Too Much Fizz!

[Swinging Beef]

My beers are bottled.
And while they have a perfect amount of smooth carbonation after 2 weeks, after about 5 weeks (under the house in quite cool Sydney weather) the fizz takes on less pleasing 'Coke' mouth feel.
Im not keen on this at all.
I individually prime my bottles with white sugar using the big end of the scoop for long necks and the short end for 330ml bottles.

Is there a solution to this problem or is it just the nature of bottle conditioned beer?

 

[Muggus]

I've had that problem with a beer I carbonated with white sugar (I was out of dextrose). Had a very sprickly sort of carbonation, which made it hard to drink and, like you mentioned "Coke"-like mouth feel.
Since then i've always primed with dextrose and there hasn't really been any problems.

 

[clean brewer]

Swinging Beef,

I was just thinking the same thing with my beers today, a couple batches a had were very gassy from the start and I thought were very hard to drink, now, about 3 months later they seem to be less gassy and quite enjoyable..

Not sure if there is something behind this but maybe it has a lot to do with the conditioning????

 

[clean brewer]

A lot of things affect the carbonation. Body of the beer, priming agent, how its administered, how much residual body the yeast will get through over extended periods, what yeast strain was used etc. In this case, I think its a combination of things. Firstly, white sugar is the antichrist. Noone will ever convince me otherwise. If you want to use a simple sugar, use dextrose or glucose. Those priming spoons are not the most consistant things in the world. I would say definately move on to bulk priming. The body is a factor, too. The more simple sugars in the initial brew, the lighter the body and the harder it is for co2 to remain in suspension. The carbonation is more vigorous in the glass, but it also makes the head dissipate quicker. Conversely, if there are longer chain fermentables that continue to attenuate very slowly after bottling, you also can get overcarbonation as well.

It can all get pretty hard, and the results with factory made ingredients can, in some cases, be eratic, purely cos you don't know precisely what the malts consist of, how it was mashed, etc. Without beating the AG drum, you can't really tell how it's all going to react unless you use the same stuff a lot (as in yeast strain, brands of malt, etc) where you can get a 'feel' for how the lot will react together, and achieve consistant results. Unlike grain where you consider the mash temp, percentages of dextrins, etc, and this is all known to you. This is why when I brewed extract, I always used the same ingredients brew to brew, as in if making a mild I need this brand and type of extract with this yeast, for a lager I need this brand and type...etc.

I think what you said about the body being a factor is true as the couple beers I had that were really gassy, were very light in body and were brewed with the Brew Enhancers etc. Where the ones ive brewed with malt, spec grains and all extract have been completely different and much better than the others.

Also, i think after a period of time the yeast has consumed the simple sugars in the bottle hence the reason I feel they are much better to drink now than at the start.. <_<

nb. whilst more expensive, malt gives a much better prime for kit and extract beer. (with ag I just used dex, cos I had full controll over the body issues, anyway). I used to use a combo of 50/50 wheat malt and ldm. Good, fine carbonation, with a great head.

 

[Cocko]

Brush your teeth and have a big glass of Orange juice before every beer and it will all taste the same.... sorted.

Bubbles or not... you wont care!

 

[Thunderlips]

I individually prime my bottles with white sugar using the big end of the scoop for long necks and the short end for 330ml bottles.

I'm sure you've checked but some of those scoops only have 375ml on the short end.
Your sure it's for 330ml bottles?

 

[Trent]

I dunno how ya can say that white sugar is the antichrist - I know that it is kinda frowned upon, but I have gone back to using simple old white sugar in my beers, without detriment. I started using white sugar, then moved onto dextrose and malt, then went onto (for about a year) saving a litre or so of the unfermented wort, and actually using that as the priming liquid, with the help of an excellent krausening/spiesing calculator, and always had fairly good results, but figured it wasnt worth the effort, dropped back to dextrose, and now use white sugar again. I have no real problem with the bubbles in my beers, but from memory, my kit beers used to have those coke like bubbles.
I also use white sugar in fermenting all my belgian beers, up to about 700g per 23L and had no ill effects. The only thing I can suggest is reducing your priming amount a bit, and waiting 5 weeks for carbonation to be perfect, rather than just 2 weeks. by all means switch to dextrose to prime, but in my experience, white sugar does the trick fine. Again, as previously mentioned, I would be looking at the yeast strain, as it is possible the kit yeasts (if thats what you are using) like to munch on and on after it has been bottled?
Mind you, you now have the perfect excuse as to why you are drinking 6 stubbies a night - "can't risk having bottle bombs in the house, honey, I figure it is safer to drink em up quick before they pose a health risk".
All the best
Trent the white sugar monster :lol:

 

[Swinging Beef]

Ok, so I will give bulk priming a go for the next batch.
FYI it is a favorite Fresh Wort Kit that I use.
It is the 5 malt amber ale, that I throw down whenever I have an empty fermenter and no brew time (like this weekend!)
To this I add the Wyeast Witbread english yeast.
I tend to put down 10 330ml bottles, and 20x 750mls.

I will go for bulk priming on this one this time... how much disolved dex for 20litre? 100g?
So... is there a Wiki on bulk priming?
I guess Ive always been confused why I go to all that trouble to rack for a week to clear the beer, then to add 100g of disolved sugar and stir it all up again seems to make the racking pointless.

 

[white.grant]

So... is there a Wiki on bulk priming?

Yep, Brewtus posted one - there's also another thread going. Rule of thumb is amount of sugar depends on the desired carbonation level - its going to vary

cheers

Grant

 

[Cortez The Killer]

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...icalGuide.shtml

Here ya go!

Cheers

 

[Swinging Beef]

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...icalGuide.shtml
Here ya go!
Cheers

Good greif, man!
A man is not a Chemist!

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I take it you'd prefer the simple guide then

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...mpleGuide.shtml

Cheers

 

[marlow_coates]

swinging beef the reason for racking even though you are going to recreate a yeast base when you referment in the bottle is that for the new wort to brew you need heaps of healthy yeast. the bottom of the fermenter when racking has a lot of dead yeast as well as live. you only want the live yeast that is in suspension. Also you need much bigger numbers of yeast for the primary ferment and only 1/10th of that number to allow carbonation in the bottles.
a thread i read a few days ago said that the ultilmate aim is to get the minimum amount of live healthy yeast into the bottle to do the job then fall to the bottom. This will minimise the yeast cake in each bottle after drinking but may cause longer secondary ferment.

Thats was the jist of something i read the other day and made sense to me.

best of luck

 

[Swinging Beef]

I suspect the real answer to my original question was this:
"You should also be aware that some beers, like stout or other full-bodied beers, may contain some long-chain sugars that will ferment very slowly, leading to a gradual increase in carbonation over a period of months"
Source: http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/...mpleGuide.shtml