Hi all,
I need some help. I am an experienced homebrewer and for the past 8 months every batch I make becomes overcarbonated in the bottle. Starts OK, but by 1 month in the bottle it is a glass of foam. After 15 min sitting in a glass it is degassed and fine to drink. Great head retention too! Too much, actually.
I brew all grain, 6 gallon batches.
Here's what I have checked.
1) priming sugar weight: varies depending on style by typically 100-130g DME dissolved prior to bottling. So I'm not adding too much sugar.
2) Complete fermentation: I wait until gravity has stopped dropping in the secondary (usually 2 weeks), then an additional week to be sure. It always matches my predicted final gravity (using Brewsmith).
3) Recipes that used to be fine are now overcarbonated.
4) I did an interesting test. If I compare my "stable", predicted finishing SG at bottling, with the measured gravity of an overcarbonated bottle (after opening, degassing and adjusting to room temp), the bottle gravity is about 5 points lower than at bottling (Note that is before priming sugar added at bottling compared with after priming sugar used in the bottle). Made me conclude I had some sort of bacterial bottle infection that was processing some components and increasing gas. So last batch I washed the bottles, then bleached them, then dishwasher heated them, then acid rinsed them in star-san. And the same for all the containers, tubing, siphons, etc. Guess what. Overcarbonated after 1 month.....
I am at wits end. There is no off taste, there is not too much sugar (I used calculators to adjust for CO2 present at bottling temp), I store the beer at 65 degrees, then chill in a fridge for a couple days before opening.
I don't know what else I can check?
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? PLEASE?
Steve
I need some help. I am an experienced homebrewer and for the past 8 months every batch I make becomes overcarbonated in the bottle. Starts OK, but by 1 month in the bottle it is a glass of foam. After 15 min sitting in a glass it is degassed and fine to drink. Great head retention too! Too much, actually.
I brew all grain, 6 gallon batches.
Here's what I have checked.
1) priming sugar weight: varies depending on style by typically 100-130g DME dissolved prior to bottling. So I'm not adding too much sugar.
2) Complete fermentation: I wait until gravity has stopped dropping in the secondary (usually 2 weeks), then an additional week to be sure. It always matches my predicted final gravity (using Brewsmith).
3) Recipes that used to be fine are now overcarbonated.
4) I did an interesting test. If I compare my "stable", predicted finishing SG at bottling, with the measured gravity of an overcarbonated bottle (after opening, degassing and adjusting to room temp), the bottle gravity is about 5 points lower than at bottling (Note that is before priming sugar added at bottling compared with after priming sugar used in the bottle). Made me conclude I had some sort of bacterial bottle infection that was processing some components and increasing gas. So last batch I washed the bottles, then bleached them, then dishwasher heated them, then acid rinsed them in star-san. And the same for all the containers, tubing, siphons, etc. Guess what. Overcarbonated after 1 month.....
I am at wits end. There is no off taste, there is not too much sugar (I used calculators to adjust for CO2 present at bottling temp), I store the beer at 65 degrees, then chill in a fridge for a couple days before opening.
I don't know what else I can check?
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? PLEASE?
Steve