Why is my IPA so foamy?

[Kungpaodog]

I have an IPA that has been in bottles for about two months now, and ever since it had been in bottles for two weeks it has been FAR too carbonated. I get a glass full of foam before pouring half a bottle of it.

It was in primary for 28 days and then dry hopped in a secondary for 6 days before being bottled.

The predicted FG was 1.014, and the measured FG was 1.017, well within a range I would expect.

It doesn't taste like there is anything wrong with it, it actually tastes pretty damn good.

I used 3.9 oz of priming sugar, which has given me no problems on any other 5 gallon batches.

It has AMAZING head retention, far more than any of the other beers I have made. I'm guessing this is from the extra hop oils, but this may be a symptom of what is wrong.

I'm stumped. What happened?

 

[Superdave]

I have a pale ale that is the same way. I split the batch at bottling, and only half is as foamy as the other. It wasn't quite an even split (one fermenter had a little more than the other) so I'm convinced that I mis-measured the priming sugar in that half.

I've figured out that if I crack the seal with the bottle opener and let some pressure out (don't open it fully yet, just crack the seal a little) and do that a couple times, it will pour much, much easier.

Like you said, the head retention is phenomenal.

 

[BeerPressure]

How long were they in the fridge before opening them?

 

[Kungpaodog]

I think the longest one was in the fridge was 10 days, and still mega foam.

 

[Chupacabras]

I find really hoppy beers to build heads incredibly well, to the point where unless extremely carefully poured, the head will be out of control. This is due to the hop oils AFAIK, maybe a little overcarbonation as well. My IPAs are terrible for it, but I enjoy a high level of carbonation so I usually put the beer in the freezer, pour the beer, and wait 15 minutes - a half hour before consumption.