First it gushes then not

[Subtle Duck]

Just wondering whether any one can explain it.
I've got a batch of Belgium dubbel in bottles at the moment all carbed to 2.8 volumes. I tried some after 3/4/5 days in the bottle and all were gushing out of the bottles, thoughts were the batch was infected. 5 days later, I've just opened a few and they're fine. The batch was dry hopped (in a bag) for a few days. Could hop matter in the bottles be a cause?
By the way, they didn't taste infected and still dont

 

[MickDundee]

First it gushes then not

Seriously though, if it’s just the odd bottle in the batch then there will be some kind of nucleation point in the bottle - most likely either hop debris or the bottle not being completely clean.

 

[Subtle Duck]

I've never seen a batch carb so quick. On day 3 it was fully carbed, I was starting to worry i'd made home brew bottle explosives. Like you say about nucleation points, could the hop matter have been absorbed by the layer of yeast at the bottom of the bottles so not causing the gushing?

 

[DavidDetroit]

It's important to eliminate the usual suspects first such as how were FG readings taken, how long in the fermenter, priming sugar method, bottling method (loose caps/tight caps)?
The outcome in the OP doesn't make sense in that the foaming would have stayed the same or gotten worse.

 

[Subtle Duck]

Fg readings were taken over 3 days after 13 days from start. All read the same 1.012. It was bottled in 750ml leffe bottles that had been primed with brown sugar that had been added to boiling water and syringed into all bottles (10ml per bottle). Then filled straight from the bottom of the fermentation barrel using a bottling wand. Might have picked up some gunk from the bottom of the barrel?
That's what doesn't make sense to me, I thought it would have been the whole batch foaming. Just opened another (at room temp) and it's fine

 

[MickDundee]

Fg readings were taken over 3 days after 13 days from start. All read the same 1.012. It was bottled in 750ml leffe bottles that had been primed with brown sugar that had been added to boiling water and syringed into all bottles (10ml per bottle). Then filled straight from the bottom of the barrel using a bottling wand. Might have picked up some gunk from the bottom of the barrel?
That's what doesn't make sense to me, I thought it would have been the whole batch foaming. Just opened another (at room temp) and it's fine

I had it in heavily dry hopped beers before I had the ability to cold crash properly - it would only affect the odd bottle in the batch probably because some were unlucky enough to get a bit of hop debris in.

It’s the same with if some of your bottles hadn’t been properly cleaned (some stubborn bits of yeast or something) - it will affect bottles that still had dirt to form a nucleation point but not in bottles that were fully clean.

 

[samale]

I have a tripel that's gushing but isn't overly carbonated when it's poured. Still not sure why, maybe it hadn't finished fermenting

 

[Subtle Duck]

I'd gradually raised the temp from 18 - 23 c over the course of fermentation so don't think it'd not run its course. But didn't cold crash

 

[samale]

Funny I never cold crashed either for some reason. The bottles do have a good layer of sediment

 

[Subtle Duck]

Same here

 

[DavidDetroit]

That's what doesn't make sense to me, I thought it would have been the whole batch foaming. Just opened another (at room temp) and it's fine

What you said sounds by the book.
Gunk is gunk (trub) and it sinks and doesn't have further involvement. As an aside, avoid the trub where possible. You're not adding hops to something, it's already there. We're all familiar what happens with that first load of hops (foaming) but hops sucked up while bottling is a different situation.
Good to know most recent is fine. Maybe the originals got shaken?

 

[DavidDetroit]

Fermentation and bottling temperatures are something to consider normally. But this scenario in the OP seems hit or miss.
If dry hopping ends up being the cause, I'm not familiar enough with it to offer advice.

 

[Subtle Duck]

I think the moral of the story here is, don't be too impatient and drink your beer early. Wait for bottle conditioning to finish and you won't have these problems?
Especially if you bottle too much crud from the bottom of the barrel

 

[moto748]

I suspect you are right.

As I bottle from demi-johns, I have initiated a practice lately whereby I leave one demi-john (maybe a third or a quarter of the batch) alone for a week or so after I bottle the rest.Then when I do bottle the remainder, I'll mark the tops accordingly. Obviously I'll be aiming to leave them till last. I figure this can't hurt, and might be a useful guide.

 

[Richard_H]

I always batch prime and have tried a variety of sugars over the years with mixed results. When batch priming using boiling water I have found dextrose and icing sugar are prefect for an even carbonation amount per bottle when the solution is mixed well. The thicker and darker the sugar grain the quicker it will return to a sugar grain and sit at the bottom of the water/beer, meaning those first bottles will be under primed and the last bottles potential gushers.

Not an issue if the sugar is added directly to the bottle, however I suspect this could have happened to your sugar solution.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

A possible explanation is calcium oxylate (beer stone). Oxalic acid in malt bonds with calcium in the mash/boil and calcium oxalate precipitates out. If there’s not enough calcium in the mash then this precipitation can carry through in your beer (creating haze) and stick to the surface in your kegs, bottles etc. acting as neucleation points and causing gushing.

If some bottles had been used before and calcium oxylate particles formed in those bottles you may get gushing every time you use those bottles (until you clear the calcium oxylate) even though your beer is fine.

Ordinary washing isn’t good enough to clear calcium oxylate, it would need a good wash in acid to clean them.