Oh my gush!

[TimT]

It has come to my attention that my brews don't much like being taken on long expeditions. Turns them into gushers.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why this might be?

I started bulk priming last year - perhaps because I was getting little/no secondary fermentation out of this bulk priming at first I've started lifting the amounts of sugar I add during bulk priming.

My guess - in the move, the yeast gets agitated and/or CO2 that had been dissolved is released again, turning a carbonated brew into a potentially carbonated brew?

 

[manticle]

Particulate matter causes gushing. Anything that has settled out is possibly agitated back into suspension, forming nucleation points.

 

[Weizguy]

I'd blame over-gassing of the beer (at least partially).

Trust your carbonation calculator.

And chill before serving, allowing time for the yeast to settle, or at least be ready for the foam.

 

[superstock]

Were the bottles kept upright during the travel?
I transported mixed crates of k&k cerveza and cider in PET bottles @ 8gms sugar/litre from Brisbane to Fraser Island. Once there they were only fridged long enough to get cold before serving and they were OK.

PS they also had towels jammed in around them to stop the bottles rattling

 

[TimT]

The problem seems to occur fairly consistently during transportation, not so much at home. So, I'm guessing it would be more because of particles forming nucleation points, as Manticle says.

So I suppose one thing I could do is look at more ways of clarifying my beer (back to the detestable siphon). I might be able to cut back on carbonation a bit too.

 

[mofox1]

Uhg - experienced this from one of my last brews. Very late dry hops (2 or 3 days before bottling, with fermentation well and truly finished), no finings, and no particulate filter turned my case swap beers into foamy-mt-futtin'-gushmore.

Most of the time I dry hop immediately after I pitch the yeast. I'm lazy and it's easy. After the result above, I'm going back to being lazy.

(With apologies to all xmas 2014 vic case swappers...)

 

[elcarter]

Transport in kegs

Still need to transfer to another keg as to leave the sediment at home to prevent the same thing.

 

[marksy]

I regularly transport my beer, and don't get gushers. I do however let them chill out before serving and don't over carbonate to start with.

 

[TimT]

Lately when I take my beers for a walk it's to give them to other folks. So I can't always control that part of the process; I usually give them a chill for a day or a few days before, though.

Reckon I'm going to have to a) look at clarifying the brews a bit more and b ) perhaps dropping the amount of carbing sugar I use a bit. Thanks folks.

 

[Grott]

Never been a problem as long as kept chilled or chilled down at arrival point. Perhaps you are using too much sugar when bulk priming?

 

[droid]

just out of interest what would happen if a (known) quietly carbed beer was opened up high in a hot air balloon, would the increase in pressure make it fizz? if you had over-carbed beer could you storm chase a low pressure system and poor a quiet beer? h34r:

 

[TimT]

Well I'm going to look at the sugar issue Grott, but as I mentioned above the problems mostly in moving the beers.

 

[luggy]

Whenever I give beers to others I always tell them to sit them in the fridge upright for a couple of days at least, helps to drop the yeast back out and allows the beer to settle

 

[indica86]

I believe warming f beers causes CO2 to come out of solution, thus causing the gusher? Something like that anyway.

 

[TimT]

Maybe I'll have to do an experiment: take a couple of beers for a long walk, open one soon after, stick another in the fridge for a day, leave the third in the fridge for two days.....

 

[droid]

hey can you go up a steep hill into some thin air while you're at it for my pressure theory? He he

 

[superstock]

hey can you go up a steep hill into some thin air while you're at it for my pressure theory? He he

I think lower atmospheric pressure will make it gush more if carbed at sea level

 

[droid]

oh

 

[Dozer71]

First post, learning the HB cape with 6 brews under the belt.

Anyway, on a snow trip(high altitude, lower pressure) many years ago all the cans (mass produced CUB) were boys. Hence lower atmospheric pressure releases the pressure inside the vessel.

 

[gaijin]

Particulate matter causes gushing. Anything that has settled out is possibly agitated back into suspension, forming nucleation points.

I had this exact same issue and through process of elimination I found that it's hop matter in the bottle which creates gushers for me, so I think Manticle has nailed it. All of my dry hopped beers always seemed to gush after only about a month in the bottle (I never used to dry hop with a hop sock). Any hop matter in the bottles seems to create these nucleation points. Any unfiltered matter (other than yeast) seems to do it. Now that I dry hop with a hop sock, I never have gushers.