to much carbonation

[Five 0 clcok]

Howdy all,
I am on my second brew, the first one turn out awesome. I am doing a nut brown, and everything was going good until I opened the first bottle. I went through the instructions and even gave it an extra 4 days in the fermenter. Mixed the sugars in the boiling water just like the instructions said(or so I thought I did). 3 weeks later when I popped the first top, there was so much foam it exploded and only left about 1 ounce in the bottle. Gave it another week and tried another bottle. This time I opened it real slow, set it in the sink and let it foam out. Once again left about 1 ounce in the bottle. . . and yes that 1 ounce tasted awesome!

Any clues as to what I did wrong? I am brewing again today but want to make sure I don't do what ever I did.

Thanks

 

[tracer bullet]

Possibly wasn't done fermenting to begin with, before you bottled it. Alternately you added too much priming sugar.

Are you making a kit? If so which kit?

 

[Five 0 clcok]

I took specific gravity for 3 days and it didn't change, so I thought that meant it was done fermenting. I was using a kit so I used the sugar that was in the kit. I got the kit from a local brew shop here in Raleigh.

 

[Five 0 clcok]

The real question is - is it ruined? Should I just pour the bottles out?

 

[bracconiere]

hmmm, i don't bottle. but i'd try getting them colder, like damn near freezing and bigger glass to pour them in? like a pitcher...


someone else would have to chime in on if me thinking about cracking the bottle top a bit then re-crimping would even work...

 

[tracer bullet]

What reading did you get for gravity, and what did you measure it with? I.e. refractometer or hydrometer.

I'd expect sugar included in a kit to be about the right amount but it's possible it was too much. Probably too late to go back and measure and say. Next time you might look up about how much is needed and be sure it seems to match.

They're basically just overcarbonated. I'd consider 2 things - 1st, put them somewhere "safe", and preferably cold, so that if they start popping their tops randomly it won't hurt anyone. And at which point yeah you'd want to be safe handling the rest and maybe dumping them so they don't blow up in your face. 2nd, for the ones you do open, maybe place them in a bowl to collect what runs over the edge and then pour it into a glass. Maybe get a little enjoyment from your creation.

 

[Julian Høstan Urrea]

Or if he really is certain that his beer was finished and did take a reading 3 days apart I can think of two reasons this would happen. He batch primed the beer and didn't mix well, making some bottles explosive and others flat. Or he could have an infected beer. I once had 2 bottles out of a batch go explosive like he explains and I sourced it down to the bottles not being clean enough, the both had something stuck in there. The rest was awesome. Just the two bottles. Just my two cents

 

[B29]

Wouldn't be the first time the sugar pack was overweight. Get them cold and open over a big glass.

 

[J2W2]

I have a nut brown ale that I keg, and it is the foamiest beer I brew. Not sure if it's the style or what. I have flow-control Perlicks, and I have to dial that tap way down or I pour a glass of nothing but foam.

My recipe uses almost a pound of flaked oats - not sure if that's what does it or not.

As the others have said, getting it colder may help. You might also try setting your bottles inside a pitcher to open them if nothing else works. My foam seems to settle down fairly quickly, so you could let the foam settle in the pitcher and then pour it into a glass.

Good luck!

 

[Toto's]

I did a honest mistake and carbonated 19L of beer by calculating by mistake 19G of beer!!! Ya, an honest mistake lol.
I kept my beer in my basement at 13 degrees Celsius and every day slightly bending the caps and releasing some pressure. After few weeks the over-carbonation was managed.

 

[Beermeister32]

I think your bottles are in serious danger of becoming bottle bombs. I'd get them ALL in the refrigerator NOW and get them cold. If they are still geysers when you open them, you need to make a decision as to what you want to do.

You might want to sit on the lawn in a lawn chair and open them all one at a time, feeding the grass with the spray. Retrieve what you can in a jug or a 1 liter krug, drink while you work. Sounds like they are hopelessly overcarbonated!

 

[Toto's]

Well i would not feed the grass...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/sugar-quantity-mistake-in-priming.664477/

 

[ncbrewer]

I agree with the previous posters about the safety concerns. Be very careful with these - storing and handling. Wear protective gear. Glass bombs are bad news.

Another idea on why they are overcarbonated - maybe less volume in the bottling bucket than the kit was designed for - either low volume in the fermenter or left a lot when racking to the bottling bucket. Just a thought.

 

[Five 0 clcok]

I forgot to reply to this post. Thank you for all the awesome comments. But I gave it an extra 2 weeks in the bottles and they turned out awesome. I have no clue why it took so long, but I don't think I can taste the difference there may be a Small "Tang" taste but it's the 1st time I brewed this beer so I am not sure.

 

[tracer bullet]

Good to hear. The tang could be the recipe, or your water chemistry. If you post the recipe and what water you used we might be able to say. No worries if not.