Gushers - Can bottles be salvaged?

[worlddivides]

About a month ago, I posted a thread here mentioning that I had a bottle of beer that foamed up quite a bit after I poured it and asked if it qualified as a gusher. Members told me that it probably was and to try out more bottles. I tried out more bottles and most of the bottles after that one were normal with normal or only slightly above-normal foaming, but I just opened a bottle that, even before I could pour it, foamed like crazy all over the counter top, so I put it in the sink where it is still (even now!!!) foaming out of the bottle.

So I'm sure that qualifies as a gusher. I'm not sure if it's only a few of the bottles that it happened to or if it's every single bottle and it just took several months for some kind of infection to start its work on the batch. But can I salvage the bottles that the gushers occurred in? Will sanitizing them like normal kill the infection? Or should I just throw them away/recycle them?

 

[worlddivides]

I just opened another bottle and within 4 seconds of opening it, it foamed all over.

The flavor, though, tastes exactly the same as it did before.

 

[RM-MN]

This may not be an infection but could just be too much priming sugar. There isn't anything that will hurt you in this beer and yes, you can salvage all of it. I've had the problem and I just pop the top and pour slowly down the side of a glass until the foam reaches the rim, let it set for a few seconds and let some of the foam subside, then pour some more, repeating until it all fits in your glass. If the bottle wants to foam over between pours, just hold it above the glass and let it pile up. You should get some big bubbles in the foam that pop which will make room for the excess foam.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

as for the bottles -once empty, clean them well and sanitize well before the next use. it should be fine.

 

[ChrisFix]

This may not be an infection but could just be too much priming sugar. There isn't anything that will hurt you in this beer and yes, you can salvage all of it. I've had the problem and I just pop the top and pour slowly down the side of a glass until the foam reaches the rim, let it set for a few seconds and let some of the foam subside, then pour some more, repeating until it all fits in your glass. If the bottle wants to foam over between pours, just hold it above the glass and let it pile up. You should get some big bubbles in the foam that pop which will make room for the excess foam.

Or just pour the entire bottle into a pitcher and let it settle out, then pour from there to your glass and enjoy. Had this happen once as well. The beer tasted fine, and as expected for the recipe, but it was not pour-able from the bottle. Positive it was not too much priming sugar either.

 

[worlddivides]

The carbonation thing kind of confuses me because when I open the bottles, the hiss from the CO2 is about the same (maybe even a little quieter) than back when the bottles poured/foamed up like normal.

as for the bottles -once empty, clean them well and sanitize well before the next use. it should be fine.

Will regular Starsan use be enough for the sanitizing? Or does something more need to be done?

 

[seigex]

The carbonation thing kind of confuses me because when I open the bottles, the hiss from the CO2 is about the same (maybe even a little quieter) than back when the bottles poured/foamed up like normal.



Will regular Starsan use be enough for the sanitizing? Or does something more need to be done?

I've never done this with beer bottles and it might be overkill, but in canning, mason jars are boiled. Fill your kettle, get the water to a boil, and boil your bottles. That way you're absolutely sure anything left in them is gone and if there is any gunk caked on that might be harboring baddies that starsan's not touching, then it will be boiled off.