination of fat tire. Layed it down for over three months, still foaming up like crazy on a pour. No idea what i did wrong????!!!

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Have you been chilling them for 48 hrs before opening? If not, that could solve your issue.

Otherwise, yoop is right, you either bottled too early, or your bottles happened to be infected. Did you take an FG?

Always open the bottles after being chilled. They spent 3 weeks in secondary and had a steady SG reading before bottling.

I'm thinking i should let it spend more time in secondary. Is time in secondary more beneficial than time in bottles? I understand that it needs a certian time to bottle condition but beyond that is secondary better?

gatorhick said:

Always open the bottles after being chilled. They spent 3 weeks in secondary and had a steady SG reading before bottling.

I'm thinking i should let it spend more time in secondary. Is time in secondary more beneficial than time in bottles? I understand that it needs a certian time to bottle condition but beyond that is secondary better?

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I don't use a secondary, so I wouldn't say that it's better!

About two weeks to three weeks or so in the fermenter for me, until the beer has been at FG for a while, and is fairly clear. (I package only clear beer, because I don't want it to clear in the bottle and have the crud in the bottle).

One of the things you can do to fix an over carbonation issue even after bottling is to chill the bottles. If they don't gush when opening after chilling you can off gas some of the excess carbonation. If a cap will stay place on on the bottle mouth to protect from floating stuff and oxidation, if it is foaming out a little bit that's fine. After about an hour or two depending on how high your carbonation is and the type of beer you can recap. If they foamed over just slide the cap through the foam and cap on the foam. If you were able to keep a cap on there just crimp it (a new one obviously). Flip tops are even easier as you can leave them on even if foaming.

I actually just ran into a peculiar priming issue. I bottled a stout half in flip tops and half in 12oz long necks. The long necks are primes as they should be but the flip top were over carbonated big time. I never had a batch do this to me but there's always a first. I did just as I described only I vented these at room temp (off gassing happens faster).

Sure this isn't a precise method but it will help with a high carbonation issue allowing you to pour and enjoy your beer instead of it being a foamy mess that pisses you off.