Conditioning question, lager

[Waboom!!]

Well I made a Pilsener exactly like I was supposed to and after a total of 30 days fermentation (21 in the secondary) I bottled them and conditioned for 9 days. Lets give it a try right? pop the top... PSST, just like you want. Then volcanic overflow!! I almost broke my tooth getting it up to my mouth in time, only to force the beer up my nose and drown me by going down my throat. The bottle was not shaken or agitated at all either! ///
A: How did these not explode in the bottle?
B: Is it maybe because I opened it warm? (70 F).
C: What do I do to prevent the floor or my dog from drinking my beer??!!!
BTW I only opened one. But it tastes great already.

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

Could be a couple of things. One, you may simply need to make sure your bottles are cold before you open them. Second, it is possible that you didn't mix in your priming sugar well enough and you will have inconsistently caronated bottles.

 

[Waboom!!]

Thanks for reply. I mixed the priming sugar thoroughly with a sanitized stainless spoon. I am starting to think that it has not stopped fermenting. ? could this be? it would make bombs wouldn't it?

 

[Kaiser]

Are you sure the main fermentation was done?

Kai

 

[Waboom!!]

no I guess I am not sure that it was. You think not?

 

[Kaiser]

You think not?

Yes,

You propably had fermentable sugars left in the beer which together with the priming sugar caused the overcarbonation. Please watch out for bottle-bombs now. It's best to keep them somewhere where they don't cause much harm in case they explode.

Kai

 

[Waboom!!]

ok thanks. is there a way to reduce foaming when opening?

 

[boo boo]

ok thanks. is there a way to reduce foaming when opening?

Keep them puppies cold.
Sounds like they wern't finished primary before you racked. 7 days in primary, not bad. I usually go from 2 weeks to 3 weeks before racking to secondary. What temperture did you ferment at?

Might be time to change your name to Kaboom.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Obvious question: What was the FG?


I don't think you really need a hydrometer to brew beer, but this kind of situation is exactly why I fear not using one...

 

[Bernie Brewer]

When doing lagers (and some really big ales), you can pretty much toss the 1-2-3 week method out the window. I just yesterday racked to secondary a bock that was in primary for 2 weeks. I'll probably leave it in secondary for at least a month, and then lager for another month or two before I even think about drinking it.Last year's bock was brewed a couple days after Christmas and I didn't tap it till June. Well worth the wait!

 

[Waboom!!]

A: I fermented at exactly 44 F.
I did not take a gravity reading because my feeling at the time was what would I do to change it if wrong. ?!
from now on I will record it for reason like this.
The guys at the store said to leave them alone for a month and then try it out.
What do you think?

 

[Schlenkerla]

This what I have done with my lagers. 1st three goes at it to date. No issues. Tastes clean and crisp.

Keep in the primary 2-3 weeks until done. ( 50-65'F) No bubbling whatsoever. I specifcally use a "S" bubbler over the thimble air lock. Bubblers are more likely to show slow fermentation as it passes through the small 1/8" trap.

At this point its either rack to another fermenter or bottle. You can rack to a secondary just for clearing (no lagering). Did this over x-mas & new years vacation. It was about 55'F in the basement.

Two out three times I bottled as normal, waiting two weeks at room temp to carb, and lager in the fridge 6-8 weeks. I have a spare fridge for stashing my bottles away. I usually don't have space for an extra carboy.

I brew it like an ale but lager it for 6-8 weeks. I read this out of "Better Beer and How to Brew It." By Reese, ISBN# 0-88266-257-0

I like this it makes it simple. Its easy for a newby to do w/o much headache. Especially if you're talking lagers.

If you want to go by the book. Here's a good link to reference:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10.html

From what it sounds like you overcarbed or bottle too early. If its the latter use the bubbler from now on, you'll be able to track the progress easier. Overcarbed: possibly poor mixing especially if you see erratic carbonation from bottling.

Use this link its got alot of good info.

 

[Evets]

A funny thing, but a while back I did an Anchor Steam clone PM. I used the 1-2-3 method and had pretty much the same thing happen, except they didn't really taste very good either. So, I just kinda left them sit in my basement for a couple months. Now they have normal carbonation and they taste great! No bottle bombs either. What's up wit that?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I know what you mean. Some good cold conditioning and patience is all it takes.

I really started making lagers because my basement was too cool for ales and I didn't want to go to all the lagering BS. A Yeast swap so to speak. I'm not a purist just an engineer who like beer!!

I'm basically making cold steamers. Not akin to a freezing dump!!

 

[Waboom!!]

Well, that was part of my original Q., How can they be over carbonated as to overflow when opened but not pop off during conditioning? I am not even using "strong bottles" just reloaded Sam Adams bottles.

 

[aseelye]

Well, that was part of my original Q., How can they be over carbonated as to overflow when opened but not pop off during conditioning? I am not even using "strong bottles" just reloaded Sam Adams bottles.

Well, if you think about the carbonation in a bottle of tonic water, and how that's much more than beer, yet you can still squeeze the 2 liter when it's full. Glass, being striffer than PET can handle the higher pressure where it's too carbonated, but not dangerous. The problem is that glass is brittle, and if you pass into the danger zone, you don't get a bottle that springs a leak, you get a bottle that shatters/explodes.

 

[Waboom!!]

Thanks Everyone! I love this site! I chilled another bottle to 40F and opened it. It poured without a problem. *Great head (can't go wrong) -wink wink-
The beer tasted awesome.
I'm never making ale again!!!!!!!!

 

[dcbrewmeister]

Thanks Everyone! I love this site! I chilled another bottle to 40F and opened it. It poured without a problem. *Great head (can't go wrong) -wink wink-
The beer tasted awesome.
I'm never making ale again!!!!!!!!

Yeah 70 was prob too warm for a lager.

in the FWIW column - bottle bombs aren't as common as what people think. Having only bottled for the past 5+ years, I have yet to have even one bottle bomb, and haven't heard of any that I can recall, well maybe one but he over carbed his whole batch by doubling up on the priming sugar (I don't know how) and he still only had one bottle bomb.

***Think of beer being shipped by truck between states, do you think they have a nice gentle stroll down the road in the back of that 18 wheeler? If you opened one of those it would probably go off like champagne. Bottles are pretty tough.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

***Think of beer being shipped by truck between states, do you think they have a nice gentle stroll down the road in the back of that 18 wheeler? If you opened one of those it would probably go off like champagne. Bottles are pretty tough.

I hear what you're saying, but remember when a bottle is shaken, it makes the CO2 more likely to be released, but that doesn't change the internal pressure inside the bottle. If you've got 15psi in there, you've got 15 psi regardless of whether the bottle is all shaken up or not. Now double the priming sugar and you'll get maybe 30psi... and it'll be there whether the bottle is shaken or not. The aggitation just makes it more likely for the CO2 to find its way out of suspension. It has no bearing on internal pressure.

 

[dcbrewmeister]

I hear what you're saying, but remember when a bottle is shaken, it makes the CO2 more likely to be released, but that doesn't change the internal pressure inside the bottle. If you've got 15psi in there, you've got 15 psi regardless of whether the bottle is all shaken up or not. Now double the priming sugar and you'll get maybe 30psi... and it'll be there whether the bottle is shaken or not. The aggitation just makes it more likely for the CO2 to find its way out of suspension. It has no bearing on internal pressure.

Take a 2 liter bottle of soda, dump some out, shake it up - it gets hard - it's building preasure, not creating more carbonation.

 

[Waboom!!]

Hey toot, if what your saying is true then why when you shake champagn bottles does the wine flow out even more. like when they win nascar. I dont want bad info like your giving.

 

[delboy]

Hey toot, if what your saying is true then why when you shake champagn bottles does the wine flow out even more. like when they win nascar. I dont want bad info like your giving.

To be fair i don't think toot was advocating shaking up your beer he was just trying to explain the basis of gas suspension in liquid!!

 

[Waboom!!]

Toot said that agitating a bottle won't increase the pressure inside the bottle. But that is wrong. I think toot should shake a bottle of Mountain Dew and then open just above his crotch before a company meeting. Can any one guess what will happen?