Getting Sick Of Tipping Beer Out

[Jamieman]

Well i'm just about to tip out my third batch in as many weeks.

The first was fermented too hot. A week of 40+ deg days & i just couldn't keep it cool enough.
Bananas aplenty.

The second I experimented with hop tea with an already good kit beer, and added too much Hallertau. (20g @ 10 min & 10G @ 3min) Still too bitter 8weeks later & waaaayyy over carbed some how.

The third is a Black Rock Dry Larger without the dry enzyme, standard wheat malt/Dex fermentables that i always use but with w 34/70 yeast fermented for 13 days @ 12 Deg. This one is what I think it should be, but again waaaayyy over carbed. One tablespoon of beer will fill a cold schooner glass with head.

The two that were over carbed were fermented in a fridge. Same dex added to the bottles & FG was stable for a couple of days prior to bottling.


The first I can accept, too hot.
The second, I can accept the over addition of hops. I'm a newbie, but the over carbing i dont understand. Same bottle prime as usual.

The third, same. It tastes as it should, but why so over carbed?? Same bottle prime as usual.

What am i missing?

Cheers

Jamie

 

[benno1973]

How much dex did you add to each bottle?

Infections can also cause gushers - what's your sanitation regime?

 

[bum]

Sorry but it is tough love time, Jamie - Man up.

You only tip a brew if it is disgustingly infected. You don't tip it because you made a mistake. We aren't doctors. We don't bury our mistakes - we drink them. That analogy just got pretty awful in my head.

As for more helpful comments - the two over carbed ones, how sure are you they'd reached FG? If they don't taste awful it just sounds like they weren't done when bottled to me. And if you don't like a brew because it is overhopped for your tastes just sit on it, the hops will dissipate over time. No need to tip for that - I agree that the overcarb thing is a problem that is harder to overlook.

 

[manticle]

Overcarbing can come from too much sugar or from an infection.

If the beer tastes ok you have probably either added too much or possibly bottled too early (so some sugar still left in the brew while the yeast was active).

You should be careful the bottles don't explode - maybe try wrapping each one in glad wrap. You can degas each one to let out some of the carbon dioxide - chill in bunches of whatever fits in the fridge, open, let sit for a minute or two then recap.

Bitterness will subside and round out with longer ageing.

Have a look at bulk priming.

 

[bum]

You can degas each one to let out some of the carbon dioxide

 

[murrayr]

i second manticle. i used to have the occasional batch over carb til i started bulk priming. now i get a perfect carbonation for each brew.
your second batch, 13 days may not be long enough for a lager, i've had lagers that have taken 3+ weeks to ferment out at thaty temperature. are you taking final SG reading?
murray

 

[rude]

13 days @ 12c what yeast did you use? Just read youre post again w34/70 Im not farmiliar with that sorry.

Obvious some type of lager yeast.

Did you rack to secondary ?

Did you lager it?

What was youre final gravity reading before bottling.

 

[Jamieman]

Thanks for the replies guys.

There are two common variables with the two fridge fermented brews. (I'm not so worried about the taste but more the over carbing.

The first thing that is different is obviously it was fermented in a fridge. At low temps. Something i am not used to.

The second is my washing & sanitizing is done in the shed (regular clean double garage) where my ferment fridge is. (No change to system though)

I honestly think, in hind sight i have bottled too early. Keeping in mind i am used to having a brew finish in 4 - 5 days with the fridge it is 2 weeks plus. A stable FG in a brew at 24 deg for me has been easier to determine than one in a slow 12 deg ferment environment.
Tipped the third brew just before.
Taste i think is how i created it. Over carbing is not something i can live with.
Learning curve has begun.

 

[manticle]

Looks nothing like me nor any of my artist friends. Too sombre.

 

[bum]

I just realised Degas can't paint hands for shit.

 

[haysie]

Looks nothing like me nor any of my artist friends. Too sombre.

He lools like that water thief from the Victoria Labor Party. The same ass that went missing in the bush not that long ago. Help me Help me with a name

edit, Tim Holding?

 

[Pete2501]

Jamie1 it sounds like fermentation wasn't quite complete. Stable readings in the area you expect your beer to finish for 2 days.

Looks nothing like me nor any of my artist friends. Too sombre.

Kinda does. :lol:

 

[marksfish]

tim holding perhaps.

 

[haysie]

Correctomundu!

back to Jamie1 O/P, As per your previous posts on the same topic prior, ummm we cant save your beer!
If its stuffed, move on. You have posted so many times re your brewing and been given first hand very very good advice. I dont think you listen.

 

[dmac80]

Jamie,
Another reason for the over carbing could be that if you bottled while the beer is cold, there would be more co2 contained within the beer than if you bottled at room temperature. If using carb drops, drop back to one maybe (probably better to be under carbed), or move to bulk priming where you can control your carbonation levels easier. Beersmith has a carbonation tool which will calculate how much sugar (or dextrose) you require to get your desired carbonation levels, based on your beer volume and temperature at bottling time (only useful for bulk priming).
Cheers

 

[vykuza]

I would also put your bottles through a thorough cleaning process. If you've had a few batches through them, the usual rinse and sanitise might not be cutting it.

Fill the laundry tub with warm water, throw a big handful of unscented Nappisan in and fill each bottle to the brim then leave overnight. Rinse them thoroughly, sanitise and bottle as usual.

This cut down on my gushers considerably.

 

[Count Vorlauf]

Why dump them? Open a bunch, decant into a jug and enjoy. Sure, you'll lose 80% in foam, but may as well get 20% worth of enjoyment out of them!

P.S. Ditto what everyone else said about cleaning, sanitizing, and bulk priming.

 

[Siborg]

Hi Jamie

One thing I have learnt from the guys here is to leave it in the fermenter a few extra days or even a week. As long as its sealed up, nothing is going to get there and it gives the yeast and hops a little extra time to settle.

My latest brew has been finished for a few days, I got three sequential readings of 1.012 I'm gonna leave it another day or two, then cold crash at around 4-7 degrees (as cold as I can get in a fridge that doesn't work with lots of bottles of ice) for 3-5 days.

I've done a couple of brews since joining these forums and the best thing I've done to them is to leave them that little bit longer in the fermenter. Try it for your next brew and see how you go. You might find that the yeast isn't quite done yet and that's whats causing your overcarbing. And the other thing I've learnt is not to throw anything, although I'm considering one that is loaded with tannins thanks to some dodgy instructions that came with the recipe kit. Even if I do chuck it, I'm gonna keep a bottle or two to see what happens to it later on down the track.

Don't give up!

 

[Stinky Nightgown]

Why not put your "waste brew" through a recycler ? h34r:

 

[Jamieman]

Correctomundu!

If its stuffed, move on. You have posted so many times re your brewing and been given first hand very very good advice. I dont think you listen.

Cheers man.
I have moved on as I stated a couple of posts back.

As for posting so many times re my brewing (a whole 22 posts), i thought this was a home brew forum.

Given I originally posted at 7.28 (first time with this prob brewing at low temp with lager yeast) & you replied 1 1/2 hrs later stating i don't listen. Was i meant to quickly do a batch, try an extended ferm time, bottle & age some how in an hour and a half to show i listened & report back that all was fixed?