Fine at 3wk, Gushers at 6wk?

[PeterCottonAle]

Hi all, first time poster here. I have an issue with a batch of brown porter I brewed exactly 2 months ago to the day and wondering if anyone could help diagnose. I bottled after a 2 wk ferment, everything seemed to progress normally. I carbed to 2.0 vols with ~3.5oz cane sugar. After 3wk conditioning, it was a very nice porter with a low-med amount of carbonation.

Now's where it gets strange to me - I've been having a couple a week since then, and they've all had basically the same carb level as far as I can tell, and the flavor seemed to be improving slowly like i'd expect. Now 2 nights ago, or almost 6wk after bottling, I had a bottle bomb. I chalked it up to maybe a weakened/cracked bottle or an infection due to that specific bottle not being cleaned out properly, since I'd just had a porter a few days prior and nothing was out of the ordinary. Now today, I've opened 4 in a row and every one has been a pretty bad gusher. The beer still tastes OK, but definitely different, maybe drier, or maybe its all the carbonation giving me that impression.

Has anyone had this happen to them? It just seems very strange to me that the beer would seem to be totally fine for ~3wk and then very suddenly take on this gusher behavior over what seemed like only a couple days. I don't want to jump to say its an infection but I can't think of anything else. I've still got almost half my batch left and don't want to throw it out!

Here are some particulars that might be important:
OG 1.046 for 6 gallons
FG 1.014
WLP-013 london ale with 1L starter

Thanks!

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Where are you storing these beers? If they are in a hot area they might just blow.

Also, how long are you chilling your beers before you open them? Just throwing them in the freezer for 30 minutes will not be enough time for the carbonation to go into solution in the beer. Put them in the fridge for 24-48 hrs, then see what the carbonation is like.

It is certainly possible that you might have an infection, but I would rule out the above possibilities first. If your beer isn't sour I am not inclined to think that they are infected.

 

[elatowski]

Is it possible that the priming sugar simply did not evenly mix with the beer prior to bottling?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Is it possible that the priming sugar simply did not evenly mix with the beer prior to bottling?

If this were the case I'd expect bombs before 6 weeks in the bottle.

 

[PeterCottonAle]

Thanks for the replies -

Where are you storing these beers? If they are in a hot area they might just blow.

I have been storing them in my laundry room, which should be about the same temp as the rest of my house, 75-80F. I've got a few 12-packs from other batches in the same room that seem fine.

Also, how long are you chilling your beers before you open them?

Of the gushers that I've opened, 3 had been in the fridge somewhere between 1.5-2 days, and 1 bottle I'm not exactly sure but had to have been in the fridge at least a week, maybe two. Behavior seemed pretty much the same regardless of how long it had been in the fridge.

Is it possible that the priming sugar simply did not evenly mix with the beer prior to bottling?
I wondered about this as well. I do the standard method of boiling my priming sugar in a pint or two of water and pour it into the bottling bucket, then rack my beer on top of that. I generally try to make sure my siphon hose is submerged in the priming solution so the beer mixes in from the beginning. I have seen some people mention that they stir up the beer in the bottling bucket periodically throughout bottling, which I do not. Maybe the priming solution settled to the bottom partway through my bottling?

Thanks again for the replies! I think tonight I will try to pour a bottle and if it is another gusher, let the carbonation come out before I drink it so I can see if I detect any sourness or anything else that would suggest infection.

 

[unionrdr]

Also,a 1.014 FG with only OG1.046? That's a tad high for me. With an OG like that,1.008-1.010 are what I typically expect. So that could be part of it,coupled with the low amount of sugar taking that long to fully carbonate the beer. And a week in the fridge is usually always better than a day or two.
It'll take that long for any chill haze to develope & setle out. Better carbonation & head can be had as well. And beers that gush for non infection reasons can stabilize. Dang. Took me too long to type the reply again...

 

[PeterCottonAle]

Also,a 1.014 FG with only OG1.046?

Yeah - I had expected my FG to be a bit lower than that. Maybe not in the 1.008-1.010 range, but maybe closer to 1.011 or 1.012. I based this recipe off of the brown porter in 'Brewing Classic Styles' and I think 1.013 was the predicted FG for the recipe. I reduced the base malt a bit because I wanted a more sessionable porter. I assumed with a 2wk ferment that it was done but maybe I should have taken a few gravity readings over a couple days to make sure.

Thanks, I think I'll try to put all the remaining ones in the fridge and cross my fingers!

 

[PeterCottonAle]

Small update - I poured another bottle tonight and waited for the carbing to settle before drinking. For all I can tell it still tastes basically the same as before the gusher behavior set in. No sourness or other unusual flavors, just a nice, malty, easy drinking porter. I'm thinking unionrdr has the right idea, the yeasties perhaps just didn't finish the job in the primary.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

If you can get the rest into a refrigerator and chill them, or at least get them someplace cooler, that will lessen the chance of another bomb. Sounds like you got good beer, anyway.

 

[SIXFOOTER]

2 weeks might have been a bit early for bottling. I have found that 3 to 4 weeks across the board made for better beers and more predictable carbonisation