about 1 cm of sediment

I just cracked open an IPA.

I noticed the bottle had a ton of sediment in it, almost 1 cm. I opened the bottle and the beer volcano out of the bottle. The sediment looked like debris caught up in a tornado. The beer was undrinkable.

Other specs:
Beer had been in bottles for 7 days. ( i know 3 weeks is ideal)
FG before priming was 1.001
Primed with 0.75 cup of honey, boiled in 1 cup of water. (I know corn sugar is ideal, but I had all my bottles washed and everything set up when i realized I was out of corn sugar)
Used washed California Ale yeast in this batch. (Wash was in my fridge for 48 hours before use)

Obviously, this beer could have used more time in the secondary.

But what is up with the volcano? Thoughts?

P.S.

I feel like I am always posting my problem batches. I am enjoying a great IPA that actually went smoothly. I don't think I am going to use washed yeast again, as those batches are always the ones with problems.

P.S.S.

Bad batches bum me out!

A gravity that low sounds like an infection to me, not to mention the gusher.

I'm thinking that 3/4 cup of honey is a lot more fermentable sugar than 3/4 cup of corn sugar.

It would be easier to decipher your problem if you posted your recipe and notes. The more details the better.

That much sediment in the bottle is a clear indication that you bottled too soon. If you had used a secondary for a couple of weeks the majority of that yeast would/should have dropped out. Considering there's about 2.5 cm to an inch that's a lot of sediment.

Given the fact that you have under 30 posts I'm going to assume that you are a new brewer. Nothing wrong with that, but you new guys need to learn patience.

Fermentation is a natural process that can't be altered (without consequences). The beer will finish in its own time. Just because you are ready doesn't mean the brew is.

The trick is to brew several beers over the next few weekends so you have 4-5 brews at different stages going at the same time. I currently have about 12-15 batches bottled and kegged (many over 6 months old) and 5 going. I also am doing another one today with my 3 year old greatgrandson...he likes to stir (even when there's only 1 ingredient in the pot...he doesn't know any better)...now if I can only get him to stop picking his nose while doing so...

The cleaner the beer going into the bottle results in clearer beer in the glass.

Do the bottles have rings inside the neck area? That could be a sign of bacteria, but not always. It could also be some yeast and hop oils that floated to the top from racking or over-priming.

When you take samples to test for carbonation levels and your brew meets the level you want you should place all the bottles in the cold to retard further fermentation...and future gushing.

FG before priming was 1.001

Click to expand...

I have trouble imagining an IPA recipe that would ferment that far. Really sounds like an infection to me, which would mean a layer of bacteria in addition to yeast and trub.

JMSetzler said:

I'm thinking that 3/4 cup of honey is a lot more fermentable sugar than 3/4 cup of corn sugar.

Click to expand...

By weight honey is about 20% water and 80% sugar. Corn sugar is 100% sugar. I would guess that by volume dry sugar and honey are pretty close. Definitely not enough different to cause concern about bottle bombs or gushers.

If your FG was accurate then an infection does sound probable. A large about of sediment could be due to bottling a beer that was not clear or disturbing the sediment in the fermenting when bottling. However the sediment and gushing combined with the FG sounds like infection to me. You may also be near bottle bombs. However if your measured FG was accurate then there should not be much extra sugar available to create CO2 from.

Craig

When you took your FG reading what wa the temp?

You know you have to "correct" your reading for temperature differences, right?

An FG of 1.010 at 48F is different than at 80F...

Thanks for the replies.

I agree that I definitely didn't let the beer clear long enough in the secondary.
I don't think that I over primed due to the fact the honey isn't 100% fermentable sugars.
I do not see any rings in the neck of the bottles.

I have opened other bottles with less sediment, and they did not have the volcano action. This did produce a 1.5 inch head in the glass after very carefully pouring.

The taste is a little funky, but not undrinkable and not terrible.
Assuming i have a bacteria infection, is it safe to drink?

Below are my Ingredients, Procedures and Notes for anyone interested.
Ingredient/Lbs or oz

Light Malt Extract/8
British Dark Crystal/1.5
Sugar /0.375
Dextrin/0.25

HOPS
Newport (@b)/2
Sterling (@b)/1
Santiam (@45min)/2

Yeast
California Cale Yeast -Washed

Procedures
75 min boil
Steep Grains 50 min
Boil
Add 1/2 extract
Add Hops (Newport and Sterling)
Boil 30 min
@30 min
add sugar
add 1/2 extract
add santium
boil 45 min

Primed with 3/4 lb honey in 1 cup water, boiled 10 minutes

Notes:
- Washed yeast from Cali Pale, used freshly boiled water for wash. Sat in fridge for about 24-48 hours
- pitched 1.25 liters of yeast solution, at least 33.8 oz.
- Frementation began after 48 hours on 1/5/09
- Fermentation looks clean, no overly vigorous action
- Smell from airlock is pleasant, hops stand out in aroma (1/5/09)
- color before fermentation was very dark, close to black.
- color has lightened to dark brown (1/11/09)
- measured gravity 1/12/09, was 1.01
- Tasted 1/12/09 - tasted very hoppy. I am a bit concerned that it has a similar taste to an infected batch previously done. I think that I am mistaking this taste with the hop character.
- 1/13/09 - Racked to secondary, dry hopped w/ 0.5oz of willamette
- 1/14/09 - fermentaion seems to have picked up after racking. Good flocculation in secondary.
- Is this infected? Has similar smell as previos infection, but I can drink the wort without problem. Has good hop finish.
- Bottled 1/17, using honey as primer. Used approx 1/2 cup of honey in 1 cup of water. Gravity reading taken, close to 1.000
- Fermented in secondary, left kraussen on secondary. Seemed to be slightly carbinated when bottled.

also. I typically measure my gravity at 70 degrees.

It does sound like an infection.
It will be safe to drink as the infection will not be a human pathogen. Beer is safe if it tastes nasty.
The problem with infections is that some organisms will eat the unfermentable sugars left in the beer but will take a long time to do so. This can result in bottle bombs as the pressure slowly builds up. This also means that the beer will taste more funky over time.

If it drinkable now then I would suggest chilling the entire batch. The chilling will slow or halt the infection. If a bottle looks to have tons of sediment and will be undrinkable then just pour it out.

Craig