Gusher Infection

First, are you sure you had an infection? Was it all the bottles or just some of them? How did you add your priming sugar?

If you are sure the batches were infected, then the answer is to clean and sanitize all of your post boil equipment scrupulously.

 

i'm guessing you have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done since you called it a gusher infection. You aren't cleaning something well enough, my guess would be your bottles. Maybe explain what your cleaning protocols are as well as your typical bottling day. that might help us to pinpoint where you need to focus.

edit: Vike your post wasn't here when i sent mine. not trying to supercede...
CollegeKid, vikeman is right about ensuring the infection thing first.

 

lol
I read this thread title and thought you threw gushers in your beer to dry-hop and it got infected.

 

Been there man. Not fun. I had 10 batches get hit when I bought a used plastic conical, and then went on a brewing spree. On batch 3 in that fermenter I pulled the yeast and repitched it to batch 4, then pitched that into 5 and another one in my Better Bottle, then repitched that into batch 6 and the Better Bottle again. I did an ESB in the Better Bottle that got hit (not a very healthy yeast pitch), and maybe even a Saison after that (really foamy, but I packaged it a little too soon as well). Finally found out there was a problem when batch 3&7 went into a competition and got hit. Went back and cracked a bottle of batch 1 from that fermenter and it gushed everywhere too. Feel free to read here, and click the links to the other stories, I think I did 7 blogs about it total. I got all new bottling gear, and deep cleaned my fermenters, bleach and good rinse, and then brewed a Blonde Ale to test them out and the conical was still infected, Better Bottle is good to go and producing great beers again. Good luck man.

 

How do you know that the beer wasn't just over carbonated?

 

Only gushers I've produced were a couple bottles out of an early batch when the priming sugar was not thoroughly mixed...I started gently swirling my bottling bucket after that.

 

Replace all your plastic/Rubber equiptment, Let you beer ferment long enough, at LEAST 2 weeks, I usually let all my beers at least 3 weeks. and dont add to much Priming Sugar. Gushing is usually a symptom of Wild yeast of some kind. If thats the case your plastic equiptment is already infected. Not the biggest issue in the world but thats my advice. Cheers!

 

Explain why you think this was an infection, instead of over priming, or bottling too early....

Just because they are gushing out doesn't mean its infected.

 

To the OP: Have you observed a thinning of your beer's body along with the high carbonation

Years ago, when an oatmeal stout I brewed had a bottle infection, here's how it went down: for about 1 month or so, the beer seemed appropriately carbonated. After that, they would increasingly show signs of infection (gusher's that would spill on the floor upon opening and pour glasses of foam). The beer flavor texture also changed overtime, from slick and thick stout to very thin. This thinning is pretty characteristic of such an infection as the bacteria are gradually breaking down the dextrins that the yeast left behind and pumping out more CO2 in the process.

 

That still doesn't mean it's an infection. What was the OG? FG? Yeast strain?

 

Did you hit all of your volumes,or did you add your normal amount of priming sugar to 4gallons of beer? How long between brew day and bottling day?

 

If it were bottle infection (i.e. an infection whose source is unclean bottles), you might expect to see some variation in carbonation, owing to the fact that some bottles got cleaned better than others and the infectious agents present in each bottle would likely vary. The fact that you do not see variation could point to infection in an earlier part of the process when your beer was in a "batch" phase, but the jury is still out on whether infection is the proper diagnosis.

 

I had the same problem with a few batches. Though I learned it wasnt an infection. I was a little low on the bottling volume and not accounting for some of the waste/trub overspill, etc. I was using priming sugar calculating for a 5 gallon batch but in reality I was only bottling about 4 1/2 gallons. Now I take a closer look at the volume in my bottling bucket before adding the priming sugar,then gently stir and bottle. Seems to have worked for me.

How long does a plastic bucket usually last? I have one that I look at with a little suspicion now. I know, safe bet is to replace it, I was just curious about your experiences. I'm fairly new at this.

Steve

 

"How long does a plastic bucket usually last?"

My first plastic bucket is going on 10 yrs now. If treated and cleaned kindly...they'll last long time

 

Be wary of scratches, because they can harbor bacteria.

 

You didn't mention anything about a difference in taste compared to what you expecting. Does it taste off?

My only experience with an infection caused a soapy off flavor but no excess carbonation. It claimed 3 batches before I finally diagnosed it properly (thought it was chlorine/chloramine first, then thought it was caused by oxyclean residue on bottles).

 

I think the taste or mouthfeel would be a strong indicator of whether an infection was present, or if the bottles were just over-carbonated from post-bottling continued fermentation or from over-priming. The few incidents when I've experienced an infected beer were all a mouthfeel that was highly acidic or tart tasting, to the point of a major burning sensation on my tongue.

 

I just bottled a coconut cream stout yesterday, and the bottles seem to have an ever so slight head at the top of the beer inside. Is this just a sign of the residual yeasties doing their thing to carb? Will it it eventually go away?