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NorthRiverS

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Brewers,

I opened a beer that had been bottled for 3 weeks. Foam slowly welled up into the bottle. The beer then foamed up big time as I poured it into the glass. Decided I must have bottled it too early. Nope. Brewed on June 4th. OG =1.056. FG was 1.011 on 6/22, 6/25, and 7/1 when I bottled it. I just put some of the beer in my hydrometer and it read 1.008! I don't get it. Fermented for almost a month, gravity readings stable for 9 days when bottled. Gravity still dropped .003. Input?

NRS
 
I've had beers I bulk primed do that after a "stable" FG was reached. But you have to chill them more than a couple of hours,I've found. Not enough co2 went back into solution.
 
I've had beers I bulk primed do that after a "stable" FG was reached. But you have to chill them more than a couple of hours,I've found. Not enough co2 went back into solution.

I agree. At least a couple of days in the fridge, if not more.:mug:
 
Could be an infection post bottling also. They tend to gush when opened.
 
Brewers,

I opened a beer that had been bottled for 3 weeks. Foam slowly welled up into the bottle. The beer then foamed up big time as I poured it into the glass. Decided I must have bottled it too early. Nope. Brewed on June 4th. OG =1.056. FG was 1.011 on 6/22, 6/25, and 7/1 when I bottled it. I just put some of the beer in my hydrometer and it read 1.008! I don't get it. Fermented for almost a month, gravity readings stable for 9 days when bottled. Gravity still dropped .003. Input?

NRS

Did you adjust the reading for temperature? I don't know if Oregon is as hot as the rest of the country right now, but hydrometers are accurate at 60F.
 
Most of your CO2 was in the neck of the bottle, causing the eruption. You need to chill the bottle for AT LEAST 24 hours to allow the CO2 to be absorbed into the beer itself. So, after a couple of hours, the beer might be cool or cold, but the CO2 has only begun to dissolve into solution.
 
Infections are pretty rare. Most of the time,it's just a noob freaking out over something normal,but unfamiliar. Most often,it's just good carbonation & conditioning. the beer will easily make great head,with fine bubbles & the "upside down snow storm". That's what you want,but if it isn't chilled for5-6 days (ideally),& just chilled a couple hours,it'll gush slowly or like old faithful. It is no indication of infection,or some fault of the process.
 
Could be an infection post bottling also. They tend to gush when opened.

agree. Did you taste any off flavors like green apple? I had my first infected bottle recently and it did the same exact thing.
 
Sorry guys for leaving out some information. They have been chilled for several days. Plus the temperature here is nice. It just seems like it fermented once it was bottled. Also, it tasted good. Gonna have to slow down and let it be. Thanks.

NRS
 
Green,or sour apple is not always an infection. It's acetaldahyde. It can be a bacterial infection,but usually it's bottling too soon,or just "Young beer". Too much sugar can give a cidery taste as well,especially if initial or pitch temps are too high. They can work together,I've found,to make such flavors.
 
I would put too much weight behind the latest hydrometer reading. I don't know if all the c02 in a carbonated beer would change the boyancy of the hydrometer, but I wouldn't bet against it
 
Green,or sour apple is not always an infection. It's acetaldahyde. It can be a bacterial infection,but usually it's bottling too soon,or just "Young beer". Too much sugar can give a cidery taste as well,especially if initial or pitch temps are too high. They can work together,I've found,to make such flavors.

I agree with you but the fact his FG was stable in the carboy and then dropped again once bottling makes me feel infection. That is unless the priming sugar took it down that much.
 
FYI to get an accurate gravity reading you need to let the sample sit and degass and warm to room temp for several hours. bubbles clinging to the side of the hydrometer and incorrect temperature render readings inaccurate in the single digit realm you are looking at.
 
Sorry guys for leaving out some information. They have been chilled for several days. Plus the temperature here is nice. It just seems like it fermented once it was bottled. Also, it tasted good. Gonna have to slow down and let it be. Thanks.

NRS

Was it just one bottle?
 
Co2 in the beer will make the hydro read less. If you're really curious let enough beer for a hydro sample go flat then check it.

Give it a few days and report back!
 
I bottled an IIPA a couple months ago. And out of the whole 5 gallon batch I had one gusher. I bulk primed (where you mix the priming sugar solution into the beer when racking before bottling, a pretty common method) so I knew it wasn't that I overcarbed that one beer.

I think I may have accidentally used a dirty bottle and that was the lone gusher. haha
 
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