boozehoundbrew
Member
I'm on my 20th batch of the year, and had a really weird experience. I should say, though, that this is only my second belgian dubbel, and only my third or fourth high gravity brew.
The brew: standard belgian dubbel. a few lbs of rock candy in the wort. wyeast 1762 belgian abbey II strain. initial SG of 1.092 @70'F. After three weeks in primary, final SG of 1.014 @70'. After another month in secondary, 1.010. wanted to bottle to free up a fermenter for new brew. noticed some small bubbles exiting air lock, but assumed this was OK because of the low final gravity measurements. (*first mistake?*)
Next steps: i decided to prime with honey. i boiled 2/3 C. of clover honey in 2 cups water for five minutes. Let cool a few minutes, then poured into a clean fermenter and siphoned the brew in on top. stirred gently, then tried to start siphoning the brew into bottles. that's when things started getting weird.
The problem: immediately, the autosiphon began filling with bubbles, and the bottles were bubbling as i filled them. the bubbles were bigger than what you'd observe in normal "head" of carbonated beer, but they were similar insofar as they kept flowing over the tops of bottles, then slowly subsiding back into beer.
Controls: i checked all my fittings and tightened all siphon connections. the racking cane was free of any visible bubbles or air, but the outer siphon and bottles continued to fill rapidly with bubbles. the beer itself looked still, with no visible surface bubbles or air bubbles on the priming vessel. but i couldn't solve the problem, so finished bottling (not happy!). afterwards, i bottled another two brews using the exact same equipment and techniques, and both of those went normally with no bubble problems. the only difference, besides the brew, was that i primed the latter two with beet sugar instead of honey.
Questions: What caused the bubbling? Is all that oxygenation going to ruin the dubbel? Should I be worried about exploding bottles over the next few weeks? (My small apt necessitates bottle conditioning at room tempterature - about 75'-80'F).
Thanks for any comments, suggestions, theories, etc.
The brew: standard belgian dubbel. a few lbs of rock candy in the wort. wyeast 1762 belgian abbey II strain. initial SG of 1.092 @70'F. After three weeks in primary, final SG of 1.014 @70'. After another month in secondary, 1.010. wanted to bottle to free up a fermenter for new brew. noticed some small bubbles exiting air lock, but assumed this was OK because of the low final gravity measurements. (*first mistake?*)
Next steps: i decided to prime with honey. i boiled 2/3 C. of clover honey in 2 cups water for five minutes. Let cool a few minutes, then poured into a clean fermenter and siphoned the brew in on top. stirred gently, then tried to start siphoning the brew into bottles. that's when things started getting weird.
The problem: immediately, the autosiphon began filling with bubbles, and the bottles were bubbling as i filled them. the bubbles were bigger than what you'd observe in normal "head" of carbonated beer, but they were similar insofar as they kept flowing over the tops of bottles, then slowly subsiding back into beer.
Controls: i checked all my fittings and tightened all siphon connections. the racking cane was free of any visible bubbles or air, but the outer siphon and bottles continued to fill rapidly with bubbles. the beer itself looked still, with no visible surface bubbles or air bubbles on the priming vessel. but i couldn't solve the problem, so finished bottling (not happy!). afterwards, i bottled another two brews using the exact same equipment and techniques, and both of those went normally with no bubble problems. the only difference, besides the brew, was that i primed the latter two with beet sugar instead of honey.
Questions: What caused the bubbling? Is all that oxygenation going to ruin the dubbel? Should I be worried about exploding bottles over the next few weeks? (My small apt necessitates bottle conditioning at room tempterature - about 75'-80'F).
Thanks for any comments, suggestions, theories, etc.
