I'm Gushing!

[GHBWNY]

It's official. I had my first bottle gusher last night. I read through many of the threads re: bottle gushers and like many of them, I can't figure out why mine gushed. When I popped the top, it was a normal *pfft* and then it started a slow, steady gush. Lost about 1/3 of the bottle. It tasted fine, just expectably less carbed. Here are the particulars:

Bitter Honey Amber Ale
6lb DME
1lb carapils, 0.5lb Vienna, 0.5lb honey malt
1oz. Amarillo @ 60, 0.5oz. Liberty @ 20
S-05 rehydrated
ferm temp ~66-67F
dry-hopped 0.5 oz. Perle
OG 1.064 FG 1.018

2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, bottled (meticulous sanitizing)
3 weeks bottle-conditioned @ room temp (usually followed by a week in the fridge, but didn't have room this time)

At bottling, I "hopped" 6 bottles, each with a pellet of Liberty (fresh out of the package). To date, I've opened 1 hopped bottle and 5 unhopped --- all of which spent a couple days in the fridge prior to opening --- with no problems. Last night's, however, was one of the hopped bottles, but chilled for only 6 hours.

By the number of normal bottles, I think I can eliminate under-attenuation/FG, over-priming, infection, agitation, warm temp. Today I put a reg. and hopped bottle in the fridge and I'll give them a couple days and open both and see if we have a repeat performance.

 

[BowAholic]

probably not a problem. I would have thought that the bottles with a hop pellet in them would have all foamed more than normal. I'll bet you just opened it too soon after chilling and that, plus the pellet is all that it was.

 

[Calypso]

If it was a slow gush, it might have just been overcarbed. It's also possible that that ONE bottle had some bad beasties biding their time to bedevil your brew with bountiful bubbles.

 

[brewmeister13]

probably not a problem. I would have thought that the bottles with a hop pellet in them would have all foamed more than normal. I'll bet you just opened it too soon after chilling and that, plus the pellet is all that it was.

I would agree with this. The CO2 didn't have enough time to, I guess you would say, incorporate into the liquid. Mix that with the nucleation points created by the pellet and you have a gusher.

 

[GHBWNY]

If it was a slow gush, it might have just been overcarbed. It's also possible that that ONE bottle had some bad beasties biding their time to bedevil your brew with bountiful bubbles.

An annoying, albeit appropriate and accurate assessment arrived at by an 'alcohol artisan' from Ann Arbor who is acutely aware of his alliterative abilities.

 

[tjmac5071]

My guess is because you bottle hopped. Was that the only gusher out of the six?

 

[Calder]

It's official. I had my first bottle gusher last night. When I popped the top, it was a normal *pfft* and then it started a slow, steady gush. Lost about 1/3 of the bottle. It tasted fine, just expectably less carbed. Here are the particulars:

Bitter Honey Amber Ale
6lb DME
1lb carapils, 0.5lb Vienna, 0.5lb honey malt
1oz. Amarillo @ 60, 0.5oz. Liberty @ 20
S-05 rehydrated
ferm temp ~66-67F
dry-hopped 0.5 oz. Perle
OG 1.064 FG 1.018

2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, bottled (meticulous sanitizing)
3 weeks bottle-conditioned @ room temp (usually followed by a week in the fridge, but didn't have room this time)

At bottling, I "hopped" 6 bottles, each with a pellet of Liberty (fresh out of the package). To date, I've opened 1 hopped bottle and 5 unhopped --- all of which spent a couple days in the fridge prior to opening --- with no problems. Last night's, however, was one of the hopped bottles, but chilled for only 6 hours.

By the number of normal bottles, I think I can eliminate under-attenuation/FG, over-priming, infection, agitation, warm temp. Today I put a reg. and hopped bottle in the fridge and I'll give them a couple days and open both and see if we have a repeat performance.

Start pouring quicker into the glass - saves the beer!

1 - As noted by others, particles in the bottle provide nucleation points. The ones with the hop pellets are more likely to gush than the others.

2 - The only way to eliminate under-attenuation is to take a gravity reading. If you have another, pour some into an hydrometer jar, and leave to go flat, and check the gravity. 1.064 to 1.018, seems like low attenuation for S-05, but it was an all-extract batch, so may be fine.

 

[GHBWNY]

Start pouring quicker into the glass - saves the beer!

1 - As noted by others, particles in the bottle provide nucleation points. The ones with the hop pellets are more likely to gush than the others.

2 - The only way to eliminate under-attenuation is to take a gravity reading. If you have another, pour some into an hydrometer jar, and leave to go flat, and check the gravity. 1.064 to 1.018, seems like low attenuation for S-05, but it was an all-extract batch, so may be fine.

Makes sense, esp. since even after a few days in the fridge, I can see the hop particles still in suspension. With a previously bottle-hopped batch, they did settle out and gushing was never an issue. Maybe this batch just needs more time in the fridge?

I will do the hydrometer test just to make sure, Thanks!

 

[GHBWNY]

after 2 days in the fridge, I opened of each last night. The unhopped was fine. The bottle-hopped started with a little foam in the neck of the bottle, but was otherwise fine, even though the hops never settled out. Both are super-tasty! Thanks for all your suggestions!