Belgian Beer Gushing

I thought this post was going to be gushing about how great Belgian styles were, and I came prepared to add to the gushing!!

 

You need to fully chill them (fridge temp, like around 35 or so). Belgian styles, especially Quads, will foam over very quickly if they're not chilled enough and the yeast hasn't been given enough time to settle in that cold temp. I've never had a full-on geyser scenario, but I've had plenty that will foam over and run down the side of the bottle literally a few seconds after opening if they're too warm when I pop them. If you like them at that temp, chill them well (and let them sit undisturbed upright in that temp for a few days), pop and pour them, and then let them warm up in the glass for a bit. It has absolutely nothing to do with the bottles being infected - it's just the nature of the beast. I have 16 Westy's right now myself just waiting to be drank (10 12's, 3 8's and 3 Blonds) and when I bring the 12's up from the cellar I pop them in the fridge (temps this low virtually halt the aging process), let them chill out in there for a few days, and then pop them when they're cold and let them breathe in the glass for a few minutes before drinking.

 

Yea, I'm a big fan of their Morpheus house strain, but it seems to be pretty unpredictable. Alvinne Undressed was one of the better Oud Bruin styles I've tried.

 

There are a couple of potential causes:

Barley harvested during wet conditions is subject to Fusarium fungi and it will gush and gush regardless of temperature or shaking. I have had them gush for up to an hour and I have had this problem more with Belgians and Belgian style beer than other styles. This is a kind of long slow gushing and is especially irritating to wait an hour as your $20 bomber empties half its content into the sink and they all you get out of it is one lousy glass. I suspect the Fusarium takes a while to develop and if you drink the stuff very fresh it is more likely to behave. Stay away from the years 2000, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012 because I have heard they had wet harvests.

Purveyors of antique beer are especially fond of Belgians because people like you and I tend to buy them no matter what and we often can not decipher the best buy date without rigorous research. Belgian beers have more funkier yeast strains and Brettanomyces in particular will continue eating any long chain sugars that normal beer yeast won't touch for years and years. As the bottles age - especially sitting on a warm store shelf - they will become more explosive. In this case anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of your bottle will eject very rapidly and then you will be able to have enough out of your 750 ml bottle to at least imagine what it might have tasted like 3 or 4 years ago when the brewer intended you to drink it.

Wild yeasts going nuts is especially a problem with lambics and I talked with one importer who wouldn't touch the stuff a few years ago, especially some of the more cult brands such as Cantillon because too many of the bottles exploded in the warehouse. Had he refrigerated his warehouse he probably would have avoided this problem.

Advice: 1) buy the stuff as fresh as possible and then store it in a cool cellar. Americans write date MM/DD/YY. Europeans do it DD/MM/YY so 22 01 11 is January 22 2011. Patrick Dawson's book on Vintage Beer has some good advice on figuring out date codes. 2) buy the stuff from a retailer who keeps it refrigerated, 3) buy beer from a reputable retailer who is not selling antiques, and 4) always open the bottles in the sink.

I don't know about other people but I have had less trouble with trappist beers than I have with some of the smaller, more obscure Belgian breweries.

 

PS - another way to avoid the gushing problems is to buy North American interpretations of Belgian ales - Ommegang, Unibroue, the Bruery, Lost Abbey, Jolly Pumpkin, Ale Smith, Allagash, Boulevard and a ton of others all do a very good job with Belgian style ales and I have never had any of these turn into Mount Vesuvious.

 

My St. Bernardus Abt 12, 12oz bottles my brother and I popped over the holidays were gushers. If you pour them into a glass fast enough it prevents overflow.

 

The bartender in me cries everytime I hear about a "gusher". I have always opened my corked beers as I do a bottle of champagne. Never lost a drop. Try this. Please.
http://www.chiff.com/a/open-champagne.htm

 

I always always always have a glass ready whenever I open a beer due to unpredictable gushers. Goose Island Sofie and Odell Celastrina are 2 that gush on me every time, but I've had lots of others that seem to depend on the batch. I just pop as fast as I can and get a glass in hand as quickly as possible just in case.

I wouldn't worry too much about your belgian sours. I don't think I've ever had a sour gush on me, as they're generally not carbonated as much.

 

I have never had gushing problems with Duvel or St. Bernardus. Check the dates on the bottles and try a different retailer. Duvel has best by date codes, especially the little 4 packs. On the 4 packs a best by date is on the carton while on the 750 ml bottles it is printed on the label. If one of the beers in a 4 pack blows up on you, you can at least take the other 3 back for a refund. I have also had luck taking pictures of the gushing beer and returning to the retailer and getting a refund. Duvel should be able to handle some age but I prefer it as fresh as possible. It can be pretty foamy with the head taking up the top half of the glass but it shouldn't fill up your sink. Duvel Moortgat owns Ommegang and bought Boulevard in 2013 and they have done a good job tweaking and fine tuning the beer. St. Bernardus also uses a best by date printed DD/MM/YY and the best by date is 5 years from the bottling date. The St. Bernardus Christmas ale ages well and is quite nice up to about 4 years and then it starts slowly diminishing. I still like it at five but after that its worthless. Westmalle does not age as well as Chimay or even Rochefort. I have some Orval in my basement that is over 8 years old that is just incredible and still continues to improve. Hope this helps.

Duvel has just opened a pub on the Grote Markt (Grand Place) in Brussels. You could just go there and avoid all these problems......

 

No cork here.
And I'm not sure how long St Bernardus has been doing the small bottle format but this was the first time I had ever seen it. First two of the 4 pack had to be rushed to the sink, the second two were poured very fast like this.

 

Just for the record Duvel doesn't tweak or fine tune our beers here at Ommegang. They give us feedback and they are involved in Capital Projects to improve our process but all beer development and process/formula changes (based on sensory/lab analysis) is done here locally in Cooperstown, New York.

Thanks,
Phil Leinhart
Brewmaster
Brewery Ommegang

 

This indeed is a big problem. Couple of weeks ago I came across an article with a Belgian brewmaster who complained about quality loss, difference in taste etc due to transportation. I'll see if I can find it, was in Dutch though

 

I would be curious to see that if you can find it. I will be in the Netherlands all next week and will certainly be bringing back some Belgian beers in the controlled environment of my suitcase

 

Best "aw snap" ever! Respect levels for Ommegang have now increased substantially.

 

@humuloner22 This happened to me last weekend with a bottle of Achel 8. It was a cap, no cork.

I had the bottle at room temp for a week, then popped it in the fridge for an hour or two before opening. My first Belgian beer ever that has gushed and I've been drinking them for over ten years now. Luckily I quickly put my mouth on the bottle, and sort of "sealed" the bottle until I could get my glass.

Somehow I lost none of us, and also managed to slow pour it without disturbing the yeast sediment. The beer was delicious.

Anyways, I found your thread interesting because of my similar experience last week. Lots of great information in this thread too for next time! Thanks to the contributors!

 

I have bought many a Duvel Pack to get one of their glasses. I have had problems with large chain retailers and small mom and pop shops. The small shops replace the beer if it is bad and know my name. Too often the bigger guys don't care.

 

Well *I* have. I've never had a Belgian gusher, but have had several from Jolly Pumpkin -- also capped rather than corked. In fact, my last Noel de Calabaza kept slowly spewing foam even after I had poured out half into glasses.

This is still not enough to dissuade me from buying them. Good beer.