Opened up my first bottle of homebrew...

[d-usa]

...and I think I might have been lucky not to have any bottle bombs .

Bottled 2 weeks ago, put a bottle in the fridge yesterday, had my glass ready to enjoy the first fruit of my labor, opened up my first bottle with a satisfying "pop"...and was rewarded with a never-ending flow of foam.

When the bottle decided to finish I was rewarded with at least a tiny bit of beer:

So I'm guessing too much priming sugar here. What's the best way to fix this small problem? Keep on letting it sit in the bottles, stack them in the fridge and wait quite a while? Enjoy the couple ounces that are left once the rest of the beer finished foaming out of the bottles?

 

[Jayslay]

Do you mean fixing the problem in this batch or for future batches? Letting it sit in the bottle won't reduce your carbonation, it could actually increase it if you happen to have contracted an infection. The infection will eat non-fermentable (by ale yeast) sugars and add to your pre-determined carbonation level.

As for future batches, did you calculate the required priming sugar for your volume at your bottling temperature, and ensure it was mixed properly? How much priming sugar did you use for how much beer?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Get them all in the fridge asap so they dont carbonate anymore, the colder you can get them the better...if you can get them nice and ice cold over a week or so you may be able to pour them properly. 24 hours isnt long enough to let a lot of the CO2 trapped in the head space to be pushed into the liquid, you need to chill it for a week minimum.

The amount of CO2 in solution is related to the temperature and pressure, so if you have a ton of pressure in the top(which it sounds like if you had a pop), you need to get it super cold to get that into the beer.

 

[dsaavedra]

Well how did it taste!?

Also, did you prime it by dissolving priming sugar in a few cups of water and racking your beer on top of the sugar solution, being sure to thoroughly (but gently!) mix it? This is supposed to lead to more even carbonation across your batch.

 

[d-usa]

Do you mean fixing the problem in this batch or for future batches? Letting it sit in the bottle won't reduce your carbonation, it could actually increase it if you happen to have contracted an infection. The infection will eat non-fermentable (by ale yeast) sugars and add to your pre-determined carbonation level.

As for future batches, did you calculate the required priming sugar for your volume at your bottling temperature, and ensure it was mixed properly? How much priming sugar did you use for how much beer?

The part I was able to taste ended up tasting pretty similar to the sample I had during bottling, so I'm hoping that it didn't end up with an infection. It was a kit-beer, so I followed the direction for that.

Get them all in the fridge asap so they dont carbonate anymore, the colder you can get them the better...if you can get them nice and ice cold over a week or so you may be able to pour them properly. 24 hours isnt long enough to let a lot of the CO2 trapped in the head space to be pushed into the liquid, you need to chill it for a week minimum.

The amount of CO2 in solution is related to the temperature and pressure, so if you have a ton of pressure in the top(which it sounds like if you had a pop), you need to get it super cold to get that into the beer.

I'll move them all in the fridge today then. It was a gallon batch, so I only have 6 other bottles that I need to move (did the 16oz bottles).

Well how did it taste!?

Also, did you prime it by dissolving priming sugar in a few cups of water and racking your beer on top of the sugar solution, being sure to thoroughly (but gently!) mix it? This is supposed to lead to more even carbonation across your batch.

It tasted pretty good!

I did the priming sugar in water and then raked on top of the solution and swirled gently after that.

I'm getting ready to bottle my next batch tomorrow and I was planing on using the bottle tablets for that, so here is to hoping that they will turn out better.

 

[Qhrumphf]

If you followed most kit instructions, and had 5 gallons in the primary, and then used 5 oz of corn sugar as priming sugar (that's what many kits come with), depending on the temp of the beer you're probably around 3 volumes of CO2, which is way too high for most styles.

However, that shouldn't be gusher losing half the bottle high. So likely culprits are:

a) gusher-type infection (something you can't always taste, but it'll eat residual sugars and overcarbonate the beer). If your cleaning and sanitation weren't good enough (which is quite possible for your first batch), this is a possibility.
b) insufficient mixing of priming sugar, where some bottles got more than others. If you just dumped the sugar into the beer (instead of putting the sugar solution in the bottling bucket, and then racking on top of it to mix it all in), that's a very likely explanation, and some bottles may end up grossly undercarbonated. This is a very difficult problem to fix, and I still have it come up from time to time, and some commercial brewers have it come up too.
c) it may just be a time factor. If you open a bottle before it's fully carbonated, sometimes it'll just seem undercarbonated, but sometimes weird things can happen, like excessive foaming. Most often it's from opening an unchilled bottle (all the carbonation comes out right away, creating lots of foam), but I've had it happen with chilled bottles too, and I've never been sure why. Probably still something to do with CO2 not absorbing, or nucleation sites or something. Then in a couple weeks once they're fully carbed, problem goes away.

My recommendation, leave the bottles at room temp another couple weeks, but put them in a plastic tote bin or something similar, just in case. If there is indeed something like an infection, or a very severe priming sugar mixing problem, it's possible that some bottles could exceed the pressure capacity of the glass and burst. This way, if something breaks, no mess to clean up, and more importantly no injuries. Then, after a couple weeks, put another one in the fridge, give it a few days this time, and try again. It may be fine. If not, there's probably something else going on.

Edit: never mind, took too long typing and a couple questions answered already...

 

[LovesIPA]

OP, you need to watch this video:

It may explain why your beers appear to be overcarbonated.

 

[d-usa]

One thing I forgot to mention was that I didn't have a hydrometer when I bottles either. I waited two weeks before I bottles, but I'm guessing that this could also be another potential source of the problem in addition to infection/poor mixing/too much sugar.


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[Qhrumphf]

OP, you need to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw

It may explain why your beers appear to be overcarbonated.

It demonstrates how, but doesn't really explain why. And while the principle is valid, but looks to me like he overcarbonates his beers, and/or he sucks at pouring. Probably both. That's a stupidly huge amount of head.

My assumption is that while a beer is still carbonating, not only is CO2 not absorbing fully, but I'd think that the yeast in suspsention doing the carbonation are providing nucleation sites that force bubbles (and thereby foam) out much faster.

Question to the OP: The remaining bit left in your glass after it foamed out, did that seem flat or very carbonated?

 

[d-usa]

It had a good amount of bubbles in the beer. Definitely not the "foam everywhere, no bubbles in the beer" scenario from the video.


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[fuelish]

Bottled before fermentation was finished...my guesstimate??? "Waiting two weeks" .....it ain't that quick and easy, as you can't say it's done 'til it's done....may take several days, may take weeks or more depending on many factors. Get a hydrometer, and learn how to use it....I'd be willing to believe that your problem is beer that was not finished fermenting, mixed with with priming sugar, leading to the problem - be glad your bottles ain't exploding ..... yet. In all seriousness, you need to physically measure when fermentation is done, not guess at it. If that were my batch, I'd immediately put it all in a fridge, wrapped in heavy duty trash bags "just in case".....if you've never experienced a bottle bomb(s), you don't want to, and you want to minimize the damage/cleanup if the unfortunate should occur......best of wishes

 

[d-usa]

The two weeks were the good old "kit" instructions, so with this being my first beer I just followed along with that. I already purchased a hydrometer for the next batch!


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[Croyzen]

Two weeks on a gallon batch is plenty of time to ferment. I know my batches are done by experience and sight. I ferment in glass and have watched many batches ferment. It's good to get a hydrometer, especially during the early brews to check for FG before deciding to rack.

How many ounces of corn sugar did you use? Most kits come with one size fits all instructions for priming sugar. If you used 5oz for a gallon, there's your answer. There are many online priming sugar calculators. Check Northern Brewer for an example.

As far as infection, to troubleshoot that hang on to a bottle for a while and you'll know by taste provided you "vent" the bottle. You won't want the bottles to explode and since you only have a few bottles and most likely you over primed here's what may help besides putting them all in the fridge,

[ame]http://youtu.be/itrjDXPKEGw[/ame]

 

[Clonefan94]

I think LovesIPA is on to something. What little experience I have with bottling, says you just didn't give it enough time to get the CO2 into solution. Usually a day in the fridge isn't quite enough time on short notice to allow the CO2 to be dissolved. So, my guess, you are getting the same effect taht you would get from just shaking up a bottle before you opened it. You have a bunch of free CO2 just waiting to get out, as opposed to having it in your beer. Give it time, my guess is you'll be just fine.

 

[Garagebrewski]

For a 5 gallon batch I use 3.6 grams of priming sugar. Haven't had a over/under carbed beer yet


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[Qhrumphf]

For a 5 gallon batch I use 3.6 grams of priming sugar. Haven't had a over/under carbed beer yet


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Is that supposed to be grams or ounces? I like low carbonation levels in most of my beers (I target 1.6 volumes in my English beers) and I'm still using 15 times that much.

 

[d-usa]

Moved the remaining bottles to the fridge yesterday. I'll give them a week there and then try another bottle to see how everything looks. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[d-usa]

While I'm waiting to see how the first batch turns out in the fridge, I bottled my 2nd batch today:

A Blood Orange Wheat. I did a cold crash to help keep more of the yeast at the bottom and was able to bottle six 16 oz bottles out of it. (It was my first non-kit beer, so I ended up having some issues with initial boil volumes, efficiency, etc etc etc). I only had 6 bottles anyway, and the beer that I had left in the bucket went into the glass for me to try. Taste was very good, touch of sweetness from the blood oranges, and a very good wheat character.

Since my final volume was off I used the fizz-tablets for the bottles. So it I have bottle bombs again I know that it was something besides too much priming sugar.

 

[Meadiator]

If you used too much priming sugar, and you have bottle bombs, you'll definitely want to cold crash for a while, uncap, and drink ASAP. Collateral damage

 

[d-usa]

Opened up the second bottle today bracing for another gusher. No foam attack this time. Poured and got a small head and very light carbonation. Still bubbles, but more on the flat side of things. And the small head stuck around. Taste is great, exactly like the first bottle. No taste that would make me think infection.

So maybe uneven mixing in the bucket? They have been in the fridge over the weekend.



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