Frothy Bottling

[ironxmortlock]

Hello,

I just bottled two batches of beer today and in the middle of the job I ran out of carbonation drops. I blew the dust of my little sugar measure and switched to using dex. When I was filling up the bottle however the beer became very frothy. Is this normal?

Thank you,

M

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Hello,

I just bottled two batches of beer today and in the middle of the job I ran out of carbonation drops. I blew the dust of my little sugar measure and switched to using dex. When I was filling up the bottle however the beer became very frothy. Is this normal?

Thank you,

M

Yes. Always put the sugar in first otherwise the falling sugar releases CO2 in the brew. Learnt that one from experience too !!

 

[ironxmortlock]

Yes. Always put the sugar in first otherwise the falling sugar releases CO2 in the brew. Learnt that one from experience too !!

I actually did put it in first. As the bottle fills it foams up more and more.

 

[fw00r]

I might be wrong but I think that is a POSSIBLE indication that the fermentation hadnt finished.
I assume this is due to some volume of CO2 still being in the beer and it reacts with the dextrose.

Of course, It could just be residual CO2 in there and fermentation HAS finished if I am right.

 

[Kingy]

i find when i bottle the last few with dex after kegging it does foam as it fills. but i can still get it full before it foams to much.

cheers, kingy

 

[citizensnips]

I might be wrong but I think that is a POSSIBLE indication that the fermentation hadnt finished.
I assume this is due to some volume of CO2 still being in the beer and it reacts with the dextrose.

Of course, It could just be residual CO2 in there and fermentation HAS finished if I am right.

Although i'm not to sure on this topic i think you could be right. I recently bottled a batch of castlemain lager that i think may have had one or two days left in fermentation and when i bottled it i got alot of froth. Although strangely enough it didnt happen to everyone of my bottles when filling them up...only about one forth didnt froth. I'm bottling tomorrow and i've changed to carb drops to see how it goes and i've given this batch the extra few days just to make sure it's finished fermenting.
Cheers
-eddy-

 

[InCider]

Hey IxM,

I have had the same as well - the C02 release is the same as the Mentos experiments/fun



I have not found why some beers do it more that others, as some have 2 weeks and some have three in the fermenters, but I have found it more on the last bottles I pour into - maybe they have less C02?

Maybe I should just get kegs!

InCider.

 

[Tony]

I remember stressing about this and asking on here too years back

Time to pass it on

Your firmented beer will contain some Co2 disolved in solution from the firmentation. Basicly its very very lightly carbonated. When the beer hits the dex in the bottle, it releases this gas and it froths. Some beers will have more or less gas in solution, depending on weather you racked it, how long it has sat since the firment finished ect.

The best way to bottle and achieve a cosistant carbonation level in the bottle is to bulk prime

some info here

http://www.grumpys.com.au/m1.php3?manualid=13

I rack to a clean sterile firmenter from the primary firment and leave for a week off the yeast cake to clear out and finnish off completly.

I then rack back to the first firmenter (cleaned out and steralised) and mix in my bulk priming solution of dex disolved in a few hundred mills of boiling water. It froths a bit in the firmenter but thats just the gas comming out. now you can bottle it, without having to put anything in the bottle and it fills to the top first go with no froth.

I took lots of data from many beers, over and under carbed and figured there had to be a mathamatical way to work out how much dex to use for a given amount of beer.

It seemed to me that as the final gravity dropped, i needed more priming sugar to give a certain carb level in a certain volume.

I made up a table and you can see it used roughly on the link above..... i posted it on there years back when i worked it out.


here is the full version

FG - Priming amount 22 liters

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


all amounts are for dex..... not surcrose

If you want more gas.... up it by 10g in the batch and see how it goes.

simple as that.

any more questions, just ask

Bulk priming will change your life if your stuffing around with priming bottles of incostant lollies

cheers

 

[Brewtus]

The only time I had really frothy beer when bottling, it was to early and I had to degas my pet bottles so that didn't froth like mad when I opened them 4 weeks later.
I started using a secondary and have not had a problem since.

 

[InCider]

Thanks Tony - great stuff.

One question I would like to ask you:

What ingredients -(malt/hops/dex/yeast etc) affect the natural carbonation? For example, my memory tells me that amber ales have more natural carbonation than stouts. Though this may be totally wrong!

Cheers,

Sean.

 

[Tony]

mever noticed any difference between straw to black..... its only colour.

THe main thing is to make sure its finnished completly.

As soon as it stops bubbling and the head subsides from primary..... rack it, murky or not. Once its off the primary firment the yeast will drop out no worries. then you rack it off this "dead" cake to the bulk priming drum.

The yeast that stirs up in the bottle when you pour is usually the dead stuff from the firment.

If you can get it nice and clear into the bottle, the yeast that is produced during secondary firment in the bottle will temd to stick to the bottom and the second pout will be almost completly clear depending on the yeast.

thats the other advantage of this mathod.

less sludge in the beer.

cheers

 

[ironxmortlock]

One batch had been on for 2.5 weeks and the other 3 weeks so they should well and truly have been finished. SG had remained static for 5 days.

I'm mostly concerned about having explosive bottles. h34r:

 

[fw00r]

Given the time fermenting, I wouldnt be worried.

It will just be the CO2 is solution (the beer) that is frothing a little... I doubt this will make much if any difference to the final carbonation levels .: potential explosive bottles

 

[LovesToBrew]

i'd just wait and see, i don't think you'll have a problem unless you measured into stubbies with the longneck side of the sugar measure