Trying to diagnose the last batch

[Perkt]

I made a pumpkin beer 6 weeks back, it fermented for 2 weeks in primary, transferred to secondary for 2 weeks, then another 2 weeks to bottle condition. I popped open a bottle today to see how it was coming along and it almost has a sort of champagne carbonation to it...very bubbly and it tastes more like the yeast than anything. When bottling I used a 5oz of corn sugar to prime, and the yeast was just an English Ale dry yeast (no starter).
Anyone have info on what might be lending to the overly fizzy resulting beer?

 

[unionrdr]

It's only been in the bottles 2 weeks. It may want more time to more fully develop. I've seen that.

 

[SwampassJ]

What was the gravity when you transferred? What was the recipe? How many gallons did you bottle? How long did you chill the beer before popping the top? Was the bottle you tried earlier or later in the bottling process? Can you try one from the opposite and see if it's the same?

 

[beerman0001]

How long did you chill it for?

 

[unionrdr]

It's not so much a matter of chilling time with large bubbles & quickly dissapearing head & yeast flavor. it's still a bit green.

 

[beerman0001]

It's not so much a matter of chilling time with large bubbles & quickly dissapearing head & yeast flavor. it's still a bit green.

Lol he bottle conditioned for 2 weeks (needs longer) but never said how long in the fridge. For me no less the 1 week it really makes a diffrence.

 

[Perkt]

What was the gravity when you transferred? What was the recipe? How many gallons did you bottle? How long did you chill the beer before popping the top? Was the bottle you tried earlier or later in the bottling process? Can you try one from the opposite and see if it's the same?

OG of 1.052, FG of 1.013, recipe was extract, steeped 1.5lb 2 row, 1lb vienna, .5 crystal 60L 1lb munich and .5 Cara-munich, 2oz of Sterling added throughout the boil, spices at 5min left, bottled 4.5gal, chilled the bear over night, it was one from the middle of the bottling process, can certainly try another. I plan to put one more in the fridge tonight, let it sit through the week, put another in next Friday, then compare the two on Saturday...leaving the rest of the batch to bottle condition until I see if the beer is any better by next weekend. It's really not bad, but not to my liking, maybe it'll be better by next Thanksgiving.

 

[RM-MN]

I think it is your spices that are giving you the effervescence. While they are still suspended in the beer, they act as a bunch of nucleation sites for the CO2 to come out of solution on. I think this one needs another 2 weeks in the bottle to let the spices all settle out. I had that happen with a holiday ale with spices.

 

[Revvy]

It's only two weeks.....I've found my pumpkings need 8 weeks min in the bottle to get to the place I want them to be.

 

[Perkt]

Great great news then. I will keep this one in the bottles for another month or so before chilling, then chill for longer and allow it to settle. I was curious why there was so much CO2 rising out of it after having it poured into a glass without any etching or other nucleation device. This is was my last extract beer, but now I know that for next Thanksgiving I'll need to start more than 6 weeks in advance. I've got a winter warmer in secondary still (also spiced), considering putting that to bottles in hopes that it'll be ready for Christmas gifts. So much to learn about the art of home brewing, thanks for being so helpful!

 

[aseg]

5oz priming sugar for 4.5 gallons of beer seems like a lot too. Chances are that it will settle down a bit (read not so yeasty) but that CO2 probably isn't going anywhere.