Summer Bottle Storage, Increased Carbonation

[Beerbeard]

Hellooo,

So, once again, I have created an overcarbed beer. It's particularly frustrating because I thought I followed all the rules this time - I made sure my beer was fully attenuated, took careful gravity readings, added the correct amount of priming sugar for the style, and adequately mixed it into the beer in the bottling bucket.

It is a California Common, OG 1.061 (my recipe had me at 1.068 OG est. with 75% efficiency), and I let it go in the primary for 2 weeks, and secondary for a MONTH before I bottled it. When I bottled it, its final gravity was 1.015 - which was pretty much on target with the estimated FG of 1.017 (although, since my OG was lower, perhaps it should have attenuated even lower?)

Irrespective, I bottled the beer with 1oz priming sugar/gallon of beer, for a target of 2.6 volumes of CO2, which is a decent amount of carbonation, but definitely to style if I'm not mistaken.

Three weeks later, and for about three weeks after that the carbonation level was PERFECT - a nice, foamy spritzy head, and the beer was deliciously hoppy and refreshing.

However, sometime in the past three weeks or so, the yeast in the bottle must have continued to chomp away at the residual sugars, because every bottle I've opened lately has foamed out so much that you can't even drink it out of the bottle anymore. A gentle pour into a glass can alleviate the issue to a degree, but if left to its own devices, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the beer foams out.

TL;DR: My main question is, what did I do wrong? We've certainly had a heat wave here in the Northeast, although my basement ambient temperatures are fairly constant in the upper 60s-low 70s on a really bad day. Do spritzier beers, such as Cal commons, need to be stored cold in the summer? I say this because my other brews have been fine, including a honey nut brown ale that attenuated at roughly the same FG.

Thanks

 

[progmac]

look for a ring around the neck of the bottle -- this indicates a bottle infection, which is what this sounds like. are you noticing the high carb levels in all bottles or only some? how many have you opened?

 

[Beerbeard]

I've opened a bunch already, but didn't notice any overcarbonation until about a week ago. I've opened about 3 bottles since then and they all have been overcarbed. I don't recall seeing any sort of rings - and there were no offtastes or anything of that nature.

 

[Mozart]

Relatively new brewer here, but I'm not sure what's going wrong.

Intuition tells me it's probably not the bottle conditioning temperatures, however. If primary fermentation was complete and the correct amount of priming sugar was added, no temperature swing could add more sugar, and without that, the yeast can't produce any added CO2.

I suppose it could be come kind of infection.

The other thing I'd ask, is, have you enjoyed all of these bottles at the same serving temperature? Also, did the earlier bottles that didn't have the problem sit in the fridge for a longer period of time than the ones that are foaming?

The reason I ask is that cold temperatures allow the beer to absorb more of the CO2. If the bottles weren't as cold, or weren't as cold for as long a period of time, that could affect the apparent carbonation.

 

[Beerbeard]

Yeah all the bottles were enjoyed after >24h of refrigeration.

I'm still thinking/hoping it's not an infection because there are no off-tastes - the beer is delicious!

My only guess is that I suck at adequately mixing priming sugar into my 5 gallons of beer, and that the uneven distribution is more noticeable of a problem with the more highly carbonated styles of beer that I make.

 

[JuiceyJay]

Leave them in the fridge for a awhile longer (1-2 weeks) and see if that makes a difference.

 

[guldalian]

I always put all my bottles in the fridge once they reach my desired level of carbonation, so as to slow/ stop the carbonation process. While adding the correct amount of sugar is key, I find this helps maintain equal carbonation throughout the batch rather than refrigerating some and leaving others at room temp.

 

[Beerbeard]

So... the next question I gotta ask is, and I say this without any spite...

How big / how many refrigerators do you guys own?! Can your fridge space possibly keep up with your brewing pace? Mine certainly can't.

Do you refrigerate certain styles of beer, and not others?

 

[harrke]

[

The reason I ask is that cold temperatures allow the beer to absorb more of the CO2. If the bottles weren't as cold, or weren't as cold for as long a period of time, that could affect the apparent carbonation.[/QUOTE]

Here may be the explanation. If the bottle is warm, less CO2 will be in solution. Then if you only refrigerate for 24 hrs, the CO2 may not have fully dissolved back into your beer. So, stick them in the refrigerator for longer and see if that helps!

 

[progmac]

So... the next question I gotta ask is, and I say this without any spite...

How big / how many refrigerators do you guys own?! Can your fridge space possibly keep up with your brewing pace? Mine certainly can't.

Do you refrigerate certain styles of beer, and not others?

I certainly don't have enough fridge space. I am constantly reshuffling and kicking some beers out and moving others in!

But, apparently unlike other posters, my beers don't need to be in the fridge for 3 years to avoid gushing. Mostly i put my refreshing or hoppy beers in the fridge to avoid staling.