Over Carbonated Hefe - What went wrong?

[robbeh]

Besides the obvious, too much sugar, I am trying to figure out what went wrong on my second batch.

It was an soup can batch (pre-hopped kit), Coopers Hefe.

Made it with 500g Dry Wheat Grain steeped at 160 for 20 min + 450 of Dex. OG was 1038, fermented in primary for 1 week and then transferred to secondary for 1 week.

With 4 days remaining a added:

• an orange rinds tincture (3oz of vodka and rinds sat for 48 hours, dumped the whole thing in)
• corriander tea (1kg of crushed coriander steaped for 10 minutes at a boil)

FG 1005

I followed the priming calculator aiming for a 4.0 volume. Based on 66deg fermentation, 5 gal batch and 4.0 vol target, it said to batch prime with 9.1oz of dex. My last ale batch was only 450g for a 6 gal batch so I thought that was a lot but rolled with it.

1 Month later I have had to dump the batch. The taste wasn't the greatest (serves me right for trying to dry fruit a hefe into a wit) but they were also gushers (blew up two plastic bottles and almost took my face off opening a capped bottle).

Was it just too much sugar? What did I miss there? Could it be infection slowly rolling in? I took the gravity at day 5 and 8 and both were 1010. I then took it before bottling and it was 1005. I assume that could be because I added the tincture?

Thanks for any help.

 

[cshamilton]

If this was a 5 or 6 gallon batch that sounds like significantly more sugar than needed. I also don't trust most bottles above 3.5 volumes of CO2 - the heavier German and Belgian bottles can handle 4 though. I am guessing you are at 5+ though for a 5 or 6 gallon batch.

 

[robbeh]

If this was a 5 or 6 gallon batch that sounds like significantly more sugar than needed. I also don't trust most bottles above 3.5 volumes of CO2 - the heavier German and Belgian bottles can handle 4 though. I am guessing you are at 5+ though for a 5 or 6 gallon batch.

It was a 5 gallon batch with a volume of 4. It was like a Perrier on steroids after 2 weeks and then gushers after 4. Why would the calc recommend 9.1kg of DEX for a column of 4?

 

[Kee]

I've done 4 volumes in Belgian bottles, it's doable, but definitely pushing the envelop. You have to be precise with your measurements, etc. Maybe it's just the sugar but I wouldn't rule out an infection or incomplete fermentation.

 

[Kee]

It was a 5 gallon batch with a volume of 4. It was like a Perrier on steroids after 2 weeks and then gushers after 4. Why would the calc recommend 9.1kg of DEX for a column of 4?

If you are saying your volume of beer was only 4 gallons, then you are way over-primed.

 

[robbeh]

If you are saying your volume of beer was only 4 gallons, then you are way over-primed.

Nono, 4 volumes as my target carbonation. 5 gallon batch. I just don't see why any beer would be 4 volume, it was wayyy too fizzy. I thought I was airing on the lower side since it called for 3.3 to 4.7 for a German Wheat beer.

I measured using a scale and everything. Must have been an incomplete fermentation or infection.

Only other thing was I forgot to cool my coriander tea before I added it to the secondary. Not sure that would play in over carbing but probably didn't help the flavour.

I'll chalk this one up as a bit of a mystery and avoid carbing pas 3.5 volumes. Thank you for all the insight.

 

[Smellyglove]

4 Volumes is pretty high, but not out of line for a hefe.

One thing you must consider is that the carbonation level is just one parameter to make a good beer. For Hefes it can be tricky.

First, you did an extract batch, I would guess that allready there you've overcarbed it.

Like I said, carbonation for a Hefe can be tricky because you really need to weigh up the mouthfeel of the beer, against the carbonation. If it's thin in the mouthfeel department you want to carbonate it lower. Hefes are somewhat thick to the mouthfeel, and it's a combination of FG, recipe (amount of wheat) and yeast in suspension. A low FG doesn't help much, and if you use a generic yeast it doesn't help much. You should look at a target FG of about 1.012 and a proper hefe yeast which stays in suspension, and get the proper amount of the yeast into the bottles. Hefe's are an art, don't do them from extract, to be honest.

And, you added some different "crap" to the Hefe which I don't understand why you would do. You just need a good yeast, and it's pretty much fail safe, it will taste like a Hefe, but to do a "proper" Hefe it requires some skill.