Overly Heady When Bottling

[applecracle]

Hi All,

I Have just started to bottle my brew so I need a really quick response

my problem:
the beer is very foamy and I am having to 3/4 fill then let each bottle sit for 5mins then refill. do I have bottle bombs in the making ?

I am bottling straight from the fermenter and the wort has been sitting for 15 days since start of fermentation. kit beer, 1kg of brewiser liquid brewing sugar and 250g of dextrose. SG1040 - FG1009

also the bee tastes very bland almost like a light beer

any thoughts ?

Cheers
Applecracle

 

[Stuster]

How are you priming them? What temperature is the wort at?

 

[applecracle]

How are you priming them? What temperature is the wort at?

carb drobs and 20 degrees. It was also very heady every time i poured it into m hydometer cylinder for measuring

 

[Stuster]

Sounds like it's not finished then. Fifteen days should be plenty of course. Have you taken a gravity reading before today?

 

[applecracle]

Sounds like it's not finished then. Fifteen days should be plenty of course. Have you taken a gravity reading before today?

Yeah. it was sitting at 1012 after 7 days then it dropped to 1009 on friday and has sat there all weekend til today

Applecracle

 

[Stuster]

The low FG will probably mean it's fairly low in body, which is what you are saying about it tasting like a light beer. As long as it doesn't have any off tastes though, it doesn't sound like bottle bombs will be a problem though.

In terms of the frothing, what you are doing sounds like a reasonable way to deal with it. If it is too much of a PITA, you could give the beer a swirl to knock most of the CO2 out of solution, and bottle the rest of it tomorrow once it's settled. Bulk priming might be in your future plans.

 

[applecracle]

The low FG will probably mean it's fairly low in body, which is what you are saying about it tasting like a light beer. As long as it doesn't have any off tastes though, it doesn't sound like bottle bombs will be a problem though.

In terms of the frothing, what you are doing sounds like a reasonable way to deal with it. If it is too much of a PITA, you could give the beer a swirl to knock most of the CO2 out of solution, and bottle the rest of it tomorrow once it's settled. Bulk priming might be in your future plans.

Ok Thanks... after bottling I might leave these bottles down in the shed incase they start to explode and will open one in 2 weeks time to see how fizzy it is

Cheers
Applecracle

 

[kabooby]

Applecracle,

How are you bottling? Are you using a proper bottling valve to prevent splashing?

Sorry if this is a silly question, not sure what level you are at :unsure:

Kabooby

 

[glennheinzel]

Do you prime before or after you fill up the bottle?

I prime after filling up the bottle and I've noticed that some beers really froth up, but not all of them. I just try and cap the frothy ones as soon as I've added the sugar.

The beers that have frothed up during priming have yet to turn into bottle bombs. ~touchwood~

 

[therook]

Bulk Prime, its easier and quicker

rook

 

[Wortgames]

Bulk Prime, its easier and quicker

I'll second that.

It sounds like you still had a lot of dissolved CO2 still in the beer, and the first opportunity it got to escape was during the bottling process.

Bulk priming avoids that sudden contact with sugar in the bottle, and also gives the beer an opportunity to expel any dissolved gas it doesn't want to hang onto.

 

[delboy]

i kow its abit late mate for this comment too turn your tap down a bit as well

fills the bottles a bit slower sometimes can help.

del

 

[pint of lager]

If you are priming every bottle rather than bulk priming, always add the sugar first before filling.

Usually, using carbonation drops as you are doing gets around this.

Like everyone else has pointed out, you still have alot of CO2 in the brew. Look out for excess carbonation, as the carbonation drops will add a standard amount of bubbles/pressure on top of what is already in the beer.

 

[applecracle]

Thanks for all your reply's

Kabooby12: I have the proper bottling valve

Rukh: I prime before adding the beer, I tested adding it afterwards but it didnt make a difference.

therook: I dont agree that bulk priming is quicker. you have to rack to a secondary which means more washing/sanitising and then back into the fermenter for bottling which is more washing/sanitising. 30 bottles - 10 seconds to add 2 drops = 5mins (double that if using a sugar scoop)

delboy: didnt give that a shot but if the problem arises again I will give it a go.

Cheers
Applecracle

 

[hughyg]

Thanks for all your reply's

Kabooby12: I have the proper bottling valve

Rukh: I prime before adding the beer, I tested adding it afterwards but it didnt make a difference.

therook: I dont agree that bulk priming is quicker. you have to rack to a secondary which means more washing/sanitising and then back into the fermenter for bottling which is more washing/sanitising. 30 bottles - 10 seconds to add 2 drops = 5mins (double that if using a sugar scoop)

delboy: didnt give that a shot but if the problem arises again I will give it a go.

Cheers
Applecracle

Turning the tap down if the beer is full of dissolved C02 isn't an option. If it infact is foaming it is either 1)still fermenting or 2) has CO2 dissolved in it. Both of these are bad for bottling as they will make the beer more pressurised (which could lead to exploding bottles). If this happens again sparge with nitrogen but if you cant (like most of us) I would gently stir the beer with a sanitised spoon avoiding any splashing and then leave it a bit longer to ensure CO2 is out of the solution. And repeat to no more CO2 bubbles


Hugh

 

[bconnery]

You don't have to rack to secondary to bulk prime if you don't want. You can rack straight from primary to your bottling bucket/fermentor.

This also allows you to control the sugar level more, which if your beer has lots of co2 already can be very handy...

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Another vote for bulk priming

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

Another vote for bulk priming

Cheers

Since bulk priming keeps being thrown up (and it may be of interest to Applecracle), I did see a recent post about how to build your own fermentor/ bulk priming container with stuff from bunnings. cost about $18. but buggared if I can find that thread now. Anyone got any ideas, cause i want to go to bulkpriming but dont want to fork out for an additional fermentat just at the moment.

 

[Wortgames]

Since bulk priming keeps being thrown up (and it may be of interest to Applecracle), I did see a recent post about how to build your own fermentor/ bulk priming container with stuff from bunnings. cost about $18. but buggared if I can find that thread now. Anyone got any ideas, cause i want to go to bulkpriming but dont want to fork out for an additional fermentat just at the moment.

There's nothing to it CM - you just need a (clean) bucket big enough, and it needs to have a tap on it.

Most people use fermenters simply cos that's what they've got, but you can use a cube (camping water container thing) just as easily. They cost between $10 and $20 depending on where you get them from, and they often have a tap with them (check inside the lid) or you can get one for a couple of dollars.

Transfer the beer, mix in the sugar, and bottle. It's as simple as that.

If you attach your bottle filler to a piece of tubing, then you can leave all your bottles lined up and just move the filler from each one to the next, instead of havng to lift each bottle up to the filler. It also becomes 'hands free' while each bottle is filling, so if you're good you can cap the previous bottle in time to transfer the filler to the next bottle, and so on. This will slash your bottling time in half.

 

[brettprevans]

Most people use fermenters simply cos that's what they've got, but you can use a cube (camping water container thing) just as easily. They cost between $10 and $20 depending on where you get them from, and they often have a tap with them (check inside the lid) or you can get one for a couple of dollars.

Didnt actually think of that. Will just use a cube while Im waiting on getting a second fermentor/conditioner.

Cheers!

Although I suppose you could use cubes for conditioning also? (providing of course you sterilise them). After condidtioned you could then add stuff for bulk priming straight into cube?