Wow i feel like a noob asking this

[Gildog]

ok, i know im stupid for asking but, im bottle carbing my beer, and i just realized tonight that my current batch has a quirk.

if i dont completely chill my homebrew in the fridge, my beer explodes!

its like i shook up my beer before i open it, but it only happens if it even slightly warm

if its cold it open perfectly? is this normal?

 

[size]

we need a bit more information. how much corn sugar did you use, and for how many gallons? also tell us the style, and (at least) the grain bill you had. i'll try to help as best i can:]

 

[scinerd3000]

we need a bit more information. how much corn sugar did you use, and for how many gallons? also tell us the style, and (at least) the grain bill you had.

what he said. Normally most beer gets carbonated at between 1.9 and 2.4 volumes of co2...some a bit higher like belgians and some lower. If you added more than 4.5oz of priming sugar (~3/4 cup) to a 5 gallon batch that could have to do with the overcarbonation. The other probable cause is that you didint let it completly attenuate and the yeast still had some residual sugar to ferment out when you added more. For that we need to know your final gravity. At a colder temperature the co2 bubbles should stay in solution better leading to less foamage. Warm beer tends to do that but not quite how you described. Was this an extract brew, all grain, partial mash? Gravities? Temp of fermentation? Yeast you used? how does it taste? did you use sanitizer on everything including the bottle caps.......ok im running out of ideas.

 

[boydak]

Also how long in the bottles?

 

[Revvy]

Also how long in the bottles?

+1 to this....I've had beers where the CO2 had maxed out the headspace yet hadn't reached the point where it began being reabsorbed into the beer yey, and when opened they gush....unless they are chilled, since chilling pull the co2 into solution...but the beers eventually equalized a week later and were fine.

Or you did over prime, and the cold helps counter it...or you might have a gusher infection...but without more info, we can't really help//

But check out my blog, and watch the video, poindexter shows the results of early carb and gushing.

Revvy's Blog of patience and bottle conditioning.

 

[Diablo]

+1 to this....I've had beers where the CO2 had maxed out the headspace yet hadn't reached the point where it began being reabsorbed into the beer yey, and when opened they gush....unless they are chilled, since chilling pull the co2 into solution...but the beers eventually equalized a week later and were fine.

Does the amount of headspace you leave in the bottle affect carbonation ?

 

[jcarson83]

Does the amount of headspace you leave in the bottle affect carbonation ?

Absolutely. Too much head space and not enough pressure will build up to dissolve the CO2 in the beer. Not enough too much pressure will build up and too much CO2 will dissolve.

 

[timmystank]

Absolutely. Too much head space and not enough pressure will build up to dissolve the CO2 in the beer. Not enough too much pressure will build up and too much CO2 will dissolve.

So what is the perfect headspace? I know ive underfilled a couple of my beers.

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

I always put the bottling wand at the bottom of the bottle to fill the bottle to the very top. When you remove the bottling wand the amount of headspace left is what you are looking.

 

[SmugMug]

I always put the bottling wand at the bottom of the bottle to fill the bottle to the very top. When you remove the bottling wand the amount of headspace left is what you are looking.

I've been curious about this. I generally try to leave an 1" to 1.5" of head space but sometime undershoot. I figure it's better to be a little shy than to have too much. If I put the wand at the bottom of the bottle and fill it up, it just looks too close for comfort to the cap even after removing the wand. I'll give your way a shot next time but if I end up having beernades I'm blaming you.

 

[shecky]

I've been curious about this. I generally try to leave an 1" to 1.5" of head space but sometime undershoot. I figure it's better to be a little shy than to have too much. If I put the wand at the bottom of the bottle and fill it up, it just looks too close for comfort to the cap even after removing the wand. I'll give your way a shot next time but if I end up having beernades I'm blaming you.

That's the way I've done it for 15 batches now. Not a bottle bomb yet.

 

[jcarson83]

I always fill it all the way up with the bottling wand like brewmaster said and even let it overflow a little. I might waste a half a beer a batch doing this but it is always filled the perfect amount.

 

[SmugMug]

That's the way I've done it for 15 batches now. Not a bottle bomb yet.

Have I mentioned how much I love your avatar?

 

[Revvy]

The bottling wand magically provides the correct amount of headspace no matter what size bottle you are using....

THere's a lot of bottling tips here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

 

[Diablo]

The bottling wand magically provides the correct amount of headspace no matter what size bottle you are using....

THere's a lot of bottling tips here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

But the bottling wand displaces the exact same volume of beer regardless of the bottle size, so relative to the amount of beer in the bottle you are leaving a lot more headspace in a small bottle. Or does that matter ?

 

[conpewter]

I think there is a fair bit of room for error either way. When bottle conditioning I tend to leave whatever it ends up with (bottling wand method). For bottles filled from kegs I leave 1/2" or less headspace.

 

[Revvy]

But the bottling wand displaces the exact same volume of beer regardless of the bottle size, so relative to the amount of beer in the bottle you are leaving a lot more headspace in a small bottle. Or does that matter ?

Like I said, it's magic...it seems to leave the right amount of headspace regardless of the bottles...works great for apfelwin and beer in champagne bottles, or little tiny bottles for belgians...

The beer fairies who gifted us with them knew what they were doing when they designed them...

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I agree with Revvy the wand leaves the perfect amount of space. I Bottle 12oz and 22oz and regardless I fill to the brim and once I take the wand out, perfect.

Side note: on my first batch my last bottle could only be filled half full, and it was a gusher.