Gushers at competition

[C-Rider]

At the end of 2013 I brewed a Coffee Stout and entered it in a contest on the Big Island. I had 18 bottles to start. Of the 16 I kept no gushers. Both sat on the Big Island for a week before the contest and both were gushers?
Could them sitting around at temps above 70 for a week caused this, plus what ever shaking Fed Ex gave them in the delivery?

Reason I ask is I'm getting ready for next years contest. Funny the other 6 bottles I entered in other categories had NO GUSHERS.

 

[watermelon83]

Obviously the judges are idiots, you probably should win by default. No, rellay I have no idea, do they serve at a much warmer temp. then you do at the house?

 

[C-Rider]

Obviously the judges are idiots, you probably should win by default. No, rellay I have no idea, do they serve at a much warmer temp. then you do at the house?

I have no idea what temp they test at. I keep all my beers about 45* for drinking. And store the rest at 70. I'm sure the temps they saw went up into the 80 during shipping.

 

[watermelon83]

Agitation at higher temps during shipping makes sense I suppose. Kind of like a stir bar and a starter in my imagination.

 

[soccerdad]

I have never felt that homebrew traveled well - agitation and temp swings do no favors. In my experience.

 

[soccerdad]

Doesn't it figure though that the two gushers would go to the judges

 

[JustLooking]

Could them sitting around at temps above 70 for a week caused this, plus what ever shaking Fed Ex gave them in the delivery?

Only if you used too much priming sugar to begin with and chilled the others before it made a difference. My money would go on an infection that was helped along by the higher temperature.

 

[butterpants]

Too many variables to diagnose. Did they say both gushed on your BJCP sheets? Just wondering how you knew they tried both.

Any feedback on the beer flavor/body being thin or sour, indicative of infection on the scoresheets?

 

[C-Rider]

Too many variables to diagnose. Did they say both gushed on your BJCP sheets? Just wondering how you knew they tried both.

Any feedback on the beer flavor/body being thin or sour, indicative of infection on the scoresheets?

Two score sheets, both mentioned the gushing. Both scored 35 points and liked the beer w/some comments but none about thin or sour.

 

[C-Rider]

I have never felt that homebrew traveled well - agitation and temp swings do no favors. In my experience.

These along w/the other submissions had to travel by air from one island to the other.

 

[butterpants]

2 score sheets mean it was only 1 bottle was judged (if it was a BJCP sanctioned event).

If you got a 35 it didn't taste infected.

 

[Spartan1979]

If the beer wasn't fully fermented and you kept all the bottles in the fridge before you shipped them, it is very possible that the beer fermented some more when the temp got raised.

If you want to test this theory, take one of the others out of the fridge and let it sit in a warm spot for 7-10 days.

 

[Skiffy]

At competitions the bottles are opened and sit on the table for a few minutes. At home you typically pour it into a glass fairy quickly. I had a batch that gushed slowly and took 30 seconds or so to escape the bottle. Beer tasted fine though. Could be the case here ... Or just some bad luck

 

[beersk]

Agitation at higher temps during shipping makes sense I suppose. Kind of like a stir bar and a starter in my imagination.

You have, like, the weirdest avatar, dude.


I don't know what could've caused the gushers, but that is really odd it was just the 2 out of the whole batch. My guess is the shipping caused it.

 

[butterpants]

At competitions the bottles are opened and sit on the table for a few minutes. At home you typically pour it into a glass fairy quickly. I had a batch that gushed slowly and took 30 seconds or so to escape the bottle. Beer tasted fine though. Could be the case here ... Or just some bad luck

No, no... In any BJCP comp I've judged you open the beer seconds before pouring/assessing it. Maybe in a BoS round they have sat a while.

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

You never know when the proverbial "bad bottle" is the one that gets submitted to a competition. When bottling homebrew it is impossible to guarantee the priming sugar is evenly distributed. The beer still received a good score so I don't think it was infected. Did they comment on the bottle fill? That is the only other obvious thing that could cause an otherwise clean beer to gush.