Burton Bridge Porter - too fizzy

[offshore]

Hi Guys

Being a relative newcomer, this was only my second bottling (others have been into king kegs).

I followed the instructions pretty much but used 1kg Leyland Homebrew Dark beer enhancer and 200g Muntons Extra Dark spraymalt for the primary fermentation.

When the SG was down to 1008 I bottled using two easy kegs and the rest glass bottles. The bottles were primed with 1/2 teaspoon of extra dark spraymalt and left for 7 days at 20 deg C where the FV had been.

The kegs and bottles were then placed in my wine fridge at a steady 13 deg C.

I tried two bottles last night after 7 days in the fridge. Nice and clear, dusting of sediment (had skimmed cauliflower head and dead yeast almost daily) and nice licourice taste. Main problem is that the beer is far too gassy - there is a real CO2 bite on the tongue from too much fizz.

What have I done wrong and can I doo anything to correct it or does it just need time to mature - I started the primary fermentation on 15th August.

I have yet to try the easy kegs as they had a measured 10g per 8 pint (being 10% less than recommended as all my previous brews in barrels using max recommended sugar weights have erupted like Vesuvius) but am minded to give them another week or two.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks

[seymour]

If I read your post correctly, it sounds like you primed each bottle separately. If so, that's just too much fermentable sugar in each, which led to renewed vigourous fermentation. A better practice would involve boiling some sugar and water and adding it to the whole batch before kegging/bottling. The following guide on John Palmer's How to Brew is very useful:

Keep in mind it's based on 5 US Gallons.

[Haggis]

How long was the brew in primary for?

Did you measure your final gravity over a few days? It is the only reliable way to decide if the fermentation is over.

1.008 is a good finishing gravity for this brew, but i fear it had not fully finished.

Half a level teaspoon per pint bottle is the correct amount per pint for secondary fermentation, less for smaller bottles. I have never experienced homebrew with such a level of co2 fizz to tickle my tongue.

Forgot to add, make sure your hydrometer is in perfect condition and reads 1.000 in water at 20 oC as it is possible this is giving you a bum steer

[floydmeddler]

This used to happen to me sometimes until I stopped bottle carbing altogether. What I used to do was open a bottle and pop it in the fridge for a few hours. By the time I came to drink it, a lot of the co2 had escaped and the beer wasn't too fizzy anymore. Would even leave a few in there overnight opened.

[Stomach]

Hi Mate and Welcome to Jims.

A couple of observations to help!

1. Half a teaspoon of sugar is fine per 500ml bottle, not for smaller bottles! What size did you use?
2. Use sugar to prime with. Spraymalt is too expensive to be wasting on priming.
3. You dont need to skim off the kruasen. You risk adding an infection by messing with it tfar too much.
4. Use a hydrometer so you know when its stopped fermenting. 1008 sounds finished though.

anything else, just ask!

Cheers

[offshore]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the advice. I tried the mini keg and apart from that being a bit volcano like, when poured into a pint glass it produced a very attractive pint with small tight head that clung to the glass all the way down.

Looks like I had over primed = bit difficult as spraymalt is hydroscopic and the measured teaspoon was getting bigger and bigger. I had already decided from now on to do the sugar solution, suggested in one of my books. Took the cat to the vets the other day and came away with 2 new syringes so that they will be useful (still packaged and mint by the way). Assume 5 ml per 500 ml bottle is correct?

Stomach - I take your point on spraymalt v sugar. I was just trying to get as authentic a beer as possible. Does spraymalt produce more CO2 than sugar? Could that have contributed? I also don't skim every day - just depends how much there is. The mild I have in the FV at the minute will be decanted into another under an airlock for 7 days (new toy) before barrelling.

Floydmeddler - I will experiment with bottling without sugar on the next few brews - can only see what happens.

Haggis - the brew was in the FV for 12days and had an SG 1010 on day 8, dropping to 1008 on day 10 so it had 3 days at 1008. I did not stir the brew in the FV.
Hydrometer is always cleaned before use and sterilised as is the tube it sits in. I will try your tip about opening and leaving in the fridge and I may experiment on a couple of bottles by recapping, venting the excess gas off. I have been advised and I dont see this working, to bring the bottles out into the warmth again for 7 days and then into the fridge again for another 2. I have moved one bottle to try.

Seymour - many thanks for the John Palmer chart - I had read about this but never seen it. Thanks. With regard to secondary priming, are you suggesting that a sugar solution for 40 pints, decant into a second FV, add sugar solution and then fill bottles? As above, am minded to decant and rest under airlock before bottling so that might work well.

Anyway, thanks guys, I'll see what happens. Much appreciated.

[seymour]

With regard to secondary priming, are you suggesting that a sugar solution for 40 pints, decant into a second FV, add sugar solution and then fill bottles?

That'll work. I assume these are available in the UK as well; most American homebrewers have a dedicated "bottling bucket" which can double as a FV, but has the handy valve. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/bottling ... Qgodjw8A2Q If you pour the priming sugar solution into the sanitized bottling bucket first, then rack your finished beer on top (without splashing in order to avoid oxidation), you not only leave the trub behind, but also simultaneously cool and pre-mix the sugar into the beer without stirring (which could increase the risk of an infection.) Then you just hold each bottle under the valve, open it until it's full, close, repeat...

[floydmeddler]

Since discovering this, I've never looked back...

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=39661

[Barloch]

I have a whole batch of really undrinkable sundew, i use a small teaspoon and only half a teaspoon but it is fizzy nonsense, i have left open for hours and not enough escapes, i think, in my case, i added honey to the FV to up the alcohol level and didn't leave in the FV long enough (2 weeks), but my ruby didn't turn out the same way which is strange (i added honey too)

Not sure if i can face drinking it as far too fizzy

Will have to batch prime next time