Popped some early bottles question

[joeirvine]

I made a hefeweizen and have some bottling questions. I don't know if this is important, but I used 3lbs of wheat dme, 3 lbs corn sugar, steeped 1lb caramel 20L, and boiled Hallabertau hops for 60min. I used a white labs hefe yeast (liquid). Anyways long story short, I think I might of jumped the gun. I did not use a hydrometer so if you're just going to lecture me on that, don't I broke it and live 3 1/2 hours away from the nearest supply store.

Anyways after my boil and what not, I let my beer sit in the primary fermenter for 10 days. I heard hefe's are good young so I figured, what the hell, bottle it up. So I did my 3/4 cup of corn sugar for carbonation and bottled it. So, it's been 10 more days since bottling and it's St. Paddies day, so I decided to show my friends how good this beer was (and it was). Only problem is, the stuff is fizzing like champagne on steroids. No I know 2 to 3 weeks for a hefe is customary but do have some glass bombs on my hands? Or did I just catch them at that perfect time, if I let them sit another week will the carbonation calm down a bit? I'm about to put them over a cooler and start cracking them open and let my campus know theres a kegger tomorrow.

 

[Golddiggie]

How long did you chill them in the fridge before opening them up?? I've found that anything less than 3 full days and things are not right. After about 4-5 days, things are looking really good. After 7 days, they kick ass... :rockin:

If you didn't chill them at all, there's your sign... If you chilled them for less than a day, or two... There you go again...

 

[Wiezer]

You should really pick up a hydrometer for future batches. If you don't want to drive, there's always online ordering...

 

[Stout-n-Braggot]

You might have had a little residual sugar in your brew before bottling, i had that happen with a stout, only had one bottle bomb in the batch, the rest were just overcarbed, not a problem, just chill them down a bit more than normal and they'll calm down.

 

[devilishprune]

Have you watched the video about carbonation over time?

I have no doubt that your beer was finished in 10 days, but since you only let it condition for 10 days in the bottle, all of the CO2 that's been created by priming hasn't had time to properly dissolve into the liquid. That makes it rush out really fast and you get the situation that you were in.

I had the same thing happen to me with a porter I made, but it turned out fine after 3 weeks.

 

[jbrookeiv]

Have you watched the video about carbonation over time?

I have no doubt that your beer was finished in 10 days, but since you only let it condition for 10 days in the bottle, all of the CO2 that's been created by priming hasn't had time to properly dissolve into the liquid. That makes it rush out really fast and you get the situation that you were in.

I had the same thing happen to me with a porter I made, but it turned out fine after 3 weeks.

+1

Don't waste a perfectly good batch due to your impatience.

 

[joeirvine]

It's gotta be the chilling. I put them in the basement at about 55 degrees early that day and that's the only chilling I did. I'll put them in the fridge and give it another.

 

[Golddiggie]

You need to chill them in the fridge before you pop one open... Give them at least a few days in there before you try one... Put in enough so that you can 'test' one a day and see when carbonation is in the brew... If your basement was closer to 40F, and you had the brew in there for a week or two, then it might have had the same effect. Still, it's easier to just put them into the fridge for a few days before pouring one.

I would also make sure fermentation is 100% complete before bottling the brew. Not taking a hydrometer reading means you don't know what the FG is, plus you don't even know if it finished fermenting all the way.

I've been giving my brews 3-6 weeks on the yeast before bottling, so far. I do know there will be some brews that will go longer, but that's what I've been doing for the past several batches. Fermentation has been complete every time, and they've been carbonated in the ~3 week time frame... That's using 500ml and 1L bottles... Although the 1L bottles typically are not chilled down for another week, or two, since I tend to open those when I have people over.

 

[D_Struct]

You're fine.

You just need to give them more time in the bottles, and a bit more time in the fridge.

Did you use wlp 300 or 380?

My only experience with 300 tells me that 10 days, while a bit quick, was plenty of time for it to do its work. 300 is aggressive and very active under the right conditions.

 

[likwidbliss]

I pop them open after 3 hours in the fridge, no steroid enhanced carbonation for me. I think it has more to do with not-finished-with-fermentation than than chill time.

 

[D_Struct]

I pop them open after 3 hours in the fridge, no steroid enhanced carbonation for me. I think it has more to do with not-finished-with-fermentation than than chill time.

All of it goes into play. If he used wlp 300, 10 days should've been plenty of time to finish up the initial fermentation. It's early, though.

I think they might need more time in the bottles to finish that process.

At times, during the bottle conditioning and carbing process, there are times where the carbonation isn't quite stable, and it can seem like they're overcarbed. Those same bottles, when left alone a little longer and properly chilled, will turn out just fine.

 

[Golddiggie]

I pop them open after 3 hours in the fridge, no steroid enhanced carbonation for me. I think it has more to do with not-finished-with-fermentation than than chill time.

Never had a brew right after just 3 hours in the fridge... Usually it takes at least 3-4 DAYS before its right, or getting right...

Fermenting for just 10 days really isn't enough either IMO... An extra week or two on the yeast could have made a big difference in more than just this...

Next time, give the brew enough time to actually be ready for bottling... Rushing a brew, isn't a good idea... Far better to have patience with the brew and let it process as it needs to.