What the hell did I do to deserve this head?

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mmlipps

mmlipps

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Idk what I did. I have way too much head on my beers. What's the foam subsides it still tastes good... This was the kiwi express IPA AG kit from NB ImageUploadedByHome Brew1405987407.764530.jpg


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Looks like your batch blew it's load?! :D Seriously though, it could be that the beer wasn't chilled long enough or wasn't cold enough when poured. I get that under those conditions.
 
Yes bottled, used 4 oz corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch. It had been in the fridge all day. From about 8 am to 8 pm and because this happened yesterday when I drank it, so I tried releasing some gas with and recapping this one


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I've had the same thing happen to most of my brews, except it's always after the bottles have sat in the basement for several months. My Belgian dark strong ale is borderline useless after 5 months, as soon as I open a chilled bottle it starts foaming vigorously and all runs out into the sink..? :confused:
(quick fix: I drink them all before 2 months!)
 
adamshershner said:
I've had the same thing happen to most of my brews, except it's always after the bottles have sat in the basement for several months. My Belgian dark strong ale is borderline useless after 5 months, as soon as I open a chilled bottle it starts foaming vigorously and all runs out into the sink..? :confused:
(quick fix: I drink them all before 2 months!)
Click to expand...

Mine are 3 weeks



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If it tastes good and there is no infection are you sure it was done fermenting before you bottled it? Did you take gravity readings?
 
It's not over.

You are still alive and nobody really got hurt!!!!!

Just adjust the next batch. Don't add so much sugar to your bottling bucket.

Or... if you do.. Just cool your bottles to drining temp, and pour it slowly and enjoy a beer.

I guess I'm confused. You're drinking beer my man. If you have to wait for the head do diminish, you have to wait. It's still beer.... so I'm guessing it's still a good day.

Am I wrong?
 
smccarter said:
It's not over.



You are still alive and nobody really got hurt!!!!!



Just adjust the next batch. Don't add so much sugar to your bottling bucket.



Or... if you do.. Just cool your bottles to drining temp, and pour it slowly and enjoy a beer.



I guess I'm confused. You're drinking beer my man. If you have to wait for the head do diminish, you have to wait. It's still beer.... so I'm guessing it's still a good day.



Am I wrong?
Click to expand...


Cold and poured slow... But yes drinking good beer so it's a good day yes


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jeffcosgrove said:
If it tastes good and there is no infection are you sure it was done fermenting before you bottled it? Did you take gravity readings?
Click to expand...


Yes took gravity readings. I'm thinking I need to get more hydrometers high and low range. I only have 1 right now


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What helped me to work out my natural bottle carbonation issues was measuring my final bottling volume EXACTLY! In other words, the ole "4 oz per batch" thing didn't work for me. They were over carbed, or (and usually) under carbed. Now I measure, if it's 4.25 gallons, then I use a priming sugar calculator and adjust accordingly.

May not work for you, may not even be what your problem is, just an idea.

One thing I do know for sure is, your getting plenty of good head!
 
I usually stick beer I've bottled in a fridge or ice chest for at least two days before I try drinking it. I've noticed I get noticeably more foam if I don't - at least with the saisons I usually brew. Just getting the beer down to the right temp doesn't do the job; it has to stay there for a while the first time.
 
You have one of two things going on. Either your beer wasn't completely fermented out or you got a wild yeast infection. You need to take a hydrometer reading and then a second one 2 or 3 days later to make sure your beer has completed fermenting because if it hasn't and you add priming sugar and bottle it will continue to ferment in the bottle and make your beer over carbonated which gives you lots of foam and can result in bottle bombs.

The wild yeast infection is more difficult because some of them work very slowly so that when you do take your 2 hydrometer readings they may indicate that your beer is done but the wild yeast will ferment sugars that your regular yeast won't and will continue to make more CO2 for some time. I've been fighting with this wild yeast. My beers will be at the intended FG at 2 weeks and will stay there as long as I don't open the fermenter. If I pop the top on the bucket to add dry hops, the wild yeast will get a start and will continue to ferment for at least another 2 to 3 weeks, taking the gravity down from the expected 1.015 to 1.002 or lower. I continue to fight the infection I have as it seems to be airborne.
 
RM-MN said:
You have one of two things going on. Either your beer wasn't completely fermented out or you got a wild yeast infection. You need to take a hydrometer reading and then a second one 2 or 3 days later to make sure your beer has completed fermenting because if it hasn't and you add priming sugar and bottle it will continue to ferment in the bottle and make your beer over carbonated which gives you lots of foam and can result in bottle bombs.

The wild yeast infection is more difficult because some of them work very slowly so that when you do take your 2 hydrometer readings they may indicate that your beer is done but the wild yeast will ferment sugars that your regular yeast won't and will continue to make more CO2 for some time. I've been fighting with this wild yeast. My beers will be at the intended FG at 2 weeks and will stay there as long as I don't open the fermenter. If I pop the top on the bucket to add dry hops, the wild yeast will get a start and will continue to ferment for at least another 2 to 3 weeks, taking the gravity down from the expected 1.015 to 1.002 or lower. I continue to fight the infection I have as it seems to be airborne.
Click to expand...

Hang in there, I had a very similar problem that went on for batches and batches, I stepped back, thought about my entire process, changed some things that needed to be changed, changed some that probably didn't and everything worked out. I know that terrible feeling when you go open one that was perfect a week ago and it's a nasty gusher! It's irritating too when you hear others talk about "oh I've never had an infection and if you clean and sanitize properly blah blah blah" when you know deep down that your minding your Ps and Qs when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing.
 
adamshershner said:
I've had the same thing happen to most of my brews, except it's always after the bottles have sat in the basement for several months. My Belgian dark strong ale is borderline useless after 5 months, as soon as I open a chilled bottle it starts foaming vigorously and all runs out into the sink..? :confused:
(quick fix: I drink them all before 2 months!)
Click to expand...

Sounds like a gusher infection
 
It doesn't have to be a gusher infection to do that. He only chilled it for about 12 hours. Bottled beers on average need to chill 5-7 days to get proper carbonation-getting the co2 compressed in the headspace- into solution. not to mention, giving any chill haze a chance to form & settle, which takes at least 3-5 days or more.
 
unionrdr said:
It doesn't have to be a gusher infection to do that. He only chilled it for about 12 hours. Bottled beers on average need to chill 5-7 days to get proper carbonation-getting the co2 compressed in the headspace- into solution. not to mention, giving any chill haze a chance to form & settle, which takes at least 3-5 days or more.
Click to expand...


So this might be a stupid question, but why do commercial beers whether they be big beer companies or craft only need to be chilled to drinking temp even quick chilled in a freezer and drank immediately?


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I agree either you didn't reach a stable FG or there's wild yeast involved. It's possible other people have run into the same issue with this kit/recipe so I would check the reviews
 
Yeah... 12 hours definitely isn't enough time for a bottle conditioned beer. I've had some that were ok with that, but most were foam-parties like what you have there.

Just relax, don't work, and have a homebrew (in 2-3 days). Give the bottles more time in the fridge to get your beer properly carbonated and calmed down, and you'll probably see a completely different finish to your pour.
 
estricklin said:
Hang in there, I had a very similar problem that went on for batches and batches, I stepped back, thought about my entire process, changed some things that needed to be changed, changed some that probably didn't and everything worked out. I know that terrible feeling when you go open one that was perfect a week ago and it's a nasty gusher! It's irritating too when you hear others talk about "oh I've never had an infection and if you clean and sanitize properly blah blah blah" when you know deep down that your minding your Ps and Qs when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing.
Click to expand...


My thoughts exactly, I'm going through the same thing right now. It drives me nuts to see threads about people who haven't had an infection in 15 years and another guy talks about dropping [random object] into his cooled wort and it works out fine. Meanwhile, I treat my brewhouse like an operating room and I get a batch full of gushers.

Stay the course!


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estricklin said:
What helped me to work out my natural bottle carbonation issues was measuring my final bottling volume EXACTLY! In other words, the ole "4 oz per batch" thing didn't work for me. They were over carbed, or (and usually) under carbed. Now I measure, if it's 4.25 gallons, then I use a priming sugar calculator and adjust accordingly.

May not work for you, may not even be what your problem is, just an idea.

One thing I do know for sure is, your getting plenty of good head!
Click to expand...

Curious what your method is for doing this. Do you transfer the entire amount to bottling bucket, measure, then add corn sugar? I've been getting inconsistent carbonation from batch to batch and have been thinking about the best way to dial it in.
 
unionrdr said:
It doesn't have to be a gusher infection to do that. He only chilled it for about 12 hours. Bottled beers on average need to chill 5-7 days to get proper carbonation-getting the co2 compressed in the headspace- into solution. not to mention, giving any chill haze a chance to form & settle, which takes at least 3-5 days or more.
Click to expand...

SudsyPaul said:
Yeah... 12 hours definitely isn't enough time for a bottle conditioned beer. I've had some that were ok with that, but most were foam-parties like what you have there.

Just relax, don't work, and have a homebrew (in 2-3 days). Give the bottles more time in the fridge to get your beer properly carbonated and calmed down, and you'll probably see a completely different finish to your pour.
Click to expand...

I have never found this to be true. When I try my bottled beers I almost always only refrigerate them overnight and often for shorter times. A lot of times I'll put them in the freezer for 45 minutes or so and open them straight away. I've never had one gush because of that.

The CO2 is already in solution because the whole system is closed and under pressure. The only thing that chilling for a week or so before you open one will do is settle out particulates that could act as nucleation sites for the CO2, but I've never found that to be a big enough problem to cause beers to gush.

So I would say chilling the beer longer will not fix this problem. I think either (a)you weren't actually at the terminal gravity when you bottled, (b)you have some sort of infection, or (c)your 4 oz of priming sugar was too much because you ended up with less beer than you though in the end. Did you actually have 5 gallons go into bottles? How many bottles did you end up with?

xcdarrel17 said:
Curious what your method is for doing this. Do you transfer the entire amount to bottling bucket, measure, then add corn sugar? I've been getting inconsistent carbonation from batch to batch and have been thinking about the best way to dial it in.
Click to expand...

Yes, I usually rack to the bottling bucket first to see what volume I have, then use a calculator and add the right amount of sugar. You just have to mix the sugar solution in gently so you don't oxygenate the beer.
 
peterj said:
I have never found this to be true. When I try my bottled beers I almost always only refrigerate them overnight and often for shorter times. A lot of times I'll put them in the freezer for 45 minutes or so and open them straight away. I've never had one gush because of that.



The CO2 is already in solution because the whole system is closed and under pressure. The only thing that chilling for a week or so before you open one will do is settle out particulates that could act as nucleation sites for the CO2, but I've never found that to be a big enough problem to cause beers to gush.



So I would say chilling the beer longer will not fix this problem. I think either (a)you weren't actually at the terminal gravity when you bottled, (b)you have some sort of infection, or (c)your 4 oz of priming sugar was too much because you ended up with less beer than you though in the end. Did you actually have 5 gallons go into bottles? How many bottles did you end up with?
Click to expand...


Ended up with about 45 bottles. So this could be it. It's my first time dry hopping and didn't account for loss to the hops.


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mmlipps said:
Ended up with about 45 bottles. So this could be it. It's my first time dry hopping and didn't account for loss to the hops.


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Click to expand...

Hmm, actually 4 oz sounds about right for that amount of beer. Maybe you didn't mix the sugar solution evenly? If that's the case you'll have some that are undercarbed as well.
 
xcdarrel17 said:
Curious what your method is for doing this. Do you transfer the entire amount to bottling bucket, measure, then add corn sugar? I've been getting inconsistent carbonation from batch to batch and have been thinking about the best way to dial it in.
Click to expand...

Yes, my homemade bottling bucket has graduations marked on it, I transfer then I measure. I try to get within the 1/8th (thats .125) or 1/4 of a gallon on my volume measurement. Then I go plug that number into beersmith, carefully weigh the table sugar, mix it with small amount of water, boil, and then stir while I add to the bottling bucket. I know they say you don't need to stir, but after about 50 batches of unpredictable carbonation, I stir now. Oh and on the priming sugar calculators, the temperature that it's asking is just the highest temperature your beer reached during fermentation. Unless it's a keg storage temperature, and that's another subject obviously. Since I started being so meticulous about the process I've had great success bottling carbing.
 
estricklin said:
Yes, my homemade bottling bucket has graduations marked on it, I transfer then I measure. I try to get within the 1/8th (thats .125) or 1/4 of a gallon on my volume measurement. Then I go plug that number into beersmith, carefully weigh the table sugar, mix it with small amount of water, boil, and then stir while I add to the bottling bucket. I know they say you don't need to stir, but after about 50 batches of unpredictable carbonation, I stir now. Oh and on the priming sugar calculators, the temperature that it's asking is just the highest temperature your beer reached during fermentation. Unless it's a keg storage temperature, and that's another subject obviously. Since I started being so meticulous about the process I've had great success bottling carbing.
Click to expand...


The temp it is asking for is the highest temp it hit during ferment? I would think that would be the temp it is currently at or the temp the bottles will be stored at since that temp is going to affect how the sugar dissolves.


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mmlipps said:
The temp it is asking for is the highest temp it hit during ferment? I would think that would be the temp it is currently at or the temp the bottles will be stored at since that temp is going to affect how the sugar dissolves.


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Click to expand...


It's the current temp of the beer. This tells you how much carbon dioxide is already dissolved in it.
 
I'd drink it all fast if you like it and then save a couple bottles to see if they totally dries out and become gushers....
 
I think, either you guys are totally missing whats going on here, or I must be missing something. OP doesn't have an infection! He said his beer tastes fine! The OP is using way too much priming sugar for most beer styles. Those kits come with too much priming sugar than is needed for most styles. My BeerSmith carbonation tool says to get to 2.5 vols of CO2 in 5g of beer (most american ales are close to this), at 38F takes 2.63oz of corn sugar. Compounded on the fact that he used a 5g kit which never yields 5g of end product.

It has been a while since I've bottled, but 4oz of corn sugar is way too much for most ales. If you are looking for a 2.5 vols of carbonation, as for most american ales, 2.6oz of corn sugar will do the trick. I made a Belgian Dubbel and used 4oz in 5 gals and think I over carbed a little bit for the style, which is a highly carbed style.
 
mmlipps said:
The temp it is asking for is the highest temp it hit during ferment? I would think that would be the temp it is currently at or the temp the bottles will be stored at since that temp is going to affect how the sugar dissolves.


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Click to expand...

Correct. The current temperature doesn't matter, as the calculators (which I hate, by the way) try to guestimate the probable amount of c02 in the beer after fermention.

As an example, say you fermented a lager at 52, then did a diacetyl rest at 65, and when the beer was finished you lagered it at 34 degrees for weeks. You would use the temperature of '65', since that temperature is the highest that the beer reached. If you use the calculator, you can see that by using '34 degrees', the beer would be severely undercarbed.

I generally use .75 oz- 1 oz of corn sugar per finished gallon of beer, with great results and don't mess with the silly priming calculators that would have you have flat beer if it's a stout (1.5 volumes, I think?) or bottle bombs if it's a weizen (4+ volumes). Most people who buy bottled commercial beer generally expect a c02 volume of 2.4-2.6 volumes, or thereabouts, for all beer styles.
 
RmikeVT said:
I think either you guys are totally missing whats going on here or I must be missing something. OP doesn't have an infection! The OP is using way too much priming sugar for most beer styles. My BeerSmith carbonation tool says to get to 2.5 vols of CO2 (most american ales are close to this), at 38F takes 2.63oz of priming sugar.

It has been a while since I've bottled, but 4oz of corn sugar is way too much for most ales. If you are looking for a 2.5 vols of carbonation, as for most american ales, 2.6oz of corn sugar will do the trick. I made a Belgian Dubbel and used 4oz in 5 gals and think I over carbed a little bit for the style, which is a highly carbed style.
Click to expand...

I always use 4-5 oz corn sugar for 5 gallons of beer; 4 oz for my oatmeal stout, and 5 oz for my German lagers and all of my American ales. 2.6 ounces would be terribly undercarbed for a 5 gallon batch.

You don't use 38 degrees for the temperature- use 68 degrees for most ales.
 
Agate said:
It's the current temp of the beer. This tells you how much carbon dioxide is already dissolved in it.
Click to expand...

Yooper is correct (as usual!). It's the highest temperature the beer reached during fermentation. This tells you how much carbon dioxide is already dissolved in it.

RmikeVT said:
I think either you guys are totally missing whats going on here or I must be missing something. OP doesn't have an infection! The OP is using way too much priming sugar for most beer styles. My BeerSmith carbonation tool says to get to 2.5 vols of CO2 (most american ales are close to this), at 38F takes 2.63oz of priming sugar.

It has been a while since I've bottled, but 4oz of corn sugar is way too much for most ales. If you are looking for a 2.5 vols of carbonation, as for most american ales, 2.6oz of corn sugar will do the trick. I made a Belgian Dubbel and used 4oz in 5 gals and think I over carbed a little bit for the style, which is a highly carbed style.
Click to expand...

4 oz of corn sugar is pretty perfect for getting 2.5 volumes in 4.25 gallons of beer if it was around 68 degrees.
 
peterj said:
Yooper is correct (as usual!). It's the highest temperature the beer reached during fermentation. This tells you how much carbon dioxide is already dissolved in it.







4 oz of corn sugar is pretty perfect for getting 2.5 volumes in 4.25 gallons of beer if it was around 68 degrees.
Click to expand...


For the sake of discussion, if temperature drops before fermentation is complete, will the capacity of the beer to absorb CO2 not increase and the beer have more dissolved than indicated by the highest temperature? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm genuinely interested in your views, but it makes sense to me that it would only work if the highest temp was right at the end of fermentation.

I've had lots of temperature spikes during fermentation, so I think it's kind of an important disclaimer. Unless, of course, that I'm totally wrong!
 

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