White foam volcano

[ZachY2072]

I feel like I'm blowing this thread up, but damn if it isn't super helpful.
I've made 3 batches in the past, and drank most all of them with no problems. Here lately every time I open one they foam up into a ridiculous volcano. No black ring around the bottle or any obvious signs of infection, what did I do wrong? My friend suggested it was over carbed, which I could believe if the others weren't so well behaved. I use "brewpal" and just go with whatever the average is for the style I'm bottling.

Thanks!
-Zach

 

[Pie_Man]

Most likely overcarbed. If the carbonation is inconsistent between bottles, the priming sugar may not have been mixed in well enough.

Other potential causes:
- The beer was bottled too soon. Meaning, the beer was still fermenting (i.e. did not reach terminal gravity) at the time of bottling.
- There's an infection that's continuing to consume the sugars that the beer yeast left behind.

Regardless of the cause, it's probably a good idea to chill the remaining bottles to avoid any bottle bomb situations.

 

[GingerFlock]

To add to what Pie_Man said, check your gravity readings. If you don't have a hydrometer, invest in one. If you check your SG before bottling, you have a perfect idea of how attenuated your beer is (i.e., how complete the fermentation is).

 

[progmac]

make sure all your bottles are clean before you bottle. oxyclean soak, then serious rinse, then sanitize. if you are getting any kind of floaties in your sanitizing water your bottles aren't clean enough.

if it isn't an infection, you are using too much priming sugar or it isn't mixed in well enough. if they are overcarbed either from infection or too much priming sugar, putting the bottles in the fridge for 24 hours makes the difference between a gusher and not.

 

[ZachY2072]

Most likely overcarbed. If the carbonation is inconsistent between bottles, the priming sugar may not have been mixed in well enough.

Other potential causes:
- The beer was bottled too soon. Meaning, the beer was still fermenting (i.e. did not reach terminal gravity) at the time of bottling.
- There's an infection that's continuing to consume the sugars that the beer yeast left behind.

Regardless of the cause, it's probably a good idea to chill the remaining bottles to avoid any bottle bomb situations.

I had bottled after two weeks in the fermenter and then aged another two weeks in the bottle. I had reached my target FG according to the recipe I was following. My bottles were pretty clean on this batch, but have since bought some OxyFree for future bottles.
How do you decide how much to prime? And how do you mix in your priming syrup?

 

[KepowOb]

How long are you refrigerating before you open them up? It's never happened to me, but I've heard that they'll explode out like that if they haven't been in the fridge long enough. 48 should be good though.

How big are your batches, and how much priming sugar did you use? Also, did you measure it by volume or weight?

Edit: it's also possible you didn't reach your FG. Just because a recipe calls for something doesn't mean you'll nail it right on. If you take a gravity reading and it's where the FG should be, wait two days and take another... Better safe that having bottle bombs.

 

[Daniel1980]

I've ran into this before. It sounds like you just need to let it sit for another week then give it a shot. Two weeks in the bottle is a little soon. I don't remember the technical verbiage for it but basically the co2 has to have time to be fully integrated into the liquid or this will happen. At least that's what I've been told. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will pipe in soon.

 

[Pie_Man]

I had bottled after two weeks in the fermenter and then aged another two weeks in the bottle. I had reached my target FG according to the recipe I was following. My bottles were pretty clean on this batch, but have since bought some OxyFree for future bottles.
How do you decide how much to prime? And how do you mix in your priming syrup?

A couple things:
- The standard amount of priming sugar is about 3/4 of a cup. When I bottled, I used to use a little bit less. There are many online priming sugar calculators, most of them pretty similar. I found the Northern Brewer calculator worked best for me.
- Reaching your target FG and the terminal gravity are two completely different things. Just because your beer is at the recipe's stated FG, doesn't mean your yeast are done fermenting. Terminal gravity occurs when you have consistent gravity samples over a 2-3 day period.

The easiest way I mixed in sugar was to place the priming sugar on the bottom of the bottling bucket and then rack the beer on top of that using a long piece of tube coiled in the bottling bucket. The coiled tubing created enough turbulence to gently mix the solution without splashing. I usually give a little stir with a sanitized spoon as well, and even give a stir mid way through bottling to ensure consistency.

 

[C-Rider]

The beer is not "lost". I have one that is doing the same. I get a 4 cup mixing bowl from SWMBO and pop the top and quickly pour it all intothe bowl. In time the "supper" head turns into beer and I pour it into a glass to drink.

 

[GingerFlock]

Needs time in the fridge... CO2 needs refrigeration to allow for the gas to dissolve into the liquid rather than remain in the headspace. When carbing kegs, we let the gas sit for 2 weeks.