Bottles overcarbonated

[TrogdorTheBrewinator]

Hi, all.

I started brewing a few months ago and made several extract batches which all turned good and no issues whatsoever.

A month or so ago I started my first 2 all grain batches in parallel. Everything seemed OK, I let the beers ferment for about 3 weeks as I did with all my previous batches, then bottled them. I don't recall how much priming sugar I used (this taught me a valuable lesson to keep logging everything I do with a batch) but it couldn't have been more than 5 oz per batch (of which there was actual 4.5 - 5gallons). And I let the beers sit in bottles at some 72 I'd say for about 2 weeks.

First interesting thing I noticed after popping each one of them open after the first week (I usually do that to get the idea of how it's going) is that they seemed fully carbonated. Unfortunately I didn't think much of it other than "Hm, weird...". I finally opened one yesterday, about 2 weeks since it was bottled. And the thing just started gushing out like crazy. If left alone it would probably spill most of the beer out of the bottle. Right now I m in process of "fixing" the batch by slowly venting the bottles and recapping them (which is a pain in the a** and takes forever) but here are my questions:

1. Why would 5oz (max) of sugar cause this ? I don't think there's an infection going on as both beers taste fantastic. And it can't be that they were still fermenting right ? I mean - I didn't take the reading but they've been in carboys for 3 weeks...

2. The only difference is that a) it's all grain b) I used a different yeast than in my previous batches - Safale S-05 in this case. Come to think of it - there's actually one more difference - they've been fermenting around 66 degrees. My prior batches were in summer so the temps were higher, probably low 70s. But it still should have completed fermentation in 3 weeks right ?

I have another batch fermenting right now and I really hope to avoid this in the future so any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks !

 

[beaksnbeer]

GET A HYDROMETER! stop guessing

 

[TyTanium]

What type of sugar? If you used white table sugar, 5 oz could be too much. Keep in mind, the difference between 4oz and 5oz is 20%. And add in the difference between 4.5 and 5 gallons and you're at nearly a 40% swing in priming rate. It makes a difference.

Check out http://tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html for a helpful priming calculator. (for beer temp, enter the highest temp your beer hit during fermentation)

 

[hopsalot]

Something to consider:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Common Problems

Symptom: It won't stop bubbling.

Cause 2: Gusher Infection However, the sustained bubbling is often due to "gusher type" infection. These infections can occur at any time and are due to wild yeasts or bacteria that eat the higher order sugars, like dextrins. The result in the fermentor is a beer that keeps bubbling until all of the carbohydrates are fermented, leaving a beer that has no body and very little taste. If it occurs at bottling time, the beer will overcarbonate and will fizz like soda pop, fountaining out of the bottle.
Cure: Improve your sanitation next time.

 

[TrogdorTheBrewinator]

What type of sugar? If you used white table sugar, 5 oz could be too much. Keep in mind, the difference between 4oz and 5oz is 20%. And add in the difference between 4.5 and 5 gallons and you're at nearly a 40% swing in priming rate. It makes a difference.

Check out TastyBrew.com | Homebrewing Calculators | Botting Priming Calculator for a helpful priming calculator. (for beer temp, enter the highest temp your beer hit during fermentation)

Unfortunately it just says "priming sugar" on it - I assume it's corn sugar.

@Hopsalot, yes I've read Palmer's explanation of causes and gusher but wouldn't that affect the taste ? These beers are both very good.

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

I bottled a batch before fermentation was complete, and got bottle bombs. I put them in the beer fridge immediately and carefully, and it helped, but not much. I probably lost 50% of the beer from that batch due to foaming.

+1 to beaksnbeer - use the hydrometer!

 

[TrogdorTheBrewinator]

After a few more batches I think I have identified what the source of my problem was. It wasn't the infection, too much sugar (well actually it was - but not due to measuring issue - read on) nor premature bottling. I found the problem once I started noticing that with every batch I had 4-5 really overcarbonated bottles that would be gushing within a week of bottling or even less, while the rest of the bottles would be ok, but would take significantly longer time to carbonate. Then I noticed that they always seem to be the bottles that were done at the very end of the bottling. So this time around I decided to try the very last bottle right away instead of capping it and putting it away. And sure enough - it was as sweet as if I droppped a tablespoon of sugar in there. Then I picked one that was from earlier in the bottling process, uncapped and tried. That one tasted just like a normal beer, no extreme sweetness. So it appears the problem is that there is a disproportionate amount of sugar solution left at the end. However, I don't understand why - I put the sugar solution (sugar boiled in water for 15-20 mins) in the bucket first then siphon the beer over. That should be creating whirlpool effect and distributing the sugar evenly , no ? Also, this is how I used to do it before as well and had no problems before - and now suddenly the last few batches all have the same issue ??!