Lively bottle

the_quick · May 7, 2019

Hi All,

I have bottle my weizen around a week ago. Decided to open one bottle to see how it is going.

Half of the kitchen was covered in beer after opening, the beer behaved like a champagne after F1 race. Only half a bottle left after it come down, but strangely it was not carbonated.
Beer was batch primed durring transfering to bottling vessel. 160g of sugar per 19L - per brewers friend calculator to achieve 3.0 CO2 volume.

Anyone has seen such behaviour?

britton · May 7, 2019

That sounds like a lot of sugar for 19L, I would of probably gone with just over half that. Not sure why it did not carb though.

Drunkula · May 7, 2019

britton said:
That sounds like a lot of sugar for 19L

Not for a wheat, I go 3.3 to 4. It's lively but not a disaster. This sounds like it could possibly be a wild yeast infection. I've had this happen when I added blackberries to a beer and didn't sanitise them. I had one bottle partially opened gushing in a sink for over 20 minutes and that was after getting it super cold.

It being flat after is basically because all the gas has gushed out. It doesn't work like the top 2/3rds gushes out leaving behind some still well carbonated beer - the whole bottle is going crazy.

Best thing you can do is get them really, really cold when you open them, and hope that it's only one that got infected.

Did you heat the sugar into a solution and add it to a bottling bucket or stir it in? Loads of the sugar can end up in a small amount of beer if it's not mixed gently or put in first.

kelper · May 7, 2019

I think I'll open my first home brew bottles outside! (been kegging previously) I have had two bottles explode in the spare bedroom. My manager was not amused but did forgive me.

the_quick · May 7, 2019

Thanks guys

Sanitised bottles usual way, wash them on OXI cleaner bath for around 30-40 - helps to remove labels. Rinsed and then rinse them in Star San.

Sugar was first boiled with bit of water for around 10 mins, added to bottling vessel - beer was added on top of that.
I hope it was just one bottle. Will leave for another week to carb up, than cold storage for a week and fridge. First weizen didn't give me such trouble, so was bit surprised, but maybe I got infection somewhere. Still beer tasted quite well

Alex.mc · May 7, 2019

There is an infection or virus(can't remember which) that affects Barley, and transfers through malting to the ready to use malt. I believe it's pretty rare, but it causes "gushers"
Last year I was in Suffolk for a week on holiday and visited Adnam's brewery, and bought a tray of 24 of their Mosaic Pale Ales. About 40% of the cans were gushers. When home I emailed them and they were very decent about it and actually couriered me a replacement tray of 24! I suggested to them very politely abvout a wild yeast infection on their canning line, and the PR said it was very unlikely as they Pasteurized during canning.
The second tray also had the same roughly 40 ratio of gushers! However I just ensured they were all very chilled and didn't bother mentioning it as i thought they'd think I was having them on!
Thinking about it later, having read the Malt book, I suspect they had a bad batch of Malt with this particular problem. I wonder how many cans they had to replace in total!
All that aside, I was very impressed with their customer service.

Leon103 · May 7, 2019

I think everyone has missed the first part of the post - its been in the bottle a week. Give it a little bit more time. The CO2 takes time to absorb into the bottle.

Plus chill before opening.

Drunkula · May 7, 2019

Leon103 said:
The CO2 takes time to absorb into the bottle.

Nah, I'm hitting 3.3 vols in a wheat beer 5 or 6 days in and it's lush with no gush.

@the_quick did you take a final gravity reading?

the_quick · May 7, 2019

Yeah, sure did partner. It was 1.008 when bottled.

This is a second time I brew that beer. Fist time after 6 days was fine. Must have been some kind of infection I think. Maybe something in the bottle I have missed. Will crack another one soon, after day or 2 in the fridge.

Sandimas · May 7, 2019

Can you remember what yeast it was and how long if was fermented for?

I did a Belgian Wit a few months ago, bottled at the 3 week point and most of the bottles were very lively leading me to conclude I bottled too early. It was one of the MJ wheat yeasts, seemed to have a very long and slow ferment - with most ales I'm bottling on Day14 with no issues.

the_quick · May 7, 2019

It was liquid wyeast 3068. Last batch I have bottled after 10 days and was fine. This time 2 weeks and 2 days, so 16 days. I think it is quite fast acting yeast, I read some people bottle just after 7 days.
Some people had really lively fermentation, including blowing off back lids and splash art on the wall

I think it either was a bottle contamination or as @Alex.mc mentioned some barley infection. Beer tasted as it should, so I really hope it will stay that way. This Thursday it will be 10 days from bottling, exactly same time I left for carbing previous batch. Will put a bottle for 24h in a fridge and report back. We learn something new with each brew I guess.
All part of the fun

Again, thank you everyone for your input, every comment helps :)

foxbat · May 7, 2019

Be careful handling them. If they are infected then they may explode. If the crown cap looks like it's bulging out from the dimple that the capper makes then take care.

the_quick · May 7, 2019

Thanks @foxbat will check that

the_quick · May 10, 2019

Update.

Placed one bottle in a fridge for 24h, opened tonight in the garden (just in case) - no problem, no gashing, no explosion. So maybe there was something wrong with that one bottle.
Anyway, carbonated nicely, tastes like a proper Weizen, but will leave it for week or 2 in the shed, to mature a bit.

I know it is q quick beer, but has anyone left their Weizen for longer maturing? Like months?

Drunkula · May 11, 2019

the_quick said:
anyone left their Weizen for longer maturing? Like months?

I did one recently bottled off the keg that at 80 days my mate gave 8/10. I scored it lower because I thought it had a slightly pithy bitterness, but we tried a beer tonight, something Knot which it madly tropical and I thought it had the pithy bitterness and he didn't get it at all. I think it might sadly be one of the things you train yourself to taste which you want to undo.

I did another one that at 80 days was awful. Bottle conditioned. It was really good from a week out until about 6. I'll put a few away as tests on future ones but get the bulk drunk quick. They're so damned drinkable anyway.

An Ankoù · May 11, 2019

Whenever I make a wheat beer I use Safelale WB-06. It gives me the flavours I like. And I always bottle in PETS. If I drink the stuff within about 3 months, it's fine, but this yeast just keeps slowly gnawing away at whatever polysaccharides are left and the beer will eventually become unpourable. With PETs, I can check the pressure, let some pressure out and screw the cap back down, and avoid the risk of explosions. I don't know if all wheat beer yeasts are like this, but that's my experience.
What yeast did you use, by the way, t_q?

Mavroz · May 11, 2019

I brewed a cider last August, for friends who come around for Bbq's. Not a big cider drinker myself but if I leave it at room temp, upon opening it pours over the top of the bottle. If chilled, it is fine.
I can only guess it hadn't finished fermenting before I bottled it, or I over carbed it.

the_quick · May 12, 2019

Opened another bottle, that was in shed for 2 days. All good, not gushing.
An Ankou - I have used Wyeast 3068 - I used the before and really liked the flavours it gives.

An Ankoù · May 13, 2019

the_quick said:
Opened another bottle, that was in shed for 2 days. All good, not gushing.
An Ankou - I have used Wyeast 3068 - I used the before and really liked the flavours it gives.

I remember that years ago I cultured yeast from three different wheat beers and the Weihenstephaner was very good. I think I'll have a go at that again. Very "banana" if I remember right.

In fact I didn't remember right. My notes show that all the wheat beers I brewed in 2005-7 used yeast harvested from Meantime Bavarian Wheat Beer, which was sold under its own name or as Sainsbury's Wheat Beer. I wonder what yeast they used, it was delicious. I see that Meantime don't list a wheat beer any more.

the_quick · May 13, 2019

Yes it has the banana flavour - main reason I chose it first time. Local brewery did small batch of wheat beer and it had that flavour. My wife like it a lot and asked me to brew it.
Scoring brownie points where ever I can :)

Lively bottle

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