[patrickswayze]

Hi guys this is my first post as an AHA member but i have been a homebrewer going on 2 years. I was hoping you guys could help me with an issue I have been running into with the last couple brews i have bottled. The past 4 beers i have bottled have all been over carbonated. I know for a fact i have not been using too much priming sugar but may think it has to do with a possible infection. The issue though is that my beers have no off flavors besides an over carbonated taste. My last batch i even made sure to deeply sanitize all my equipment and bottles. Does this type of nfection linger on and is something star san has issues with? I also can't find much info on this issue and it has been discouraging the hell out of me. Help and more information would be greatly appreciated.

By the way this is a website that i use for carbonation:
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html?14667035#tag

[bo]

Dude, you're back!!! Are you still dancing?

[ckpash88]

Not being much help for you but I always just add 5 oz when I bottle and don't have issues.

The last bottling how much sugar did u add? Was it corn sugar


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[paul]

It could be a minor infection; something that ate just a little sugar, added carbonation, and not a noticeable flavor yet.  Possibly a brett?  Give all of your plastic a good soaking in PBW, then Star San.  If your bottling bucket has a spigot, do you take it apart and clean it every time?  I don't think there's much that can survive Star San at a pH of 3. 

Also, could it be possible that the beer wasn't at terminal gravity yet?  I've had a beer stall and look done, only to ferment a bit more in the bottle, resulting in over carbonation.

[jeffy]

Simply stated, overcarbonation with no off flavors means there was too much sugar at bottling.  Possibly the residual sugar in underattenuated beer added the extra.  How long, at what temp and which yeast did you use to ferment?

[nateo]

Are you talking about gushers, or just beer that's too foamy?

I've got beer carbed at 5 volumes right now, and I've realized that bits of junk = nucleation sites = too fizzy.

I use the same carbonation calculator and haven't had any issues.

[jmcamerlengo]

Are you sure the beer is done fermenting before you bottle?

Are you keeping the transfer to the bottles as closed as possible? i.e. covering your bottling bucket.

[patrickswayze]

I had the beer sit in primary for two weeks then secondary for another two weeks. I used white labs american ale blend for fermentation at 70 degrees. I used the low end of vol scale for carbonation with about 3.38oz of corn sugar for 4.5 gallons of brew. When you crack a bottle it looks normal then slowly bubbles start rising to the top quicker and quicker. Takes about a minute for the bottle to foam over. From the reply up there i have noT removed my spigot for deeper cleaning but i do make sure to continually flush it with star san.

[nateo]

You really should disassemble/clean your spigot every time you bottle. I had exactly the same issue as you're having, and I traced it back to a dirty bottling spigot.

[afacini]

You really should disassemble/clean your spigot every time you bottle. I had exactly the same issue as you're having, and I traced it back to a dirty bottling spigot.

How can contamination at this point have that much of an effect over 5 gallons of beer? It isn't as if the spigot was hiding an extra 2oz of sugar...? Plus, if it's a matter of competition... wouldn't that mean less yeast activity, not more?


And for Mr. Swayze: I've had this problem more than a couple of times. It always comes down to inexact priming sugar measurement on my part. "Ah, that's not enough, look at it! Just drop in another scoop. It'll be fine." Stupid brain.

4-6oz for most beers. The highest successful pitch I've had for priming sugar was 8oz for my steam beer. That was brown sugar, actually. I recommend trying it out.

[nateo]

How can contamination at this point have that much of an effect over 5 gallons of beer? It isn't as if the spigot was hiding an extra 2oz of sugar...? Plus, if it's a matter of competition... wouldn't that mean less yeast activity, not more?

You're probably right, and the eight batches of gushers I had in a row were a coincidence, and also the zero gushers for the forty-some batches I've done since I've started cleaning my spigot are probably just a coincidence too.

[jmcamerlengo]

How can contamination have that much of an effect?

Wild yeasts/bacteria can ferment out more complex sugars than brewers strains can. It doesnt take much brettanomyces or whatever else to ferment out beer from 1.010 to 1.001. Thats quite a bit of co2 being generated in that little bottle.

[patrickswayze]

Im definitely going to go ahead and disassemble the spigot and leave it soking in star san. But like i said above, im pretty sure its not over pitching priming sugar as i have never gone above 4oz of sugar for bottling.

[nateo]

I soak my spigots in hot water to soften them up, then they're a lot easier to take apart. I have broken one spigot this way (the valve ripped off), so I always keep a spare on hand.

[afacini]

How can contamination have that much of an effect?

Wild yeasts/bacteria can ferment out more complex sugars than brewers strains can. It doesnt take much brettanomyces or whatever else to ferment out beer from 1.010 to 1.001. Thats quite a bit of co2 being generated in that little bottle.

This is an actual, good answer. Thanks. I didn't consider the CO2 outputs of wild contaminants. Brain strikes again.