Dry Hop Floaties: Nucleation Points?

[manticle]

I have an IPA thta's nearly gone. All bottled.

Primed to around 2.2 co2 vol, definitely finished, rested and cced.

I don't have anywhere but the shed to keep my bottles o occasionally after a few warm days I find some bottles like to act like adolescent boys with the latest copy of penthouse.

Generally if I chill these bottles and allow them to warm a bit before drinking, the gushing tendency is vastly reduced.

However a few recent IPAs have been gushing even after 2 or 3 days in the fridge.

Definitely no infection present and not tasting overcarbed. Could this be nucleation points provided by dry hop floaties or am I dreaming?

When I look at the glass it is providing bubbles from specific points in the solution for a long time after pouring. The one I'm drinking now has good head retention and good flavour but is almost flat (perfect for IPA) yet still has bubbles rising.

Cheers

 

[felten]

Is there lots of hop material in the bottle? it could also be beer stone in the bottles.

 

[O'Henry]

Yeah, it could be beerstone. Have you been brewing these quicker than your other beers? Or maybe a change in boiling technique/kettle/schedule?

 

[Silo Ted]

I had this with a recent batch, but it was a hoppy dark amber. Quite sure it was finished when bottled, and know the bottle-carbing regime. No taste of infection, ,the beer got better as the weeks passed. Sadly, one in every four was an absolute gusher, the first time I have seen anything like it in my brewing hobby. After a week of chilling, I would gently take a bottle out, pop the cap, and nothing, until about five seconds later, then it would creep up the neck opening, and start gushing steadily for the next 10 minutes - not joking. I took a video of one, it was that interesting.

What I found also is that there is hop and yeast debris that stuck to the sides of the bottle, forced up from the sediment blanket. By the time you let the bottle settle, it has pissed out about 1/2 the volume (750ml here) and while the beer is still pretty good, it feels like it's lost it's mojo. Still no infected taste.

Thinking that it's an infection, but one that doesnt affect taste, just performance.

 

[manticle]

[quote name='O'Henry' post='708248' date='Nov 20 2010, 05:27 PM']Yeah, it could be beerstone. Have you been brewing these quicker than your other beers? Or maybe a change in boiling technique/kettle/schedule?[/quote]


Pretty similar boil and fermentation schedule.

Ferment to FG, leave another 3-7 days, cold condition 3-7 days, prime and bottle.

If it were beerstone I'd expect it to happen between batches but I'll have a look at the last couple of bottles and see.

@felten - not lots but there is the occasional hop floatie.

 

[felten]

I actually have an IPA atm with quite a bit of hop matter in the bottles. I had a brainfart and forgot I had hopped the secondary, so I managed to get quite a bit in the bottling bucket.... anyway they're carbonated to about 2.7-8 vol and haven't had any gush yet.

I believe that in BSP it mentions is that you need adequate calcium in the boil to precipitate the calcium oxalate out in the kettle, otherwise it can transfer to fermenter, and then bottles, and probably builds up over time. I would have thought a good sod perc soak would do the trick, but maybe it doesn't on a few select bottles.