Please diagnose my gusher issue

[GraceManor]

I have been having significant problems with my last several batches. I would like to know what is wrong and what I can do or I will be forced to hang up the brewing spoon.
The last 4 beers I have brewed have become extreme gusher bottles. Here are some of the facts on them.
-All around 1.050 SG and 1.010 FG fermented with 1 pkg safale-05 or 04 at about 68-70F between 4-5 weeks, and I test gravity 3 days in a row before bottling to ensure it is the same.
-Bottled with 3oz corn sugar for 48-52 bottles sitting at 70F
-All bottles are consistently over carbonated, though usually perfect for 2 weeks or so. They taste just fine when foaming goes down.
-Starsan is used on everything coming into contact with beer.
Is there anything you expert folks can tell me that I might be able to do in order to stop this?
I actually have a beer in secondary right now that I dry hopped 1 week ago. Today I noticed some foam around the top of the glass carboy, now I am afraid to bottle it and make bombs. Is this another gusher that I should just dump?

 

[BradleyBrew]

Many moons ago when I bottled I ran into a similiar problem. My problem was not using a bottle brush on each and every bottle. Now when I bottle I have no problems at all. So if you are not using a bottle brush in combination with star san I would try that.

 

[Pie_Man]

Besides gushing, do you notice any off flavors?

I would replace all your plastic tubing, spigots, that sort of thing, and thoroughly clean and santize all your cold side components.

 

[BigFloyd]

-All bottles are consistently over carbonated, though usually perfect for 2 weeks or so. They taste just fine when foaming goes down.

That says to me that, if you do have infections, it's either in the bottles themselves or whatever gear you use on bottling day. It does not sound like your beers weren't done fermenting.

Where are you getting your bottles? If they're from friends that drink craft brews and the bottles were not rinsed shortly after the pour, there can be a layer of nastiness in the bottom of each bottle that can be hard to remove even with a brush. I regularly toss bottles folks give me solely for that reason.

Do you soak your bottles in PBW or something similar?

Hot water or cold? How long?

Have you been visually inspecting them before use?

 

[GraceManor]

I soak the bottles in warm starsan for 30 seconds, and they are shaken around with the sanitizer in them before being emptied. The bottles I use have been rinsed out immediately, visually inspected, and ones with scum on them I just throw out. I guess the only explanation is a problem with my transfer equipment.

Any suggestions on what to do with my current secondary?

 

[Pie_Man]

Any suggestions on what to do with my current secondary?

Get rid of it, or clean it thoroughly and sanitize it. To clean, soak in PBW or oxiclean for a few days. If it's plastic, perhaps it is scracted and needs replacing.

Additionally, you can forgo using a secondary all together. That's what many on this forum do. It's another opportunity for oxygen introduction and another opportunity for infection.

Also, check your bottling bucket. Often the spigot gets debris in it and can cause bacteria growth or mold. Spigots can be replaced without replacing the entire bucket. As mentioned earlier, I'd also consider replacing your tubing, racking cane, bottling wand, etc.

 

[BigFloyd]

I soak the bottles in warm starsan for 30 seconds, and they are shaken around with the sanitizer in them before being emptied. The bottles I use have been rinsed out immediately, visually inspected, and ones with scum on them I just throw out. I guess the only explanation is a problem with my transfer equipment.

By soak I was talking about leaving them sit in the sink for a few hours to overnight in hot water than has PBW or OxyClean added. Rinse well afterwards. Keep in mind that cleaning and sanitizing are two distinct processes. A good rule to follow on all brew gear is to clean right after use, sanitize just before use.

Any suggestions on what to do with my current secondary?

They're excellent for putting on the floor next to your dresser and tossing your pocket change into.

 

[duboman]

+1 to everything already mentioned but I'll ask a few more:

Are you weighing out you priming sugar or measuring by volume? Weight to the gram is much more accurate

Are you verifying the actual finished volume of beer you are packaging to calculate proper amt of sugar

Are you taking temp of beer into account when packaging? Cold beer retains more co2 in suspension than warm

Are you refrigerating the bottles for several days prior to opening?

Aside from all suggestions about cleaning and sanitizing, next batch only use .75oz per finished gallon and bulk prime and see if it helps. (By weight)

As for the foam you currently see with the dry hops, nothing to worry about, that's normal personally I think that if it were infection related you would have some off flavor associated with the beer after it gushes and you state that's not the case.

 

[ballsy]

By soak I was talking about leaving them sit in the sink for a few hours to overnight in hot water than has PBW or OxyClean added. Rinse well afterwards. Keep in mind that cleaning and sanitizing are two distinct processes. A good rule to follow on all brew gear is to clean right after use, sanitize just before

^^^^^^ This is it. You're using your star San as your cleaner which it is not. I soak overnight in tub full of hot water and oxy free. Some of the funk that has come out in past was disgusting. Like said, only if you know the bottles were rinsed thoroughly after pour is when you can get away with star San only.

 

[SEndorf]

+2 what BigFloyd said.
I'm not that great on remembering to rinse my bottles right after popping a brew.
When bored waiting for fermentaion, I have a 'bottle conditioning day' - let them sit several hours in PBW, then a long blast with the bottle washer. The crud plopping out is sickening. Star san won't cut it.
Might be overkill, but I don't want to give my pals a "suprise" with an infected bottle.

 

[midfielder5]

By soak I was talking about leaving them sit in the sink for a few hours to overnight in hot water than has PBW or OxyClean added. Rinse well afterwards. Keep in mind that cleaning and sanitizing are two distinct processes. A good rule to follow on all brew gear is to clean right after use, sanitize just before use.

Exactly. You need to soak bottles in PBW or oxyclean overnight in hot water. Then remove and bottle brush each bottle and inspect for visual cleanliness. Then rinse etc and then sanitize in cold water with starsan (I am not 100% sure but I think cold water is best for starsan).
Starsan is not a cleaner, and it will not be able to sanitize a bottle with biofilm in it.
Don't scrimp on these steps. Of course it can be time consuming which is why I keg mostly now. cheers.

 

[GraceManor]

I am sorry I did not specify that I do clean my bottles. They all get rinsed immediately after use, and soaked in OxyFree before sanitized. That pretty much goes for all of my gear except racking cane which usually doesnt see Oxy just starsan.

I measure sugar with a scale, and adjust for temp and volume of actual beer (minus trub, hop gunk, etc.). It is not plain old dry hop foam, it is actively generating foam, that has an off smell/flavor to it that all the beers eventually get.

Yes I chill my bottles for close to a week before drinking (those that have been in for several are just as bad.)

It looks like I will have to just get all new gear and hope that my problem gets solved. Thanks for all of your advice.

 

[pjj2ba]

All-grain? It is not common, but one cause of gushers is from infected grain - prior to malting. Apparently there is a compound(s?) produced by certain microbes that cause gushing issues. These are produced BEFORE malting and persist all the way into the final product. The malting process kills the microbes, but leaves the gushing compounds intact.

So, if these all used the same grain, then try some different grain. If it persists, then get new equipment