Infected or bottled too early?

[Flan]

Hi all, can anyone shed a bit of light. I did a extract kit MJ APA, fermented for just under 3 weeks at 20°C in my brew fridge, dry hopped for 4 days, cold crashed at 1° for 3 days and bottled for 3 weeks conditioning at room temp, however I’ve noticed in some bottles a little bit of stuff floating at the top and when opened it fizzes up like a bottle of coke and seems massively carbed even though i put less than recommended dose in each bottle, i used 1 sugar drop in a 500ml bottle so its not a case of over carbonation, it doesn’t have a vinegary smell or taste even though it doesn’t taste great just like a very fizzy beer. I’m just wondering if fermentation had stalled and i thought it had finished and bottled it too early and it’s carried on fermenting in the bottle or is it an infection? Would an infection cause it to fizz up like a bottle of coke? I don’t want to throw it away just yet in case it will right itself with a bit of time. By the way i did a MJ IPA extract kit at the same time and that has turned out great, same amount of carbonation. The APA og was 1048 and fg was 1014. The IPA og was 1054 and fg 1006. Thanks for any advice as always. Flan.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I've had this happen on a few brews - normally when it hasn't attenuated as much as I had anticipated. I always chalk it up residual fermentation as I never get any off flavours from an infection with them - just an overcarbed bottle.

 

[The Baron]

Could be hop residue that has got into the bottles causing nucleation points that will fizz up maybe

 

[Agentgonzo]

There is also the phenomenon of "hop creep". Something about enzymes on the hops that breakdown the longer dextrins that can then be fermented. I'd not thought about the nucleation baron (though my problematic brew I had last year was a low hop beer (no dry hops) so unlikely in that particular case, but certainly a possibility for hopped beers..

 

[The Baron]

I have had hop creep a couple of times, it seems to carry on fermenting for ever and could be part of the problem. Its not too much of a problem in a keg as you can release the excess pressure but worse in a bottle as it has no where to go until you open it and it gushes

 

[Cwrw666]

Sounds to me like you've got an infection at bottling, only affecting a few bottles. Yes, a wild yeast infection can cause `gushers'. Sometimes it makes the beer taste bad, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Agentgonzo]

'wild' yeast can also come from within the bottle. If you previously used the bottles for a diastaticus yeast (eg saison) and didn't totally eradicate the yeast, then it can continue to grow and ferment the sugars in the bottle that your primary yeast doesn't.

A lot of breweries (from what I've heard) keep separate equipment (fermenters, siphons, pumps etc) separate if they use saison yeasts.

Siphon tubes are very hard to clean, and I've had bottles with yeast sediment on the inside that needed a good scrubbing to remove

 

[Flan]

Thanks for all your replies. The bottles were rinsed out then washed in a dishwasher, rinsed and sanitised with chemsan, the last brew i did was with a MJ M54 california lager yeast. I’ve opened 4 bottles so far and it’s as if theres a widget at the bottom, all the gas gushes from the bottom and froths up out of the bottle, there is no bad smell, no vinegar smell or taste and when I’ve poured it out and let it settle it tastes ok just very fizzy. As there is no way of venting any excess gas i guess I’ll just have to leave it to settle after opening. I’ve ruled out the carbonation drops as the IPA done along side with the same amount of carbonation per bottle is bang on. I’ve obviously screwed the pooch somewhere along the line with the APA.

 

[Agentgonzo]

You can always put some in a sample tube, shake the bejesus out of it to try to get rid of the carbonation, leave overnight if necessary and remeasure the gravity. Though having said that, I'm not sure that it would tell you much more than you know - that sugars got fermented again in the bottle.

When I've had ones like this, I fridge them for at least 48 hours before opening to try to make them less excitable, then open near the sink and pour into two glasses and make the best of the fizzy situation.

 

[Dutto]

Personally, I would just follow Bo Peeps advice!
:hat:


PS
Leave them alone!

 

[foxy]

Hi all, can anyone shed a bit of light. I did a extract kit MJ APA, fermented for just under 3 weeks at 20°C in my brew fridge, dry hopped for 4 days, cold crashed at 1° for 3 days and bottled for 3 weeks conditioning at room temp, however I’ve noticed in some bottles a little bit of stuff floating at the top and when opened it fizzes up like a bottle of coke and seems massively carbed even though i put less than recommended dose in each bottle, i used 1 sugar drop in a 500ml bottle so its not a case of over carbonation, it doesn’t have a vinegary smell or taste even though it doesn’t taste great just like a very fizzy beer. I’m just wondering if fermentation had stalled and i thought it had finished and bottled it too early and it’s carried on fermenting in the bottle or is it an infection? Would an infection cause it to fizz up like a bottle of coke? I don’t want to throw it away just yet in case it will right itself with a bit of time. By the way i did a MJ IPA extract kit at the same time and that has turned out great, same amount of carbonation. The APA og was 1048 and fg was 1014. The IPA og was 1054 and fg 1006. Thanks for any advice as always. Flan.

When you get a gusher it is usually an infection, Cwrw666 is right sometimes they taste alright though I would say usually not so nice. To be certain of what it is, when you get one degas it and take a hydrometer reading, if it has dropped 3-4 points you could possibly attribute it to hop creep. If it has dropped further then put it down to an infection.

 

[Cwrw666]

Personally, I'd refridgerate before opening (which allows more gas to stay in the liquid) - pop the top off and decant immediately into a jug before the fizz can lift the yeast off the bottom. Get through them as soon as possible.
In future you could try cooking your bottles to sanitise them (assuming glass bottles)- 5 minutes at 120c will kill any infection if it's in the bottles. I use this method all the time.

 

[Sandimas]

Sometimes you can just never track down the cause of these things. Many of us get these from time to time, often at this time of year. It sounds to me like you've done everything right. Just keep those bottles as cool as possible from now on, ideally in the fridge.

The key will be your next brew, if that does the same then it maybe an infection.

Dry hopping was mentioned above. For that reason I rarely dry hop these days, but I've just done one, so it'll be interesting to see if that produced gushers as all my other brews weren't dry hopped.

 

[Ale House Rock]

Thanks for all your replies. The bottles were rinsed out then washed in a dishwasher, rinsed and sanitised with chemsan, the last brew i did was with a MJ M54 california lager yeast. I’ve opened 4 bottles so far and it’s as if theres a widget at the bottom, all the gas gushes from the bottom and froths up out of the bottle, there is no bad smell, no vinegar smell or taste and when I’ve poured it out and let it settle it tastes ok just very fizzy. As there is no way of venting any excess gas i guess I’ll just have to leave it to settle after opening. I’ve ruled out the carbonation drops as the IPA done along side with the same amount of carbonation per bottle is bang on. I’ve obviously screwed the pooch somewhere along the line with the APA.

When this has happened to me, assuming you are using PET bottles and screw caps, you can overcome it to an extent by very slowly releasing the caps to let a little pressure off and tightening quickly before they gush. Leave for a couple of days. If the bottles feel really solid, release some more pressure. After a few repeats, I have managed to salvage a brew that otherwise would have been impossible to pour.

 

[Agentgonzo]

When this has happened to me, assuming you are using PET bottles and screw caps, you can overcome it to an extent by very slowly releasing the caps to let a little pressure off and tightening quickly before they gush. Leave for a couple of days. If the bottles feel really solid, release some more pressure. After a few repeats, I have managed to salvage a brew that otherwise would have been impossible to pour.

The same call be done with pop tops.