Over carbonated?

[rowyourboat]

Hi all

Hoping for some thoughts from those of you who know better than I do! Mods, please move if I'm posting in the wrong place.

Bit of back story first.. Back in June I started a nice looking IPA recipe, my 3rd all grain brew. The UK heatwave then hit and my primary was constantly at 25deg plus for the first week. After some issues with realising my initial yeast was out of date, adding a second sachet to kick start things it went nuts in the primary but after 2 weeks the gravity was constantly below 1.010. I left it in the primary for the rest of the month then bottled as I normally do and used some cooper's carbonation drops.
Relieved that I'd rescued this from what had looked like disaster initially, I then noticed it wasnt clearing as well as it usually does.

6 weeks after bottling its still not clear! Well, on each bottle about an inch from the top is clear and its a cloudy haze underneath that. But its not dropped for weeks. (I could be imagining it that the clear top rises and falls by a cm maybe from day to day...?)

So I thought it could be a couple of things:
- infection? It tastes okay though last time I tried, a bit green but def potential!
- Protein haze? I'm new to AG and struggle with the sparge but did use whirlfloc tablet so didn't think it was that.
- Could over carbonated beer have so much co2 in suspension the liquid can't clear? I just opened on and it was REALLY fizzy (constant foam coming out the top)

I'm thinking it might be the last one, mostly because I don't know what else it could be? Anyone have any ideas? And if it is, could I just open them up and relieve pressure a bit and close up again? Or should I just drink it cloudy like some of the hip youngsters have started doing?

[Deebee]

I don't thing its overcarbonated. The only waty to check this is to open a bottle or two at normal serving temperature and see. If you get gushers then it could be that you have an infection.

If the Fg was constant for weeks then it is also unlikely that it is overcarbonated.

I use the coopers drops myself, just cos it is som much easier, less time consuming and removes a step where infection can be introduced. I use one drop whether it is in a 500 ml or a 300 ml bottle and find it to be fantastic.

Which yeast did you use?

I also wonder whether you have started the cold conditioning phase 8helping the yeast to drop when its finished)

[DethApostle]

Something similar sounding happened to me earlier this summer too but I put it down to the FV temp being too high, and at 25c that sounds like the same thing as you.
Even after crash cooling and 3 weeks in a corny in the kegerator at 8c the beer wouldn't drop clear, and tasted a little 'funkier' than planned.
Unfortunately it wasn't a keeper and ended up down the drain!

Lesson learnt - control your FV temps all year round! Cool in the summer, warm in the winter!

DA

[rowyourboat]

I've chilled one today and cracked open tonight, good news is It wasn't a gusher though it was pretty fizzy, bad news it certainly wasn't prize winning either. I only use 1 Cooper drop per bottle, all of which are 500ml or 660ml so didn't expect it would be over-carbed but...

.. the yeast used was originally WhiteLabs California. My first and only use of a liquid to date - unfortunately after I added to my wort, I realised it was 4 months out of date. It had been in the fridge the whole time, guess I just lost track of how long I'd had it. After a few days, nothing was happening to the wort, so I got hold of some dry Nottingham (all I could get at short notice) and pitched that too. It had the desired effect in that the yeast went absolutley crackers for a few days and I thought I'd salvaged it to some extent. Could a double yeast dose in the wort cause any problems though? I tried to read up at the time and it looked fairly safe I thought.

Back to tonight's sampler, it's smelling great. Taste wise, there's something maybe not quite right - perhaps a bit medicinal or chloriney? Hard to put my finger on it as its a bit subtle against the hops but it's defintely there. It was a first attempt on a recipe so i've no frame of reference for comparison but I think I've sampled enough beers to know something is a bit off!

If it's an infection, I guess it will only worse? If it was just a result of hot fermentation then maybe it will settle eventually, although with slightly off flavours forever.

Lessons learnt - check dates on products and don't brew in a heatwave...

[Deebee]

I think you have the answer.
You pitched a vial of out of date yeast(not a problem in itself) and had a long lag time.
The temperature was warm.
I suggest you have an infection of kinds, especially seeing as you have noticed an off taste.
I personally never ever use a direct pitch vial without making a starter first. Never. I want to make sure that there is at least enough yeast to start fermentation quickly and keep the bugs away.
It will not get any better so i suggest hou drink as much as you csn whilst it tastes good then drain the rest.
Make sure you sterilize the fv thoroughly before the next batch. And ALWAYS make a starter with liquid yeast no matter how fresh it is.

[rowyourboat]

Thanks for the quick response - the yeast said just pitch it straight in, but when I read up about the date issue I saw a lot about making starters - will definitely consider next time whether using dried or liquid.

Massive clean up of all equipment ahead of the next brew then and fingers crossed for better luck. (I think this is my first spoiled beer in about 4 years of this little hobby so I guess I can't complain.)

i suggest you drink as much as you can whilst it tastes good

That's the best advise I've ever been given. I might frame it and put it up on the wall.

[Deebee]

Thanks for the quick response - the yeast said just pitch it straight in, but when I read up about the date issue I saw a lot about making starters - will definitely consider next time whether using dried or liquid.

Massive clean up of all equipment ahead of the next brew then and fingers crossed for better luck. (I think this is my first spoiled beer in about 4 years of this little hobby so I guess I can't complain.)

i suggest you drink as much as you can whilst it tastes good

That's the best advise I've ever been given. I might frame it and put it up on the wall.

Couple of things.

With a dry yeat you do not need to make a starter, they are never needed, just make sure you pitch enough.

In regard to the liquid yeasts, it says they can be directly pitched I know.... But this is based on them being in perfect condition.

If you collect them and they are maybe a couple weeks old you might be able to get away with it. but if they have travelled around the world ( likely not in the best storeage conditions) then stuck in a HBS for a while then why not use a couple of days in advance to make a starter, make sure the yeast works then pitch it.

it saves the hassel of spending 5 hours on a brewday plus the cost of malt, gas, electric water and the like for it to turn into drain cleaner.

my advice. Always make sure you make a starter for a liquid yeast.

Remember once you have made your starter you can decant a small amount back into he container ( after it has got going) and you will have the same yeast for ever.