All boys, no caps

[rusty274]

So I've bottled a hoegaarden kit this arvo and when I added the sugar to the bottles for secondary ferment they all fizzed up and out of the bottles?

I've had beer and cider do this but never out and onto the kitchen floor. Any ideas?

 

[Bridges]

Buy a mop, or add beer to sugar not the other way round. Never had a gusher putting beer on dex. (never tried dex on beer though)

 

[jyo]

Did you add the sugar to the bottles after you filled them? If so, add the sugar before filling, mate.




edit- Beaten. Someone is about to chime in about bulk priming.

 

[Bribie G]

Won't do that again, will you.

 

[Tony]

Sometimes, the fermented beer will have some Co2 in solution from the fermentation.

When you add the sugar to it, the Co2 is released and it foams up.

If you add the sugar to the bottle first, you will still get foaming as you bottle, but you can stop and come back to top up the bottle once is settles down.

One way you can stop this is to rack the beer off the yeast cake and bulk prime...... as mentioned by jyo

works much better as you don't get foam and you can fill to the top on the first go.

If you want to stick with adding sugar to the bottles, racking the beer and letting it stand for a few days after its well and truly done lets all the gas in solution dissipate.

cheers

 

[MelbourneDave]

This was the bane of my life when I first started brewing. Didn't matter when I added the sugar it would fizz up. Since I got more patience and haven't been in such a rush to bottle my brews that made a big difference. An extra week in the fermenter lets a lot of the Co2 come out of suspension but the best thing (if you don't want to rack as Tony suggests) is to cold condition the brew. I have never had a problem since I started doing this before bottling. Simple and easy solution with added benefit of taking some yeast out of suspension.

 

[rusty274]

I've been doing it wrong for so long!!

I've got a fridge setup so "cold crash" would help? I'd rather do that than risk oxidisation when racking.

Something so simple..... Fixed. Thanks guys

 

[carniebrew]

I rack all my brews to bulk prime and never come anywhere near oxidising. I use my bottling wand, without the valve attachment, and some hose running from the wand into the bottom of a 2nd fermenter (my 'bottling bucket' if you will). I tuck the end of my hose under the tap inside the fermenter, so that when I start racking the beer runs sideways in a whirlpool fashion onto the priming solution, mixing it all in (so no stirring needed at all). Once the rack is complete, the bottling wand goes onto the 2nd fermenter and I bottle the brew. A hell of a lot easier than adding miniscule measurements of sugar to every bottle.

The 2nd ferementer, racking hose & bottling wand are all star-san'd before I begin.

 

[BeardedWonder]

Once the rack is complete, the bottling wand goes onto the 2nd fermenter and I bottle the brew.

Do you bottle as soon as you have finished racking to the secondary?? Or is there a period of time you have to allow for the priming solution to be assimilated by the wort??

I ask as I'm wanting to bulk prime but I don't have a fridge to cold crash before or after racking to the secondary.

 

[pk.sax]

You can bottle straight away after racking into the sugar (bulk prime). Cold crashing isn't actually 'necessary'. Especially for bottle conditioning. That said, it makes the beer so much easier to handle cold. A room temp priming solution literally dissolves itself if you rack a cold beer on top of it, bugger stirring. The co2 volume dissolved doesn't drop while handling, making calculating priming sugar a breeze. It's just good practice. But you can only do what you have equipment for...

Back to bottle priming, when you cold crash, the co2 volume dissolved in the beer doesn't decrease, but the amount that beer will allow to be dissolved does increase. Means when you put sugar in the bottles (nucleation points) the fizz is a bit slower to come out.

PS: when bulk priming I always add a little extra and leave it 15-20 minutes to assimilate and restart fermentation. But other have said they use a sanitised spoon to stir and bottle straight away.

 

[carniebrew]

Do you bottle as soon as you have finished racking to the secondary?? Or is there a period of time you have to allow for the priming solution to be assimilated by the wort??

I ask as I'm wanting to bulk prime but I don't have a fridge to cold crash before or after racking to the secondary.

Yes, I bottle as soon as racking to the secondary with my bulk priming solution in it. I don't cold crash any of my beers, I find a few weeks bottle conditioning clears 'em up just fine without it. I did try it once, on an amber ale fermented with us-05, and the beers took over 6 weeks to carb up, whereas normally they're fully carbed within 2 weeks.

Also I don't stir after racking, as I mentioned i get a little whirlpool going during the rack and that seems to mix the priming solution in just fine.

 

[Econwatson]

Yes, I bottle as soon as racking to the secondary with my bulk priming solution in it. I don't cold crash any of my beers, I find a few weeks bottle conditioning clears 'em up just fine without it. I did try it once, on an amber ale fermented with us-05, and the beers took over 6 weeks to carb up, whereas normally they're fully carbed within 2 weeks.

Also I don't stir after racking, as I mentioned i get a little whirlpool going during the rack and that seems to mix the priming solution in just fine.

Don't you risk oxidation when you whirlpool while racking?

 

[BeardedWonder]

Thanks Carniebrew and Practicalfool.

Much appreciated.

 

[Tony]

Unless you are dropping the beer from a great hight and intentionally mixing lots of air into it, oxidation wont be a problem.

When you rack, fill the secondary vessel from the bottom using a long tube attached to the tap on the primary vessel.

I know Murrays microbrewery use a worlpool tank where they pump the boiled wort at speed into a tank to create a wirlpool and drain from the outer edge as it spins to seperate hops and break.

Noone ever seems to complain about oxidation in their beers

 

[MelbourneDave]

Yes, I bottle as soon as racking to the secondary with my bulk priming solution in it. I don't cold crash any of my beers, I find a few weeks bottle conditioning clears 'em up just fine without it. I did try it once, on an amber ale fermented with us-05, and the beers took over 6 weeks to carb up, whereas normally they're fully carbed within 2 weeks.

Also I don't stir after racking, as I mentioned i get a little whirlpool going during the rack and that seems to mix the priming solution in just fine.

I cold crash mainly cause I often like to mix the yeast in before I drink (some styles) so it minimises the amount to a good level but also cause it seems to help with the Co2 in solution fizzing up in the bottles. My beers still carb up fully within two weeks and drinkable within much less.

 

[carniebrew]

Don't you risk oxidation when you whirlpool while racking?

Bad choice of words from me I guess, I don't "whirlpool" like you'd do in a brew kettle. I just let the racking hose sit under the inner part of the tap, and the beer flows into the fermenter in a circular motion. I don't touch it at all between racking and bottling.

I once tried adding the priming solution to my primary (it was a half batch), and mixing it carefully through the beer, but I obviously stirred up way too much trub, all my bottles developed a good 1 or 2cm of trub during their conditioning. I guess I could have let it sit for a while before bottling to re-settle. No biggie if you're careful with the pour, but I've gone back to racking to a secondary 'bottling bucket' and leaving the trub back in the primary.