[WhiteHausBrews]

Hello friends,

I have a coffee stout that I bottled. When I open a bottle, if I don't pour it within about 10 seconds the foam starts to ooze out of the bottle (quite a bit if it). But, if it's poured into a glass right away it doesn't have excessive foam/carbonation.

I don't think it's a cabonation suagr issue. I batch primed with 3.6oz dextrose in a little shy of 6 gal to a calculated carbonation level of 2.2vol.

That leaves me with maybe infection? It seems to be every bottle i open and it started happening pretty much right away, within 2-3 weeks in the bottle. I don't taste any off flavors but I'll admit to not having the most developed palate.

Any thoughts? Anything I missed? Thanks!

[WhiteHausBrews]

Some notes on my bottle side sanitation:
I reuse commercial bottles that get rinsed well with hot water immediately after they are drank and then sanitize with a couple minute StarSan dunk prior to filling.

I'm about 7 batches in now and this has been the only one that has behaved this way I think (I'll start giving all my bottles some time before pouring to see if maybe I just haven't noticed)

[dmtaylor]

I've been bottling every batch since 1999.  Bottled thousands.  My experience:

You most likely have excess sludge/trub in the bottom of each bottle, so when the cap is popped, this material provides "nucleation sites" for the CO2 to form, which then will gush if not immediately poured off.  Did you rack this beer to a secondary before bottling?  Was it more hazy than normal before bottling?  Did you dry hop?  Could there be coffee particles in there?  Any solids in your bottles at all can lead to this effect.

I put up with this kind of thing randomly for many years.  Only in recent years have I decided that I need to secondary in most cases to keep most of that stuff out of the bottles for a clearer and more consistently carbonated product.

If that's not it............ maybe you bottled a little too early and the yeast is still acting on the original sugars?  This has happened to me a time or two as well.

Infections are possible but unlikely if you've sanitized well and your hoses aren't really old.  All hoses should be replaced at least every 18-24 months just to be safe.

[WhiteHausBrews]

Thanks Dave!

No secondary for me and nothing added to the fermenter but looking at the bottom of the bottles there is a fair amount of sediment so I'm thinking this might be the case. It doesn't seem over carbed so I'm hesitant to this it's a bottled too early problem and the tubing used was <6 months and I feel like I'm pretty solid on my sanitation.

Really appreciate the tips and I'll just go ahead and RDWHAHB (that is poured immediately into a glass :-p )

[brewinhard]

You can check for some indication of an infection by observing the liquid beer/air headspace interface. If you see little white dots or a ring there, then you have yourself an infection (most likely wild yeast). You can use a flashlight to help see that area better.

If this is the case, when you go to reuse the bottles they will need to be physically scrubbed well with a bottle brush prior to sanitizing.

[WhiteHausBrews]

Even though my drink of choice for this 90deg night was a Saison I brewed I decided to chill down one of the stouts, you know, for research purposes. I don't see any white ring or floaties either before opening with a flashlight or after opening before the bubbles start to take over so I'm leaning more and more towards the bottle trub hypothesis. Appreciate you guys being so willing to share your experience and help me out :-)

[Richard]

I have had the same experience with a seemingly random set of bottles. Definitely no infection, but oozing of foam if not poured within 30 seconds of opening. For me it seems to be more of an issue with darker beers such as Scottish or stout, but that could be a coincidence. I don't do secondary, but I do cold crash for several days before bottling. I think that Dave probably is right that it is due to an excess of nucleation sites. I always pour my beer into a glass right after opening, so it isn't a problem for me. If someone complains that the bottle starts to ooze foam after letting it stand for a while after opening, I say "Don't do that".

[WhiteHausBrews]

Interesting Richard. Well I'm glad this doesn't automatically mean infection and yeah I have no problem just pouring it right away. Thanks all! :-)

[James K]

Has this happened with all of the bottles? I have had variances in how carbed beers were from the same batch. Perhaps a few bottles have more dextrose than others? When I bottle anything I number the bottles so I know if its the start or finish of the bottling process.

I have had a few bottles kind of do what your beer is doing but I think it is more related to the handling of the bottle prior to opening - like if I accidently bump it, or set it down hard (its like knocking your bottle with the handle of a screwdriver if you were bottling off of a keg). I have been on more of a carbonation drop trend lately so I know my sugar is the same in every bottle, and I think I do a through job cleaning, so maybe it is the nucleation sights. I could see this being my issue, and the beer never tasted infected or anything but also, maybe, those nucleation sights occur from the bottle conditioning process itself.

Or maybe its a temperature thing? That would be my last guess and I don't think its likely.

[Lazy Ant Brewing]

Two tips to help remedy your problem.

Do a thorough cold crash; chill your finished beer in your fermenter down as close to 32 F as possible for two or three days to drop much of the solids out. 

Then when you rack your beer to the bottling bucket be careful to leave the muck behind in the fermenter -- don't try to get every last drop of the good stuff.  If you're not careful you, can transfer some of the goop with the beer and provide lots of nucleation sites for carbon dioxide to grab onto.

I've seen gushing with commercial beers also; it's not just a problem for home brewers.

[WhiteHausBrews]

Yeah good to keep in mind. Currently I don't have a way to cold crash but I'm also probably guilty of point number 2 :-p Glad to hear I'm not great only one this happens to.