What causes excessive foaming?

A friend of mine gave me a two bottles of beer he made. Said to serve it cold because it foams. Does it ever, even after being in the fridge 36 hours! Poured slowly down the side of a cold glass but it over foamed the glass. Was foaming in the bottle too!

Have no idea how he brewed it but just let's say he is not a meticulous brewer.

What would cause this? Too much priming dextrose? Not letting it ferment long enough? Cause will suggest a cure but in this case any ideas how to keep the second bottle from foaming? Thought of letting it ferment longer in the bottle in a covered container in case the bottle bursts. Also thought of putting it in the freezer for a 1/2 hour to get it real cold without freezing it.

Any thoughts?

probably either too much priming sugar or he bottled to early. any idea how long he let it ferment? or how much priming sugar he used? also I've read about an infection that causes gushing like this, but I believe it's associated with a Nast off flavor too

Wild yeast can make a beer foam over and taste like seltzer.

Although my friend has been brewing for 30 years or so he is not to particular. He told me he primed each bottle "with a teaspoon or so of table sugar". No wonder the foaming was excessive!!!

He didnt prime the whole thing with sugar BEFORE bottling? Wow.

statseeker said:

He didnt prime the whole thing with sugar BEFORE bottling? Wow.

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A lot of people don't bulk prime. I don't really understand *AT ALL* why people would choose to prime every bottle individually, but many homebrewers do it that way.

emjay said:

A lot of people don't bulk prime. I don't really understand *AT ALL* why people would choose to prime every bottle individually, but many homebrewers do it that way.

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True, it takes a lot longer, is more effort, is inconsistent and there is more risk of infection unless the sugar is dissolved in boiling water. But I think the reason people do it is because the information they find teaches them to do it.
Here's is a simple and effective way:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_73_404&products_id=10600&osCsid=b4c329b379b8b41a0c0c0554e7162e1c

This is the ONLY way I would do it if I didnt bulk prime.

emjay said:

A lot of people don't bulk prime. I don't really understand *AT ALL* why people would choose to prime every bottle individually, but many homebrewers do it that way.

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The same reason people still use balloons instead of airlocks I guess - they find something that works, so why fix something that isn't broken?

Mine does the same. Pour it slower into a glass, and onto your thumb too.

statseeker said:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_73_404&products_id=10600&osCsid=b4c329b379b8b41a0c0c0554e7162e1c

This is the ONLY way I would do it if I didnt bulk prime.

Click to expand...

Neat. Might have to try those sometime.

Back to the original question-

Gushing can be from-

1 Infection

2 too much sugar

3 bottling before fermentation is complete, this is why bottling, or dong anything like racking to a secondary, should be done based on HYDROMETER readings and NOT the instruction or a calendar, or airlock bubbling stopping or slowing down.

4 Not chilling the beer and letting the co2 be pulled into solution.

5 Opening the bottles too soon, usually around 1 week, when the co2 is in the headspace but NOT in solution. This is best illustrated by Poindexter's video from my bottling blog.




6) Shaking/agitating the bottle.


These are pretty much the only reasons why a bottle would gush.