Gusher infection?

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JoeNew2Brew

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I brewed my 3rd batch 4 weeks ago. Xtreme Brewing Ginger Saison. It had an OG of 1.072 and after 2 weeks of warm fermenting (80 degrees or so) it had a FG of 1.009. It tasted great when I put it in the bottle 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I put 2 in the fridge for 24 hours and today when I opened one, it gushed to it was nearly empty. I tasted what was left and the flavor was outstanding.

Do I have a gusher infection? Is there something I can do to save the batch? It still tastes great, but it is tough to drink it when it is gushing out of the bottle.
 
Sounds like over-carbonation. You can try and serve really, really cold into a frozen glass. (Or open it and immediately pour a glass of foam, wait for the foam to calm down then pour more) If you are only bottling and not kegging unfortunately I don't have a simpler answer to the immediate problem. Be sure to sanitize more thoroughly next time.
 
... when I put it in the bottle 2 weeks ago.

That's all the info we really need.

We get thsi all the time from folks who open their bottles WAAAAAYYYYYYY early.

If you watch Poindexter's video on time lapsed carbonation, you will see that in many instances, before a beer is carbed it my gush, that's not from infection, or mixing of sugars, but because the co2 hasn't evened out- it hasn't been pulled fully into the beer. Think of it as there's a lot of co2 being generated and most of it is in the headspace, not in the beer, so there's still "over pressure" in the bottle, so it gushes when it is opened.

But when the beer is truly carbed it all evens out, across the bottles.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw]time lapse carbonation - YouTube[/ame]

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

And just because a beer is carbed doesn't mean it still doesn't taste like a$$ and need more time for the off flavors to condition out. You have green beer.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience." ;)

Additionally once the three weeks or so has passed, chiling them down for a few days (not just a few hours or over night as most new brewers want to do ;)) will help the carbonation settle.

Dude, you brewed the beer only a month ago? I haven't even bottled my beer at that point yet. My beers are a minimum 8 weeks from grain to glass. Usually longer.
 
I had the same thing happen when I switched to all grain. Had my last porter after about six weeks in the bottle and man what a delicious beer. If only I would have had the patience to wait for them all to carb.
 
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