[COHO] Whats happening to my beer....

[Mike T]

Bottling beers may be the first procedure learned for storing homebrew, but 
it's really far more complicated than force carbing in a keg. The thing is 
that it's not easy for us to measure how much viable yeast is in the beer at 
bottling time. Sugar can be calculated a little more precisely because we 
can take a final gravity reading and measure out the extra sugar to add to 
the bottling bucket. Commercial breweries seem to not only make sure their 
beers are completely done fermenting, but also clear their beers so that 
there is virtually no yeast left in the beer, usually by filtering. So they 
start with no sugar or yeast. Then, they can add an exact amount of new 
yeast and priming sugar, at a precise temperature for a precise amount of 
time, to ensure that they end up with the correct volumes of CO2 in the 
final product. Now, the longer that you store a beer the more precise you 
need to be with your carbonating procedure. High gravity beers tend to have 
low carbonation and often need time for the flavors to meld together. 
They're designed better for aging. A steam beer is not. I think five months 
of storage time is just too long, Bill. Not that it's not possible, but more 
control of yeast husbandry would most likely have to be imposed over the 
"relax don't worry have a homebrew" philosophy.
With that said, I can't really pin point what the problem with your beer is. 
It was fine after 4 months and bad after 4.5 months? I'd rule out 
contamination and unless you open some beers that have low carbonation, I'd 
rule out improper mixing of the priming sugar too. You'll just have to pour 
them into a pitcher and let them sit until the carbonation subsides, then 
decant into a glass. On a good note, steam beers are supposed to have about 
3.0 volumes of CO2, which is on the high side. I have some beers from last 
summer that do the same thing. We just need to drink quicker. ;)
See you guys tonight. BTW, I sampled the COHO de Mayo beer that we'll be 
serving this evening and it rocks!
Cheers!
-Mike


>From: Huntkng at aol.com
>Reply-To: Central Oregon Homebrewers <coho at lists.bendtel.net>
>To: coho at lists.bendtel.net
>Subject: [COHO] Whats happening to my beer....
>Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 19:38:58 EDT
>
>Hello group,
>
>Odd things are happening here.  I may need to make a sacrifice to the  beer
>gods to appease them.  Have I sinned (OK, lets don't go there).
>
>The story:
>
>Late in the winter (06') I made a California Common.  In my humble  opinion
>it was a wonderful brew.  I've been drinking it for about a month  or so; 
>maybe
>I've consumed 15 - 20 bottles (hey I was sharing it with friends  too!).
>Nothing has changed, the storage location is the same, the storage  
>temperature
>is the same, it smells wonderful and still taste great.   It has always 
>been a
>little bubbly, not quite Champagne like but I'd get 3/4" of  head in the
>glass.
>
>Here is the problem:
>
>The last three bottles have just erupted in a spew of foam.  I pop the  top
>of the Grolsch bottle, it sits for 15 seconds or so and then spills  over 
>the
>top, and spills, and spills, and spills.  Same batch, same  conditions, no
>evidence of contamination, nothin', nada has changed.
>
>What's goin' on?
>
>Bill
>
>William Herrick
>PO Box 7499
>Bend, OR 97708
>(541)  318-8862 - Wk
>(541) 410-5881 - Cell
>(541) 318-0083 -  Fx
>
>
>
>
>************************************** See what's free at 
>http://www.aol.com.


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