Uh-oh, looks like I may have some bombs in the making...

[Chaos_Being]

A first time for everything I guess.

I just tried the first bottle of my chocolate stout after 2 weeks of carbing (I like to try my beers at this point, usually they are fairly flat but I get an idea of what they'll taste like.) However, after I uncapped this one, foam began to slowly creep up the neck of the bottle, and when I poured, I got about 2/3 of a glass of foam. I had to let it settle a bit, and then slowly pour the rest of the beer into the glass. Note that the beer was only cool, not cold.

This beer had finished high (1.028,) but the OG was around 1.1 so I figured that it really was done (as did several here when I posted a concern thread.) It sat in the secondary for about a month and a half with no changes. At bottling I added the normal (5 oz) worth of priming sugar, as well as some fresh Nottingham as I figured the old stuff was pooped out. I guess it was...but, there must have still been some fermentable sugar left

I don't have room in my fridge for 2 cases of beer...is there anything else I can do to keep this batch from becoming bombs? Right now they're in my basement, at about 68F.

On the positive note, I finally made a beer with good head retention...

 

[BierMuncher]

Just make sure the beer gets a good 5-7 days of chilling before serving. That CO2 will get better absorbed into the solution and you'll have less foaming.

 

[Chaos_Being]

I'm fine with that, so long as nothing goes BOOM!

 

[camiller]

...is there anything else I can do to keep this batch from becoming bombs? ...

Drink them all tonight

 

[cheezydemon]

If they are really over-carbed, you can uncap and let them decompress for a minute and re-cap.

I have never had a bottle do that except for one that was infected. Sorry, hopefully it is not that.

 

[elkdog]

What BierMuncher said. Let it get good and cold for a couple of days. That should help.

 

[Yooper]

I'm thinking they aren't going to be bottle bombs- yes, it finished high, but it started high! You got 70% attenuation, though, so with the fresh Nottingham, you may have much higher carbonation than you were planning. Next time, if you're adding fresh yeast anyway, do it about 2 weeks before bottling, so the fresh yeast can munch the rest of the fermentables in the carboy, not the bottle. The Nottingham should have brought it down to 1.023 or so.

I'd get them as cool as you can as soon as possible, and keep them cold. They should simmer down.

 

[Chaos_Being]

I'm thinking they aren't going to be bottle bombs- yes, it finished high, but it started high! You got 70% attenuation, though, so with the fresh Nottingham, you may have much higher carbonation than you were planning. Next time, if you're adding fresh yeast anyway, do it about 2 weeks before bottling, so the fresh yeast can munch the rest of the fermentables in the carboy, not the bottle. The Nottingham should have brought it down to 1.023 or so.

I'd get them as cool as you can as soon as possible, and keep them cold. They should simmer down.

Good call on adding the yeast some time before bottling...I added it right to the bottling bucket. Live and learn!

In terms of infection, I highly doubt it is that- the beer looked normal while it sat in the secondary, and the bottle I tasted (despite the foaminess,) smelled and tasted GREAT!

 

[Chaos_Being]

Drink them all tonight

LOL, I think i'd die from alcohol poisoning partway through...this is some pretty potent brew

 

[conpewter]

Infected beer doesn't always look strange in secondary/bottles. I've only had one batch that was really undrinkable because of an infection (my first one) but the two after that also eventually got to tasting bad and had the same issue with foaming that you have (they were in the fridge for a good couple months). These were all my extract batches and I have not had an issue since I switched to All-grain (also switched out hoses at that point I think, all silicone now). I think I'm rid of my bug, but just wanted to warn you. I've had no bottle bombs, just some 'aged' bottles I had to pour out.

 

[Chaos_Being]

Well, after I had posted this I put several bottles in the fridge...I cracked open two last night, and neither of them foamed up. There was a pretty vigorous amount of carbonation after I poured, but nothing too extreme.

I guess only time will tell on the remainder of the bottles aging in my basement, but so far, so good