Gushing bottles

[TeufelBrew]

I have two batches of bottled beer that have intermittent gushers amongst them. When I open, they don't do anything different for a few seconds, then the foam starts up the neck and does a constant overflow, but no shooting out the top. I lose half a bottle if I don't get it directed toward a glass immediately. Taste does not seem to be affected and is no different from the other bottles that don't gush. Any input on what may be happening and what to do to prevent it in the future?

[beerking]

You almost definitely have a contamination (unless you have just plain overcarbonated). Drink them up before it gets much worse and watch sanitation in the future.
Do you sanitize the bottles?

[TeufelBrew]

I was thinking sanitation problems, but they all soaked for at least 15min in PBW then rinsed on bottle washer and liberally applied StarSan. All this just prior to bottling. I rinse after emptying each bottle so there is no heavy residue while they await their turn to soak. I also had two bottle bombs while on vacation. Could be both an incomplete sanitation and overcarbonation. Would overcarbonation be intermittent though? Only on my 16th batch, so I'm definatly still in the steep side of the learning curve.

[btsager]

Do you carbonate with sugar directly in the bottle?

If you dissolve into the entire batch, then it shouldn't be intermittent, but if you put sugar in the bottle then fill the bottle, you could get inconsistent amounts and cause over carbonation.

[markaberrant]

You might have bottled before fermentation had ended. What was your brewing schedule and bottling date?

[Mad Scientist]

You might have bottled before fermentation had ended. What was your brewing schedule and bottling date?

I don't think so, otherwise, he'd have consistent gushers everytime in additon to the odd bottle bomb here and there. It sounds like an uneven priming or an infection to me.

[markaberrant]

I agree, just throwing it out there.

[Beer Martin]

I had this problem for a while. My problem wasn't due to sanitation issues. You sound pretty good on it, but judge for yourself. If you have sound sanitation practices then it could just be a carbonation problem.

Make sure your fermentation is done before bottling. I always wait a week after I think fermentation is done before bottling.

Also my key problem for intermittent gushers was from priming sugar. I was lazy and didn't give a very good stir after adding the sugar to my bucket (it was from lack of desire too sanitize a spoon). I just sloshed it around for a few shakes. It didn't quite do the trick. If you have some flat beers and some gushers this could be your problem.

If they all gush it's either infection or too much priming sugar all together.

After my first bottle bomb I was afraid to touch any beer bottle for a very long time. I had a friend go to the ER from a pretty nasty hand gash from a bottle grenade only about two months prior to my first bottle bomb.

The solution if they keep fermenting is to throw a party and open them all up and put them into pitchers asap.
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[TeufelBrew]

Fermented 2 wks and 2 wks secondary. Priming sugar(3/4cup) boiled in 1.5cups water and cooled to beer temp. Oh, and it's a 5gal batch. Sugar slury slowly added to beer as it's racked from secondary to bottling bucket, allowing pressure of incoming beer to mix. Trying to keeps possible oxidation down, so I don't stir or move the beer much until it's bottled.

Maybe I'm not getting a good enough mix of the bottling sugar, but it seems this would have happend on previous batches.

Meanwhile, I hope to finnish fermentation chiller this weekend. What an addictive hobby i've gotten myself into.

[markaberrant]

I always give my beer a gentle stir after adding the priming sugar.

[Mad Scientist]

When I bottled, I founf that adding the sugar solution first, then racking the beer ontop of it worked just fine for mixing....

[Fweezle]

When I bottled, I founf that adding the sugar solution first, then racking the beer ontop of it worked just fine for mixing....

Me too.
I usually dump it right into the bottling bucket after it's done boiling and rack the beer right on top. Sure the sugar water is still hot but as the beer racks on top of it, it cools it right away and mixes at the same time.

[Beer Martin]

Me too.
I usually dump it right into the bottling bucket after it's done boiling and rack the beer right on top. Sure the sugar water is still hot but as the beer racks on top of it, it cools it right away and mixes at the same time.

I've never had problems with that, but I'm forgetfull sometimes and dumped the sugar in after racking to the bottling bucket. It may not mix too well that way.

I'm just offering some other mistakes I've made in the past.
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[dparsons]

Yep, if its intermittent it could be a matter of the bottling sugar not being stirred in.
_

[TeufelBrew]

I believe the non-stir is the culprit. Another few bottles have gone in so many different directions, and there are no off flavors. I want to thank you all for helping me think through and problem solve. Now I just have to convince SWMBO that kegging will save interior space and I can put this issue in my rearview mirror.

[Otis_The_Drunk]

I found that if I have gushers, I lager them for about a month and the problem subsides. Well 90% of the time it does.

[Mad Scientist]

The gushers that I have had, cold storage did nothing for them.