Consistently Inconsistent

I brewed a pretty big beer (for me) black IPA. 2.5 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary dry-hopped.

Now after 2 weeks in the bottle I'm having inconsistent carbonation problems. I've had 4 opened and Mostly, they are far more carbonated than I expected at this point (crawling out of the bottle sometimes).

Taste is good after I pour and let it settle out for a while (if you drink it immediately after the pour the carbonation picks up the yeast and hop layer off of the bottom and it's gets really yeasty/bitter).

Is there anything I can do for storage to keep these guys from turning into the fountain of youth over the next few weeks? I'd like to bottle age them a bit, but not if they are going to explode on me. Should I put them in the garage to cool them off a bit? Thanks!

How long are you refrigerating them?

I have not put them in the refer. I keep them in a closet, then chill and drink Should I put them in the fridge? Thanks!
(also what is boilermaker ale?, Purdue grad)

Putting them in the fridge will help prevent bottle bombs and also make the trub in the bottom stay put.

Are you pouring the beer into a glass before drinking? You should, so you can leave the trub behind in the bottle...

Refrigerating them for a few days will also help the CO2 stay in solution preventing them from foaming out as soon as you open them.

This is anecdotal and I have no science to back it up, but I had the same thing happen with an Imperial IPA that would act over-carbonated unless refrigerated for a few days.

yes I pour them off the trub into a glass.

Since it's an IPA do you think the sharpness from the hops mellow off over some time in the fridge? (I think it needs it). I'm guessing if I cool it yeast activity will stop.

actually you said your beer has been in the bottle for only 2 weeks! check out Revvy's thread about bottle conditioning.

There is a video that shows how green beer will foam like crazy until its been in the bottle a while and conditions.

can anyone below me find this video? I've had some homebrews and cant seem to find it right now.

Now this is sounding promising....I do think it's still very green and needs to be in the bottle a while. I had never heard or read that green beer will do this.

I should have resisted and just let it go for a while before cracking one...then I wouldn't be so skeptical and checking them. I really appreciate this, i'm going to look for this video.

yep just found it in the thread "should I expect bottle bombs"....sorry should have checked before posting. Thank you everyone for your feedback.

If your beer is is inconsistatly carbed, it simply means that your beer is not ready yet.

Especially since you said you opened them after only two weeks....

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

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

And even carbonation doesn't mean that they will not still be green and need more time to condition....

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

Walk away from them, and come back in two weeks, and I bet they will be perfect..they usually are.

Don't worry about bottle bombs, or anything else, look at yhe video in the link and you will see what is hapenning to your beer, the co2 hasn't gone back into solution yet.

Thank you Revvy, I appreciate you taking the time to respond and make the video's etc. Feeling pretty good about this now. The beer was good (not great) even though it was green I bet it will be excellent in a few weeks time!