Hello, first post here but been trolling and learning for a while. I have eight extract kits under my belt, generally all successful, and moving soon to all grain.
I have a Midwest Happy Holiday extract with Wyeast 1338 (starter). sg was 1.068 and fg was 1.02, both a little on the high side of expectations. The spices were boiled during the last ten minutes.
Fermentation was four weeks, with some signs of activity (airlock bubbling) through the whole period (my first that's done that). Gravity readings were taken several times over the last week and were stable before bottling. Only a primary fermenter was used.
We follow standard sanitization practices (bottles/carboy soaked in PBW, sanitized with Star San, etc) and have had no infection issues before.
We bottled three weeks ago, and two of the bottles have been gushers. Other bottles are fine. We've probably tried 6 or 8 so far. They taste ok, but the probably overdone spices are so strong they seem to hide the true flavor of the beer. I know this beer should sit for quite a while to mellow.
Question: Does a gusher necessarily mean an infection, or could it be a result of the spices in the kit? And, if its not infected, does time correct the problem? Naturally being a "Happy Holiday" brew the plan was to share during the holidays, but I don't want bottles of my homebrew pouring all over during Thanksgiving (I know you can appreciate that...).
So....does Gusher always equal Infection, and what should I do now?
I have a Midwest Happy Holiday extract with Wyeast 1338 (starter). sg was 1.068 and fg was 1.02, both a little on the high side of expectations. The spices were boiled during the last ten minutes.
Fermentation was four weeks, with some signs of activity (airlock bubbling) through the whole period (my first that's done that). Gravity readings were taken several times over the last week and were stable before bottling. Only a primary fermenter was used.
We follow standard sanitization practices (bottles/carboy soaked in PBW, sanitized with Star San, etc) and have had no infection issues before.
We bottled three weeks ago, and two of the bottles have been gushers. Other bottles are fine. We've probably tried 6 or 8 so far. They taste ok, but the probably overdone spices are so strong they seem to hide the true flavor of the beer. I know this beer should sit for quite a while to mellow.
Question: Does a gusher necessarily mean an infection, or could it be a result of the spices in the kit? And, if its not infected, does time correct the problem? Naturally being a "Happy Holiday" brew the plan was to share during the holidays, but I don't want bottles of my homebrew pouring all over during Thanksgiving (I know you can appreciate that...).
So....does Gusher always equal Infection, and what should I do now?
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
