Massive foaming

[Iceman6409]

So I made a 2.5 gal Scotch ale a few months ago. I was very specific about each ingredient and step of the process. I used corn sugar to bottle and I went sightly light on the recommended amount as I want just slightly less carb but I know I was dead on. Anyways I have been letting the bottles sit for a month or more undisturbed. I put one in the fridge over night to taste teat and popped the capped and it foamed real good and fast. Way more than anything else I have done before. It came out fast and long. Taste was good once I got past the volcano of foam.

So I thought back to what possibly could have gone wrong. The only thing I can think of is I bought and used a slightly wider racking tube than I normally use. I forget the measurements but to fill bottles I think we all use the same size tube. I went the next size up. Not a big difference at all , just slightly bigger. I do remember the bottles were filled a lot faster than my other tube. It took me a bottle or two to get used to the speed. I remember feeling like maybe if it was rushing in that fast that air might get in there. Also with the old tube I would always fill right to the top and then pull the tube and go on to the next bottle leaving maybe an inch head space give or take. The new bigger tube left a little more head space.

Do you folks think this bigger tube may be the culprit in this case? Speed of fill and a litte extra head space? Let me know you thoughts.

 

[m1k3]

Do you folks think this bigger tube may be the culprit in this case? Speed of fill and a little extra head space? Let me know you thoughts.

I don't buy it.

If all the bottles are equally over carbed then it seems that fermentation was not finished and it dropped a few more points after bottling.

You would need to completely degas a sample an take a hydrometer reading to be sure.

A refractometer would also probably work (with a smaller sample) - (if you know the OG and the FG at the time of bottling to compare).

 

[EcuPirate07]

Bigger tube just means faster fills which means bottles fill faster. Nothing else. Check your FG like posted above.

 

[doug293cz]

It's not the bottle filler tube. It's either what @m1k3 said, or it's an infection.

Brew on

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Since you gave it time to sufficiently cool in the fridge, it's most likely one of 3 culprits:

1. Fermentation wasn't finished
2. Infection
3. Non-uniform mixing of priming sugar solution.

 

[doug293cz]

Since you gave it time to sufficiently cool in the fridge, it's most likely one of 3 culprits:

1. Fermentation wasn't finished
2. Infection
3. Non-uniform mixing of priming sugar solution.

Yeah, I forgot to include #3.

Brew on

 

[Iceman6409]

Admittedly I did not check FG as I left it in primary for a month or more. I figured for sure it was way past done fermenting. Can't be infection as I was maniacal about sanitizing.

 

[doug293cz]

Admittedly I did not check FG as I left it in primary for a month or more. I figured for sure it was way past done fermenting. Can't be infection as I was maniacal about sanitizing.

I wouldn't say can't.

Brew on

 

[pdxal]

Can't be infection as I was maniacal about sanitizing.

Many people with infected beer have said the same thing

 

[RM-MN]

Admittedly I did not check FG as I left it in primary for a month or more. I figured for sure it was way past done fermenting. Can't be infection as I was maniacal about sanitizing.

I do a fine job of sanitizing but had a wild yeast in the air of my home that caused just the same thing. It took 2 years to (I hope) get it out of my house. It doesn't need to be a bacterial infection to get overcarbing.

 

[TurnipGreen]

It could very well be uneven priming sugar. This doesn't always hold true, but when you pop the cap does it immediately start foaming? In my experience that's infection. But if it just foams like crazy as you pour in that's more likely uneven priming. I guess it could be incomplete fermentation too.

Either way if it taste good, you should put more in the fridge and enjoy it. And you should probably brew an other batch for good measure and to taste next to this one to see if you can pin point the issue.

 

[Iceman6409]

The one I tried did start right away but it took a few seconds to get started. But once it made its way out of the bottle it really picked up steam. I've had this happen before a few times. I think we all have at one point or another. However the other ones were a much slower foaming activity. This one was pretty vigorous. I did our some in a glass and the head was like 4-5 inches tall and I let it sit there for a few minutes figuring it would run its course and the foam with dissipate some. Never did. I'll try another bottle or two and see what happens. It's maddening because for this batch I paid very close attention to everything I did.

 

[Konadog]

It could very well be uneven priming sugar. This doesn't always hold true, but when you pop the cap does it immediately start foaming? In my experience that's infection. But if it just foams like crazy as you pour in that's more likely uneven priming. I guess it could be incomplete fermentation too.

That........... or,

You said that the bottle was only in the fridge overnight? I would wait a few days and see what happens. Let the gas equalize a few days and open slowly.

 

[kh54s10]

I have had 2 that did that. Both were high gravity dark beers. I would pop the top off. Same amount of hiss as any other beer, maybe less. One or two seconds later a foam snake came gushing out of the bottle. After getting the foam to settle the beers both tasted very good. Both were recipes I had never tried before so I can't say if they might have had some kind of infection, but it did not destroy the taste.

I also was careful with the amount of priming sugar - a little on the low side.

All the bottles foamed about the same so it was not uneven mixing.

A couple that I had in the fridge for over a week foamed a little less, but others in there at the same time, foamed the same as ones that were just chilled over night. All the ones that were just chilled over night were foamers.

Only two batches out of 85+

If you figure it out let me know.

 

[nDub]

I've had infections in one or two bottles out of a 5 gallon batch. Although now that I think about it almost every batch had a couple of infected bottles even though I'd throw away the bottle if it was a gusher. Anyway before I started kegging I got really good at figuring out what an infected bottle looked like, typically it'll have a ring of sediment stuck to the glass right at the liquid level.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I had a batch of stout that did that, it's caused by the co2 coming out of suspension through the beer, and then funneling through the neck of the bottle. Here's what I did:

1. Get a moss
2. Work quick here: Uncap the bottle and get it horizontal as quickly as possible ( the moment after cap removal before the black snake moans) Place the lip of the bottle on the rim of the moss. That allows the co2 to rise through a smaller volume of beer, to the air space and then out the top. You have to balance the foam rising in the moss with the proper pour speed. With a little practice ( i had 48 tries )you can get most of the beer into the glass. Oh, and the real kick in the nads is the beer will be flat