Frothing Beer(when Priming)

[butters73]

hows it goin guys, after a bit of advice, My last two brews were going along well untill I came time to bottle,I added the teaspoon of dextrose to each bottle but when filling they just erupted in froth and bubble. So I changed and filled the bottles first then added the dextrose which made things worse.I was keeping the brews cool in the fermenters by the damp towel method, could it have been the temp difference between the beer and dextrose(which would only of been a few degrees)? Cheers in advance,KINGO.

 

[randyrob]

Hey kingo,

do you use a lil' bottler or just drain straight of the tap of your fermenter?
if its the latter you might wanna tilt the bottle when you fill it up.

Rob.

 

[Screwtop]

Sure it was finished kingo, what was the SG?

 

[butters73]

Hey kingo,

do you use a lil' bottler or just drain straight of the tap of your fermenter?
if its the latter you might wanna tilt the bottle when you fill it up.

Rob.

I use the beer extractor (the tube withe the push open valve on the end)

 

[butters73]

Sure it was finished kingo, what was the SG?

I never took any readings screwtop, they were just quick quaffers I was putting down,but they were definately finished and had sat for couple of days after finishing to allow for settling.The fact that the bottles filled fine without the dextrose initially added then went stupid when the dextrose was added is the puzzle(when I added the dextrose to filled tallie it only took a quater of a teaspoon to send it stupid and make a mess).Cheers KINGO.

 

[Adamt]

I never had any such problems when priming with dextrose...

Silly question time; are you sure it is dextrose?

Try priming with white sugar instead, the small amount of sugar won't change the flavour of the beer.

 

[Pumpy]

If you not bulk priming with dextrose 30 grams to 23 litres .

Then chill your beer down to 5C overnight in the fridge and then bottle .

Pumpy

 

[Screwtop]

Would definitely suggest you do a search on bulk priming, any other way is just a PITA. But for my money you got some live (not sleeping) yeast still in there. Never bottle until you have the same SG reading three days in a row, or two the same three days apart.

 

[dairymaid]

If you not bulk priming with dextrose 30 grams to 23 litres .

Then chill your beer down to 5C overnight in the fridge and then bottle .

Pumpy

I am interested in this thread, was bottling two fermenters today
I put one into 330 mls bottles and the other into 750 ml bottles
But found myself putting a whole teaspoon of sugar into the smaller
bottles, (only had one cup of sugar left in the house - shop 20k away)
so left it in the bottle, I hope they don't explode

Anyhow my thought was - I need to bulk prime ;and then I won't have this problem!
so that is just the info I am looking for

thanks guys

cheers/beers
dairymaid

 

[Screwtop]

I am interested in this thread, was bottling two fermenters today
I put one into 330 mls bottles and the other into 750 ml bottles
But found myself putting a whole teaspoon of sugar into the smaller
bottles, (only had one cup of sugar left in the house - shop 20k away)
so left it in the bottle, I hope they don't explode

Anyhow my thought was - I need to bulk prime ;and then I won't have this problem!
so that is just the info I am looking for

thanks guys

cheers/beers
dairymaid

Dairymaid, don't use the 30g Dex to 23L as suggested above, do a search on bulk priming, best to search for a bulk priming calculator. Enter in the volume of beer, temp of the storage area, SG of the finished beer and the carbonation level required (in volumes, for style). The calculator will calculate the corect amount of sugar/dex/DME to add prior to bottling. BE SURE YOUR BEER IS FINISHED! Cheers.

 

[Tony]

Ok

I usted to have this problem years ago.

I found out it was because the beer in the firmenter.... either directly from primary or from secondary after clearing has disolved CO2 in it.

when it comes into contact with the sugar in the bottle it releases all the gas and froths up like a *******.

Thats when i took to bulk priming.

I spent a lot of time getting over gassed beers and under gassed beers and found that for a given volume of beer the fimal gravity of the beer effects the carbonation for a given amount of priming sugar.

I kept extensive records of dozzens of brews and worked out a methamatical equasion to calculate the amount of priming sugar required for a given amount of beer at a given FG.

these figures are for the usual 22 liters left in a 23 liter batch after you rack it. its for priming with dextrose only........ thats all i ever used

It will only work acuratly if the beer is finished. i like to rack it to seconday and leave it till its really finished.... even if it takes a week or two.
last but not least...... this chart is for my bottle cycle of about 2 months before i get to them.

It may not give you good carbonation if you want to use 60 bottles and drink it fizzy after 10 days out of primary. I wasnt in to that when bottling. I had 800 long necks and i found if they gassed up slow the head was better and the bubbles smaller and finer. rushed carbonation produces bigger bubbles and poor head retention IMO.

anyway try it and see what you think. if it needs more gass up it by 10g and try again.

the only way to learn is to experiment but only change one thing at a time.

cheers

Final Gravity (22 liters) Priming amount (g)
1.004----------- 170
1.005----------- 165
1.006----------- 160
1.007----------- 155
1.008----------- 150
1.009----------- 145
1.010----------- 140
1.011----------- 135
1.012----------- 130
1.013----------- 125
1.014----------- 120
1.015----------- 115
1.016----------- 110
1.017----------- 105
1.018----------- 100
1.019----------- 95
1.020----------- 90

1.0

 

[pint of lager]

You can prime with sugar, dextrose or DME. If you bulk prime you can also use LME or honey.

30gms for 23 litres is wrong. 300 gms wouldn't be right either. 100-180gms is right for 23 litres.

As your beer ferments it produces carbon dioxide. Most comes out the airlock, but some stays dissolved in your beer. When you add your beer from fermenter to bottle with dextrose, the fine surface area of the dextrose causes the dissolved carbon dioxide to come out of solution as gas. Fobbing is the common term in beer circles.

If the beer is allowed to sit quietly in the fermenter, some of the dissolved carbon dioxide comes out of solution making it easier to bottle.

The finer powder of dextrose compared to plain table sugar makes the carbon dioxide foam more than if there was the plainer larger sugar crystals.

You have bottled too early. Like the others said, use a hydrometer.

Dairymaid, buy one of the sugar scoops from the homebrew shop. 1 large scoop for longnecks, 1 small scoop for stubbies. Lookout for bottlebombs with the stubbies primed with a whole teaspoon.

For newer brewers, like screwtop said, MAKE SURE YOUR BEER IS FINISHED.

 

[Tony]

forgot to add

To bulk prime......

I like to rack from secondary to a clean firmenter once the beer is cleared out well. you get less sediment and there is heaps of live yeast to carbonate....... believe me. It will actually start a secondary firmentation in the bottle and the fresh yeast produced by most yeasts will stick to the bottom and give you clean pours

I weigh the dextrose into a plastic jug and pour boiling water in to make up about 400 or 500 mls. i then stir it till its all disolved and you have what looks like clear hot water.

I start racking from the cleared secondary firmentation to a clean firmenter and tip in the priming solution when its about 1/3 to 1/2 done. the wirl pool efect will help it mix in but i like to give it a bit of a stir (gently without mixing in air) for a few seconds to make sure its evenly mixed. It may froth up a bit but thats just the co2 comming out of solution like it does in the bottle.......... that why we do it like this........ the problem is then taken care off and its imposible to double prime a bottle bomb!

let it settle and miz in for a minuite of 2 and them bottle as normal only you dont have to put the sugar in the bottles and they will fill to the top 1st go without any froth.

easy as that

cheers

 

[butters73]

Thanks guys, you have all given me valuable information, the best news I received was today when I was able to get a working fridge off a mate and trhe missus said I could get into keggin my beer. So now it's back to the drawing board to find out about this keggin business and no doubt I'll have more questions for ya's shortly. Thank You and Cheers KINGO.

 

[dairymaid]

Thanks guys, you have all given me valuable information, the best news I received was today when I was able to get a working fridge off a mate and trhe missus said I could get into keggin my beer. So now it's back to the drawing board to find out about this keggin business and no doubt I'll have more questions for ya's shortly. Thank You and Cheers KINGO.

well while Kingo goes off to sort out kegs, I am obviously going to sort out a couple more fermenters, to use as a secondary secondary, I like the idea of racking it for a 2nd time into a clean fermenter then adding the priming sugars, and to the homebrew store to buy some priming measures incase I run out of clean fermenters

- My beer was nice and clear, and clean, so i bottled every last drop of it!
Ok so now I wait for some bombs to go off! All stored out in the pump shed nothing to damage out there
thanks for the info!

Cheers/beers
Dairymaid

 

[Brewtus]

Ok

I used to have this problem years ago.

I found out it was because the beer in the fermenter.... either directly from primary or from secondary after clearing has dissolved CO2 in it.

when it comes into contact with the sugar in the bottle it releases all the gas and froths up like a *******.

Thats when i took to bulk priming.

I spent a lot of time getting over gassed beers and under gassed beers and found that for a given volume of beer the final gravity of the beer effects the carbonation for a given amount of priming sugar.

I kept extensive records of dozens of brews and worked out a mathamatical equation to calculate the amount of priming sugar required for a given amount of beer at a given FG.

these figures are for the usual 22 liters left in a 23 liter batch after you rack it. its for priming with dextrose only........ thats all i ever used

It will only work accurately if the beer is finished. i like to rack it to secondary and leave it till its really finished.... even if it takes a week or two.
last but not least...... this chart is for my bottle cycle of about 2 months before i get to them.

It may not give you good carbonation if you want to use 60 bottles and drink it fizzy after 10 days out of primary. I wasn't in to that when bottling. I had 800 long necks and i found if they gassed up slow the head was better and the bubbles smaller and finer. rushed carbonation produces bigger bubbles and poor head retention IMO.

anyway try it and see what you think. if it needs more gass up it by 10g and try again.

the only way to learn is to experiment but only change one thing at a time.

cheers

Final Gravity (22 liters) Priming amount (g)
1.004----------- 170
1.005----------- 165
1.006----------- 160
1.007----------- 155
1.008----------- 150
1.009----------- 145
1.010----------- 140
1.011----------- 135
1.012----------- 130
1.013----------- 125
1.014----------- 120
1.015----------- 115
1.016----------- 110
1.017----------- 105
1.018----------- 100
1.019----------- 95
1.020----------- 90

1.0

Tony,

Wonderful info.

This is the stuff that should go in the Wiki if it ever starts.

Also, how do you bulk prime without getting too much aeration while mixing the dextrose through correctly?