My beer foams WAY too much.

[UPShawn]

I brewed a "bourbon barrel style porter" from a kit a bought from online. I followed the instructions on the kit except I steeped some oatmeal with the specialty grains. Fermented in primary for two weeks, added bourbon and soaked oak chips to secondary and gave it another two weeks. After two weeks of bottle condition, I pour the beer into a pint glass and the whole glass fills with foam with about an inch of beer at the bottom. I have to wait for the foam to settle before I can even finish pouring the bottle. What could be causing this? I should mention that I am fairly new at brewing, as this is only my fourth batch. All other batches have been successful. Also, aside from the foam, the beer tastes good.

 

[bluemoose]

How long did the beer sit in the fridge before pouring?

 

[BrotherGrim]

How much priming sugar did you use before bottling?

 

[UPShawn]

I used 5 oz of corn sugar. Kept it in the fridge for about 3 hours before pouring.

 

[The_Bishop]

5 oz of corn sugar was probably too much. What was the volume of beer that you actually put in the bottling bucket?

 

[bluemoose]

Leave the next beer in the fridge for 24 hours and try again. It should be markedly better.

 

[joshesmusica]

Leave the next beer in the fridge for 24 hours and try again. It should be markedly better.

while possible, i'd say there's something else up here. if in a pinch i will only refrigerate my beers for a couple of hours, they don't turn out to be all foam, that's for sure. i have most of my beers sitting at about 16C before refrigeration, so some of my darker beers i will just serve myself as is, and even then i don't get excessive foam.

to the OP, what temp are you conditioning those bottles at? to have excessive foam at 2 weeks in the bottle is quite surprising and could possibly suggest that you overcarbonated your beer. for 5 gallons hoping for 2.1 volumes in a porter assuming that your current temp was 69F, you should use approximately 3.7oz of priming sugar.

BUT maybe you should check your sanitation procedures of your bottles. i know that's jumping to conclusions but if your batch was 5 gallons at 69F and you used 5oz of priming sugar that would put your carbonation at 2.7 volumes, and while that's a lot more than you would want for your style, it still should not be mostly foam and a little bit of beer.

 

[UPShawn]

The fermentation was probably closer to 71 degrees f. If it was a sanitation issue with the bottles wouldn't the beer taste bad?

 

[UPShawn]

The volume of beer going into the bucket was probably about 4.75 gal.

 

[aprichman]

The beer not being completely fermented could account for over carbonation.

 

[BrotherGrim]

5 oz of priming sugar is quite a bit for 4.75 gal of porter. My figures put it about 2.8 volumes. If that is not properly chilled all the way through, gushers are in your future. You can prep some caps, pop and recap them. That will drop the level some but it is a guessing game to know how much.

Hope this helps. When you are getting ready to prime your next batch, try using a priming sugar calculator. There are many online and they are easy to use. Good luck.

 

[joshesmusica]

The fermentation was probably closer to 71 degrees f. If it was a sanitation issue with the bottles wouldn't the beer taste bad?

did you actually use corn sugar? or did you just use plain ole table sugar?

did you take any gravity readings before you racked to secondary, and then again before you bottled?

did you put all of the bottles into the fridge, or just the one you tried?

5 oz of priming sugar is quite a bit for 4.75 gal of porter. My figures put it about 2.8 volumes. If that is not properly chilled all the way through, gushers are in your future. You can prep some caps, pop and recap them. That will drop the level some but it is a guessing game to know how much.

Hope this helps. When you are getting ready to prime your next batch, try using a priming sugar calculator. There are many online and they are easy to use. Good luck.

i'm not so sure. if he used corn sugar that's actually more like just under 2.7 volumes. that's not terrible. he did have it chilled for 3 hours. it's not recommended to chill it for such a short time, but it should still be chilled in that amount of time. unless of course he put all the bottles in the fridge at once.
otherwise my "unless" would be: it wasn't fermented all the way, and then he over-primed. then i could see that being the issue.

 

[adamdillabo]

I started using a calculator after I've had problems like that a few times. Most beers won't call for 5oz of primming sugar. And if you don't get a full 5 gallons into your bottleing bucket you can run into problems.

 

[UPShawn]

I used corn sugar. It was the package of corn sugar that came with the kit. I took hydrometer and temperature readings before primary fermentation and before bottling, not before secondary. I only put one bottle in the fridge at a time. The rest are in the basement.

 

[JonM]

You might just have dishwasher/tap water mineral residue in your glass. Try giving your glass a salt scrub.