newbie needs help bottling

[toolbag]

have bottled my beer when i open bottle it fizzes and all the sediment goes into beer is this normal is there anything i can do and does anyone know what caused it all i did was add teaspoon of sugar to every bottle when i bottled it

[markbrannan]

This happened to me - ONCE, and only with one bottle. I think its just a fluke - unless this is happening with all your bottles (?).

My experience of this was when I opened the bottle the sediment broke off in lumps and shot up through the beer. However, it was TERRIBLY bottled (see here) - so I put it down to that.

[trucker5774]

A teaspoon of sugar is a bit vague. It should be measured level but can still vary by 50% from spoon to spoon. You don't say what type of beer, what size bottle or what type of yeast. There are many possibles for your problem ....................too much sugar in whatever size bottle.............the beer may not have finished fermenting when you bottled it..............it may be infected...........the yeast may be a type which doesn't compact well...........the beer may be too warm.

Try chilling the beer. This is probably the single most effective method of reducing the disturbance. It may just be over carbonated. If they are screw top bottles open slowly ...............are they all the same?

Once opened if you pour it into a glass and let it settle (maybe over night in the fridge) does it taste OK, so you can rule out infection.

For the future try about 60g of sugar to a 23litre brew for ale and as much as 150g for lager as a guide. It's always more accurate and easier to mix the sugar into the brew before bottling.

[toolbag]

its a cider used newcastle brown bottles yeast was what came with rhe kit i just followed all the instructions on the kit even with sediment in it tasts ok just looks cloudy

[toolbag]

is it worth putting back in fermenter then re bottling or just through it away

[RichardG]

I'm not clear from your comments if it's one bottle, several, or all. Can you confirm?

[befuggled]

I had all sorts of problems with my first bottles, no condition, too much, fizz all over the place etc.

Try getting a syringe (without the needle!) and making up a sugar solution so that you give each bottle a small squirt.
I aim for 2.5 gm of sugar per litre of beer. This means a sugar solution of 62.5gms in 500ml, dose at 10ml per (500ml) bottle for 25l total.
Of course, you don't have to be that accurate!
Don't be too keen to bottle early, allow at least 3 days at stable SG. I now allow up to 10 days.
I use a 140ml syringe off fleabay. 14 squirts, 14 bottles, refill....

(Thanks to Pantsmachine for the original guidance!)

I hope someone is checking this, the sums are going a bit wobbly.....

[toolbag]

up to now used two bottles done it with both was fully fermented was in fermenting bin 14 days

if i re bottle should i add sugar to botles or brew

[RichardG]

Cider eh? Okay, can you confirm the recipe and yeast you used. 1 teaspoon of sugar doesn't sound excessive (lager would probably have that much) so that doesn't sound likely. It could be an infection, but nothing you've written suggests that either. Personally speaking, if I were re-bottling I wouldn't add more sugar; but I'd probably leave it another week or so and try again before re-bottling.

[markbrannan]

I don't reckon its an infection. You'd taste it, for a start, and if it were infected, you'd have noticed some kind of mould or foul smell (although some 'normal' fermentation smells are quite bad) before now.

Homebrewing - to me - is a very "try it and see" hobby. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. I get over-fizzed bottles occassionally, but if you chill them in the fridge for a few days (that is DAYS) before drinking, and not agitate them too much - they should be okay.

If all else fails, then just know that they're super-fizzy and open them over the sink.

[Steve W]

The same happened to me just the other week, mine was a youngs cider, never had it happen before, had to put a couple at a time in the freezer, for about 30 to 40 mins,
Are Newcastle brown bottles 500 or 568 mil?
Steve

[toolbag]

568ml but been in local homebrew shop they suggest leave it a bit longer let sediment set hard and if it comes up in lumps just pour cider through a sieve and drink it as it does taste ok basically should have put half teaspoon of sugar in each bottle not a full one