Over Carbonation

[msppilot]

I have read a few other posts and others seem to be having over carbonation issues as well. I brewed my first batch and when I pour the bottle into a glass I am getting a lot of carbonation. I fermentation temperature was approximately 68 degrees and left it in the primary for a month. After bottling, I moved the bottle into an area about 70 degrees for about 2 weeks. the beer tastes fine, but takes a while to settle down after pouring. It is possible the temperature was too high during the carbonation phase or is there some other possible explanation? I followed the directions on the kit, so this is the only thing I can think of. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Tinga]

temperature is perfect so no worries about that.

my guess is that you used too much sugar. either too much sugar or too little beer or the sugar didnt get mixed properly. have you only opened one bottle or have you had this same problem with all the bottles? when you add the sugar you want to boil the water add the sugar and make sure it is all dissolved. put the sugar water in the bottling bucket before you add the beer. then rack the beer on the sugar water to make sure that it gets evenly mixed.

 

[Double_D]

Usually it's the amount of priming sugar or the temperature of the beer you're pouring. I've noticed if you pour homebrew into a frozen glass it gets really roamy. A lot of people seem to have lots of problems with those kits though..

 

[stat]

My beer was overcarbed and would gush the first half out as soon as you opened it. Then I left it in the fridge for several days (a week has the best results but it wasn't a gusher after maybe 3 days) and all the carbonation problems went away.

 

[Bensiff]

Follow the process Tinga stated to make sure you mix your carbing sugar properly.

Overcarbonation happens for 3 reasons:

You added too much bottling sugar

You bottled too early

Infection

For your case I'm guessing on the first since you followed instructions. Use an online calculator to figure proper quantities. You need to know the temp as this lets the calculator make an assumption on how much CO2 is already in the beer from fermentation (age will also impact this, but the calculator will not take that into account). As well, you need to be sure of your volume of finished beer to be treated. Make sure your fermentor has volume lines on it and take into account trub loss. ie, if you ferment in a 5 gallon carboy and then add sugar for 5 gallons when in actuality you only have 4.25 gallons you are going to be overcarbed.

 

[Revvy]

Follow the process Tinga stated to make sure you mix your carbing sugar properly.

Overcarbonation happens for 3 reasons:

You added too much bottling sugar

You bottled too early

Infection

Or you are simply openning the beer too early, and/or not chilling the beer enough before openning it, which are 99% these types of threads.

Watch poindexter's video from my bottling blog.




Like he shows several times, even @ 1 week, all the hissing, all the foaming can and does happen, but until it's dissolved back into the beer, your don't really have carbonation, with tiny bubbles coming out of solution happening actually inside the glass, not JUST what's happening on the surface.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

But until then the beer can even appear to be overcarbed, when really nothing is wrong.

A lot of new brewers who tend to kill their two cases off in a few days, don't experience true carbonation and the pleasures thereof, until they actually get a pipeline going, and have their first 5 or 6 week old full carbed and conditioned wonderfully little puppy! Then the come back with an "aha" moment.


Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

I really shy away from the idea of infections or that even anything is wrong, if you've opened you beer earlier than the 4-6 weeks window...including gushing.

Stick the beers aside for another week or more, then make sure a couple of them are THOROUGHLY chilled for at least 48 hours to draw the co2 into solution. Then more than likely everything will be hunky dory....

 

[JLem]

If the beer isn't chilled sufficiently long before pouring, you will often get a foamy pour. Try putting some bottles in the fridge for a while (minimum 3 days) and see if you still have a problem.

 

[Bensiff]

Ah, good call Revvy...I learn something new

 

[Double_D]

@ Revvy- good post. that's the 2 and 2 I only recently put together.

 

[msppilot]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I am thinking the sugar may not of been dissolved all the way. Other than that maybe I need to chill it for longer. The beer tastes good and I did not get sick after drinking it, so I am guess it was something like that. Overall I was happy with my first batch. I learned a lot and am looking forward to brewing brewing my next batch.