Over carbed IPA cans. Anyone else?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Mattyb79, Jan 27, 2015.

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  1. WillemHC

    WillemHC Zealot (604) Jun 21, 2013 Utah

    I fully disagree with you. Mostly because of your assumptions about craft breweries. I don't know about the brewery you are working for, or what your packaging and cellaring team are using to test CO2 volumes, but Id guess that most small breweries use a the Zahm SS-60 volume meter or something similar. A CO2 meter like this one leaves plenty of room for user error, and there are a fuck load of relatively untrained people in small craft breweries. Consistency is a huge problem for small breweries, especially for those that don't have the means to purchase the most expensive capital in the business. A Zahm like this one is a great option, but you are never going to have consistency if you have different people using them all the time. Plus if we are considering options like overworked cellarman, than I think that overcarbing is even more likely to take place every once in a while. Furthermore, we aren't talking about can's exploding. Nearly every can will gush a tiny bit when opened as the pressure is released. If a can is gushing over slightly more, it very likely could be due to a decent level of over carbing.

    To the OP, I am not a chemist and I don't know if there is something that can happen during shipping that would force a beer to carb more during transit. Most beers are stored at cold temperatures before distribution, and go through bumpy rides on long haul trucks. The more typical legal distro process may not be too much different than the ones we engage in when trading beer. If shipping were the problem, far more people would complain about this issue. Therefore my hypothesis is that your beers were overcarbonated by the breweries themselves. Sorry for the extensively long post.
     
    #21 WillemHC, Jan 28, 2015
  2. Mattyb79

    Mattyb79 Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2012 Virginia

    Actually, the can wouldn't show this effect unless seriously over carbonated. Think of it like putting your finger over the end of a straw and blowing into it. You can't cause it to burst, but you can cause it to collapse if you suck on it. Difference in surface area between inside and outside makes all the difference.
     
    #22 Mattyb79, Jan 28, 2015
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  3. Mattyb79

    Mattyb79 Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2012 Virginia

    I seriously wasn't trying to get in a dick measuring contest with this question, but you seem to insist. I let each can sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hrs (one was 72 hrs) before drinking, as I have said in previous posts. If you'd take the time to read, you'd stop asking me the same question that I've answered, but you are probably too busy sharing with me your obviously infinite knowledge of packaging beer and telling me it's got to be my fault to read.
     
    #23 Mattyb79, Jan 28, 2015
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  4. Mattyb79

    Mattyb79 Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2012 Virginia

    Funny, because that's exactly where the second beer (Hoppy Boy) came from. Anybody have insight as to how age would cause this in a can?
     
    #24 Mattyb79, Jan 28, 2015
  5. Sponan

    Sponan Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2008 Tennessee

    I have seen several of these. Either the bottom of the can inverts, or the fold around the top rim stretches and the top expands. The wall never really expands.
     
    #25 Sponan, Jan 28, 2015
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  6. Sponan

    Sponan Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2008 Tennessee

    I had several from a recently opened small brewery given to me by the brewmaster/owner (we have a mutual acquaintance) from an early batch which was recalled due to carbonation. These cans gushed similarly to what you described upon opening. As another poster mentioned, sometimes can conditioned beers can also end up with too much carbonation over time.
     
    #26 Sponan, Jan 28, 2015
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