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A million gallons of foam

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Popped a batch tonight. It's been bottled for about 6 weeks, in my fridge for 6 days. Taste is pretty good. I'll be working on the details of that... But for this thread...

Wow. Foam. Foam everywhere. When I pop the bottle, it's nothing weird, no geyser. When I pour it into my glass, it's unavoidable to get 75% foam.

Did I put too much something in? What's causing this?
 
There is a good chance that your wort didn't get totally fermented out before you bottled or you used too much priming sugar. Next time you pour one, remove the cap and let it set for 5 to 10 minutes before you start to pour and see if that helps.
 
Does the bottle gush if you just let it sit there after popping the cap?


If not I am guessing that this is one of your first batches, and you probably just threw in the whole package of "priming sugar" that came with a kit you got. OR, you made a Mr. Beer kit and added sugar to the bottles as the instructions state.

Either way, the beginner kits tend to add way too much sugar, and you end up with a huge amount of carbonation.
 
There is a good chance that your wort didn't get totally fermented out before you bottled or you used too much priming sugar. Next time you pour one, remove the cap and let it set for 5 to 10 minutes before you start to pour and see if that helps.

I was thinking that too but you would think if it wasn't done fermenting her would have had a bottle bomb or two.
 
I had the same thing happen to me... Brewed an amber ale, the crucial mistake is that I missed notating the FG.

- Could that have caused it?

- Anyone knows a good resource for citing the causes of over-foaming?

Cheanks (cheers and thanks),
R
 
You may have also not allowed for enough time for the CO2 and the solution to equilibrate. how long since priming and how long in the refridgerator?
 
You may have also not allowed for enough time for the CO2 and the solution to equilibrate. how long since priming and how long in the refridgerator?

His original post stated 6 weeks conditioning and 6 days in the fridge which is plenty of time...unless you are talking about RodLemes
 
acuenca said:
You may have also not allowed for enough time for the CO2 and the solution to equilibrate. how long since priming and how long in the refridgerator?

- I bottled it 2months ago;
- 1hr in the fridge, then tasting;
#It was a foam craze... No bottle popping, no foam on the bottle, just on the glass as soon as I poured it.
 
Ha yeah: Rodlemes... It's possible that you didn't chill long enough... Most of us keep it in the fridge for 48 hours before opening (even upwards of a week)... I know painful... but try that and see if that fixes it... Good luck!
 
I was thinking that too but you would think if it wasn't done fermenting her would have had a bottle bomb or two.

Not necessarily. If the beer was very near the end of fermentation and not too much priming sugar was used, he would end up with beer that finished the main ferment and the priming sugar ferment with only a little too much carbonation. Not enough to make high pressure in the bottle, just enough extra to make it easy to come out of solution when poured. BTDT.
 
I've got a third batch of Coopers Heritage "Lager" that does something similar. PET bottles are rock hard. Nice controlled "Pffft" when I open the bottle. As soon as I pour it, "Foam City." 2" of beer, 6" foam... Bottles chilled for at least a week...
 
PET bottles are rock hard.

If you're just using soda type bottles could you let a little CO2 off and tighten the cap again? Let it sit, feel if it is rock hard after a minute, relieve the pressure again, and so on until you think you've let out a substantial amount of CO2.

For the other guys that might be using glass bottles, perhaps you could open 'em, let the caps rest on the top for 15 or 20 minutes and then recap 'em.
 
might be overcarbed...might be a gusher infection. If its the a gusher infection it will get worse and the best thing to do is refridgerate and try and drink it as fast as you can. Sometimes you can see ring form around the bottle neck...
 
No gushers. I did however use the entire pack of priming sugar that came with the kit...

So, I've got another batch in a secondary now. So how do I prevent this?
 
No gushers. I did however use the entire pack of priming sugar that came with the kit...

So, I've got another batch in a secondary now. So how do I prevent this?

One way that might help is to leave the beer in the primary fermenter longer to make sure there is a surplus of yeast to eat all the possible sugar. I've been leaving mine for at least 3 weeks now and no more gushers for me. :ban:

Use the calculators to add the correct amount of priming sugar for the desired carbonation.

Let the beer have plenty of time to carb up. 2 weeks or more in the bottle, then time in refrigeration. CO2 will dissolve into the beer much more at cooler temperatures. :rockin:
 
Unless you just don't like highly carbonated beers, there's nothing wrong here. Ever watch a Guinness being poured?
 
Unless you just don't like highly carbonated beers, there's nothing wrong here. Ever watch a Guinness being poured?
If I was to pour my 25 oz. PET bottle into a 2 ltr soda bottle, I'd wind up with 12 or more inches of foam... I'll have to try that experiment tonight and of course, take pics.
 
I had a gusher batch once where I had been a little careless on racking between containers and transferred too many flakes from the hop pellets. It seemed like the flakes provided extra nucleation points for the CO2, and as soon as I poured, all foam.
 
When I brewed my APA/IPA recipes,I primed with the pale ale style in the priming calculator to 2.3 volumes. I think the max was 2.6 or 2.8 volumes. The OG's were 1.050,FG's were 1.010. Clean up & settle more for a couple days. I used 2oz of hops in the Sunset Gold APA,6oz in the BuckIPA version. At 5 weeks in the bottles at room temp,& 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge @ 48F (I'm pretty sure that's where I set our new fridge at),love digital controls.
So,anyway, Same deal. Even after decent hot break,quick wort chill,ferment out completely,etc. Good sanitation as well. Pour oooh so gently into an angled,clean glass. About half foam,fine bubbled foam in the 1 week chilled bottles. Excellent creamy head. Which on an IPA is a little taste of heaven folks.
At 2 weeks chill,I it got more manageable,But still easy head...just not too easy. But that 1/4 glass head on some was so thick,it wouldn't move when I purposely jostled the glass. And flavors/aromas weren't "off" at all.
Head has to do with proteins & carbonation that carries it,in short. You don't need off flavors to get crazy head,although they can. Just pretty rare.
 
Sorry to get off topic.... But a big thank you to "Acuenca" for the web site to calculate priming by style of beer. Cheers ;)
 
Cheers to y'all for being the single best resource on the internet for home brewing! So much good info here all day everyday!
 
If I was to pour my 25 oz. PET bottle into a 2 ltr soda bottle, I'd wind up with 12 or more inches of foam... I'll have to try that experiment tonight and of course, take pics.

You can see how much beer I poured (or didn't) and that's a 32 oz. cup. There's no foamy craziness going on in the bottle.

Lotsa Head.JPG
 
cullen, It was a coopers heritage lager and 2 carb tabs. I'm looking a little deeper... Damn foam! It's okay, (I guess) it goes away after 20 minutes or so...
 
They serve beer in Ireland that looks just like that and acts the same way. You ask to "stand me a Pint" and while it turns into beer ya drink a tumbler of Irish booze. I always forgot to leave before the singen started. ;)
 

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