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

Wed May 16 08:43:36 PDT 2007

sometimes an aged homebrew will suddenly kick into a mysterious late fermentation in the bottle.  Usually a bacterial or wild yeast infetion that either ferments or allows the yeast to ferment otherwise unfermentable components in the finished beer. Almost all gushers are a result of bacteria + time  :)

Fairway

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike T <miketaliercio at hotmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 8:34 am
Subject: Re: [COHO] Whats happening to my beer....

> 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.
> 
> 
> >_______________________________________________
> >COHO www.cohomebrewers.org
> >COHO at lists.bendtel.net
> >http://lists.bendtel.net/mailman/listinfo/coho
> 
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