Super foam when opened....

[Limited Visibility]

I have bottles a pale ale and I used all 22oz Stone Bottles for. But I also used 3 twelve ounce bottles so I could try the beer each week after bottling to see where my beer is at.

I have opened two of the twelve ounce bottles so far, today was two weeks since bottling. And when I open them, all of a sudden it just starts foaming out of control.

I made sure this time not to shake it or anything out of the fridge, and once I popped it open with in a couple of seconds it just starts to foam out of control.

The beer is still very green tasting but would that be the reason for out of control foam? Has anyone else had this problem before? I really just don't want to have all of my 22oz bottles foam all over the place and lose half my beer.

Sorry for the long post, any input would be great, I can post the recipe if necessary. Also, am I on the verge of bottle bombs?

 

[Hoosierbrewer]

I have had this problem before. Usually infection, too much priming sugar, or the beer was not done fermenting.

 

[PseudoChef]

It's just too young. You need to wait for the beer to absorb the CO2 back into solution.

 

[solidghost]

I had this a number of times before. I think it was overcarbonation when I added too much priming sugars when bottling. Never had that problem when I used the carbonation drops.

 

[Righlander]

what did you prime with?

 

[Limited Visibility]

I used the 5oz priming sugar that the kit came with.

 

[sittingturbo]

My guess is possibly bottled to early... did you take finishing gravity reading.

 

[BarleyWater]

You just need to wait for all the CO2 that has been formed to go into solution. If you pour the beer, it will probably still be flat, despite the overwhelming foaming from CO2. 1 more week and you will be about there.

21 days at 70 degrees.

 

[Tankard]

I had one of these tonight... it's been bottled for a month. I have no clue why this happened.

 

[Revvy]

2 weeks = too young. Read this and watch the video;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=558191&postcount=101

 

[Limited Visibility]

2 weeks = too young. Read this and watch the video;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=558191&postcount=101

Yeah I was just using the 12oz bottles to see how my beer changes over the weeks. This was only my 3rd batch so I was just using them as a learning process. I'll probably let all my 22oz sit for a couple more weeks.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Limited Visibility]

You just need to wait for all the CO2 that has been formed to go into solution. If you pour the beer, it will probably still be flat, despite the overwhelming foaming from CO2. 1 more week and you will be about there.

21 days at 70 degrees.

Yes it was somewhat flat still... thanks for the answers puts a newbies mind at ease on this site

 

[MrFebtober]

I've got a hefeweizen that acts this same way. The puzzling thing is that only some bottles are way over carbed. I was very thorough with mixing the priming solution into the beer in the same fashion I always do, so it wasn't uneven sugar distribution. A friend of mine thinks it was the starsan remaining in the bottles that acted as a yeast nutrient and somehow caused further fermentation. I usually rinse the bottles with a bottle blaster after sanitizing (a carry-over in our bottling routine from the days of bleach sanitizing), but this time I decided rinsing no-rinse sanitizer out was silly. Since bottles were pulled out of sanitizer bucket and placed in drying rack at different times, this would result in varying levels of sanitizer in the bottles. Does this make sense to anyone else?

The other possibility is that the beer wasn't done fermenting out at the time of bottling. It's been a couple months and they are still gushers. Perhaps nine days in the primary really was too short, but it sure seemed complete and the first few days were downright vigorous.

 

[Limited Visibility]

I am almost positive it was done fermenting before I bottled. I had it for 7 days in the primary, and the gravity was steady for the last three days, then I racked to secondary for 13 days, with the last 6 days dry hopping.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've only had this happen to me twice. Once was an infection and the other time I used way too much priming sugar accidentally.

I do not agree with the 'too young' theory in this thread. I've had beer mildly carbonated 5 days after bottling and I've had beer that was expectedly flat after 10 days in bottles. Gushing does not equal 'needs more time in bottles', IMO.

A good rule of thumb is to allow at least 21 days - I think we all agree on that. But if a beer gushes like that after 2 weeks in bottles, it's still going to do it after 3 weeks in bottles or 3 months in bottles. I have a batch of overcarbonated EF that gushed after 2 weeks in bottles (which was the first time I tried one) and they still gush after 5 months in bottles.

 

[PseudoChef]

I've only had this happen to me twice. Once was an infection and the other time I used way too much priming sugar accidentally.

I do not agree with the 'too young' theory in this thread. I've had beer mildly carbonated 5 days after bottling and I've had beer that was expectedly flat after 10 days in bottles. Gushing does not equal 'needs more time in bottles', IMO.

A good rule of thumb is to allow at least 21 days - I think we all agree on that. But if a beer gushes like that after 2 weeks in bottles, it's still going to do it after 3 weeks in bottles or 3 months in bottles. I have a batch of overcarbonated EF that gushed after 2 weeks in bottles (which was the first time I tried one) and they still gush after 5 months in bottles.

You'd be surprised, ohio, I recommend you watch the video that Revvy posted to.

 

[Castawayales]

As time goes on watch for three things that will point to infection.

1) beer gets cloudy or doesn't clear

2) beer forms a ring, or white film at the top of the beer in the bottle.

3) the beer loses it's body and flavor. I've had this one. The batch started out fine and after 2 months it tasted like water with alcohol. Very odd occurrence.

Otherwise it is a procedural error.

Does the "too early" theory apply to all grain only or every style of home brewing? I haven't seen many extract brews with that much head retention.
(Referring to the video link)

Barry

 

[ohiobrewtus]

You'd be surprised, ohio, I recommend you watch the video that Revvy posted to.

I bottled over 40 batches before I started kegging, and I tried every single one of those batches at 5-7 days. Only 2 out of those 40 batches gushed at 5-7 days and those same 2 still gushed at 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 3 months.

Have him do that for 40 batches then maybe I'll change my mind.

 

[MrFebtober]

As time goes on watch for three things that will point to infection.

1) beer gets cloudy or doesn't clear

2) beer forms a ring, or white film at the top of the beer in the bottle.

3) the beer loses it's body and flavor. I've had this one. The batch started out fine and after 2 months it tasted like water with alcohol. Very odd occurrence.

Otherwise it is a procedural error.

Thanks for the tips. I think that rules out infection of my gusher hefe, well, except i don't expect the hefe to clear out, as by design it shouldn't. I never thought it could be infection because it continues to taste fantastic.

 

[Revvy]

Does the "too early" theory apply to all grain only or every style of home brewing? I haven't seen many extract brews with that much head retention.
(Referring to the video link)

Barry

All beers....

The thing to remember is that beer is a living thing, and therefore really under it's own timeframe, all these things that we say (like 3 weeks @ 70) are just rules of thumb based on observation....It's not locked in, like for example baking....

The living yeasties really have a mind of their own. You could brew 2 beers simultaenously, using the same ingredients, and the same yeast (perhaps splitting a huge starter into 2 fermenters) and they wont necessarily start/finish/ and even bottle condition/carb at the same time, every time.

It's not coolaid we're making, mixing a bunch of "dead" ingredients together and having it immediately done...the same way each time. Once you add a living organism with a life cycle, you are adding an unpredictability factor.

We just "know" from experience that somewhere around 3 weeks @ 70 degrees, something happens...a beer one day isn't "there" yet, and the next day *BAM* it is...That's why I tell people who post about ANY bottle related issue (off flavor, over/under carbonation) who haven't waited a minimum 3 weeks to hold off a while longer...and guess what?

In the months I've been here, the majority of the time the OP has come back and said "ALL IS WELL."