Beer Gysers!

[andylegate]

Well, my chocolate ale has been in the bottle for about 4 days. Decided to crack one open and see how it tasted. Going in, the beer looks like a stout, but nowhere near as bitter.
Now I DID ask a question about priming this ale, as I was worried about over carbination, and got told "No Problem, should be okay."
Well when I popped one open, I had a volcano on my hands! WHEEEEE! Except, that's an awful waste of good beer! The only way I can get the beer is to open one (quickly mind you, or it SPRAYS!), in large bowl! Then pour it into a mug! LOL

So anyways.....think it will settle down in another week or two? It had no activity anymore after primary, and virtually none when I racked it and let it set for another week in secondary. I only added 5 oz of corn sugar to a 5 gallon batch is all I did. (oh yeah, the yeast was Safeale US 56).

Good news though, it taste great, even still being green. And I just bottled my Cream ale, I can't believe how clear THAT one turned out! Even my dad thought it smelled great.

 

[Orpheus]

Did you chill it first? CO2 will hold in solution better at colder temps.

 

[andylegate]

Nope, but it's cool, about 60 F. I can try chilling one, but this was a virtual gyser! Brown foam shot 4 to 5 inches up from the bottle, with me yelling "WOAH WOAH WOAH!"
Of course my cat decided this was a GOOD thing as he quickly came over to help lap up what hit the floor!

 

[gp125racer]

I usually use 4oz in a 5 gallon batch but its all about preference I guess unless you get bottle bombs .

I usually leave them in the fridge for two or three days (after about 2 weeks in the bottle) as well before I drink them, seems to have a slightly diferent taste then just chilling for a few hours and drinking.

-=gp125racer=-

 

[Sir Sudster]

gp125racer, did you mix the priming solution well when you bottled the stout?

If so, then you bottled to early. Taking FG readings is the best way to be sure. Take FG readings over a 48 hour period. If no change then its safe to bottle.

I agree that chilling the beer will help some but you still may get some gushers.

 

[andylegate]

Chilling the beer helped. I popped one in the freezer and brought the temp down to about 45 or so (what the fridge normally is at), and this time the beer opened without the gyser this time!

 

[Orpheus]

Chilling the beer helped. I popped one in the freezer and brought the temp down to about 45 or so (what the fridge normally is at), and this time the beer opened without the gyser this time!

Sweet! Congrats!

 

[TheJadedDog]

I'm a bit concerned about bottling too. My OG was 1.040, my SG on Sat. was 1.020 but there seems to be NO fermenting activity right now. I'm planning on leaving it this week and bottling on Sunday, if my FG is still 1.020, won't the addition of priming sugar lead to bottle bombs?

 

[andylegate]

The OG and FG readings are suppose to show you that the yeast has done it's job as far as working on the simple malt sugars and fermented your beer. The yeast does not go away, but in fact moves on to eating more complex sugars that are in your beer. Basic rule of thumb is that after you've allowed your beer enough time to ferment, your FG should stay and remain stable for several days. If you notice that it's still dropping, no mater how slowly, you need to wait until it remains stable. Then you can prime and bottle your beer.
If you are still concerned about beer bombs, you can prime with about 1.5 cups of Dry Malt Extract to your 5-6 gallons of beer instead of using corn sugar. Takes longer to carbinate though.
This batch was giving me gysers, but there were A LOT of ingredients that went into this batch, all containing sugars. Apparently I had not quite reached my FG even though I brewed it over 3 weeks ago and had racked it to secondary. Next time I make this type of beer I'll let it sit longer and eyeball the FG more accurately.