I bottled too early, checked after 3 days and the bottles gushed and foamed when opened...now what?

Sunfire96

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I'm pretty sure that I bottled too soon, or got exposed to a gusher yeast at some point. My plan was to uncap, vent, and recap the bottles, but my bottle capper is very primitive and requires a hammer. I was able to recap 2 beers, but the 3rd and 4th just foamed up through the crown cap, spraying everywhere. So I decided to fridge the remaining unopened bottles, and drink them over the next few days so that I don't have bottle bombs waiting to happen. I might let the 2 beers that I successfully vented and bottled to condition and then try them for carbonation, but if there's a wild yeast in there, I'm worried about the potential for a bomb. Is the beer even drinkable? I'm expecting it to taste very, very green, but hopefully it will still be alcoholic and flavorful. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
These bottles can be very dangerous if you bottled before fermentation was done, or if you used to much priming sugar.
You may want to remove all the caps for the sake of safety, glass shards flying at high velocity can do some serious damage.
 
These bottles can be very dangerous if you bottled before fermentation was done, or if you used to much priming sugar.
You may want to remove all the caps for the sake of safety, glass shards flying at high velocity can do some serious damage.
Yea I see your point. Any reason to save the beer?
 
I don't think I'd do much different in your position.

Wild yeast is a boogeyman term. The great majority of them struggle to ferment out maltose at any decent level and will die easily. Some throw weird flavours while they're struggling to live, many don't. But there is that 1 in 1000 chance you'll get that super yeast that can chew through anything, quickly and is a bastard to kill, Chances are you haven't got that superyeast and even that super villain will stuggle once you drop the temps.

Oops, the obvious bomb idea - l put them in something contained so if they explode you've got less cleaning.
 
I guess I should also clarify "bottled too early." The beer had slowed fermentation and started to clarify around day 5, but by day 12 it was cloudy from yeast in suspension, and bubbling far too often (at least compared to my one other batch :-/). So I took a reading and it was at final gravity, so I decided to bottle and hope that it would settle out while bottle conditioning for 2ish weeks. Turns out I was very, very wrong
 
Maybe you can decant in soda bottles?
Screw cap, so no capping problem and they can handle a lot of pressure.
Then keep in a box or so, just in case they would tear.
 
I guess I should also clarify "bottled too early." The beer had slowed fermentation and started to clarify around day 5, but by day 12 it was cloudy from yeast in suspension, and bubbling far too often (at least compared to my one other batch :-/). So I took a reading and it was at final gravity, so I decided to bottle and hope that it would settle out while bottle conditioning for 2ish weeks. Turns out I was very, very wrong

You should have taken 2 gravity readings 2-3 days apart to certify that final gravity was reached... Especially if it was still cloudy with yeast in suspension. - I've made the same mistake myself. It's hard when your itching to see what it tastes like!

I'm curious about it having dropped clear and then became cloudy and active again... It could be that another yeast strain managed its way in there.

The soda bottle idea isn't a bad one.... Worth a shot anyway. I'd still give them a couple days in the fridge. I sometimes get gushers if I try to open bottles that have only been in the fridge for a few hours - that move from warm to cold certainly does something... I've opened bottles from the same batch a couple days later and have had zero problems.
 
You should have taken 2 gravity readings 2-3 days apart to certify that final gravity was reached... Especially if it was still cloudy with yeast in suspension. - I've made the same mistake myself. It's hard when your itching to see what it tastes like!

I'm curious about it having dropped clear and then became cloudy and active again... It could be that another yeast strain managed its way in there.

The soda bottle idea isn't a bad one.... Worth a shot anyway. I'd still give them a couple days in the fridge. I sometimes get gushers if I try to open bottles that have only been in the fridge for a few hours - that move from warm to cold certainly does something... I've opened bottles from the same batch a couple days later and have had zero problems.
Yea, the returning cloudiness was very strange. After reading around on the forum, I thought that maybe excess CO2 was bubbling up from the trub and releasing through the airlock. We had a heat wave last week, so it was probably a hot fermentation, but I would've thought the yeast would be done sooner due to high temps, as opposed to stalling fermentation when it gets cold. And then being near final gravity convinced me to go ahead and bottle when I should've waited. I'm always learning something new lol
 
How does it taste?
If it tastes good and you can store it somewhere safe, and you have no more eruptions, refrigerate one for a few days and see what you get.
 
Are you trying to open them while they're still warm? Most beers will gusher if they're hot. As Craigerrr suggests, I'd try chilling the bottles for a day or two and then open one. In the meantime, keep them in a safe container.
 
The last 6 bottles from the batch were put in the fridge last night around 6. I'm going to try one when I get home from work today and see what happens. I tasted one of the gushers yesterday, and it was warm and flat, so hard to tell flavor. Definitely yeasty (not suprising), but a good bitterness that hopefully tastes better chilled. The beer was a Summit single hop IPA, btw. I think I messed up the sparge/recirculation during brewing because the beer itself was very hazy going into the fermenter before pitching the yeast (not what I'm going for, I'm not a hazy IPA fan at all). This batch was kind of effed from the beginning. Here's hoping I can salvage something drinkable and alcoholic! Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. I've only been on this forum a few weeks now, but I'm very impressed with the community and camaraderie here, cheers!
 
It is difficult being patient with the process, but if you can, leave them in the fridge fo a couple of days before opening one.
 
Are you trying to open them while they're still warm? Most beers will gusher if they're hot. As Craigerrr suggests, I'd try chilling the bottles for a day or two and then open one. In the meantime, keep them in a safe container.
They were room temp, I see now that might have contributed to my problem. Thanks!
 
It is difficult being patient with the process, but if you can, leave them in the fridge fo a couple of days before opening one.
I'm a little confused...should I be patient and wait for good beer even though the bottles could potentially explode in the next few days?
 
Put them in a cooler or esky that way if there is explosions it's contained and easy to clean.;)
Follow the above advice and cool a few for a couple of days and hopefully it'll be beer!:)
 
Put them in a cooler or esky that way if there is explosions it's contained and easy to clean.;)
Follow the above advice and cool a few for a couple of days and hopefully it'll be beer!:)

You could do both options at once by putting them in a cooler and cover with crushed ice.
 
I've never had bottles explode in the fridge. It's possible but if there's nothing but regular yeast at work, the cooler temps will arrest any activity. Put them in the fridge and maybe cover with a towel just in case until they're good and cold.
Very likely they're over-carbed so you'll still have extra foam, but I've had beers like that and they were quite drinkable. Just get the biggest glass you have or even a pitcher. Open over the sink and pour quickly and carefully. If it foams up like crazy in the first container, wait until the head subsides and pour into a glass.
 
It tastes like beer! And surprisingly didn't gush or foam once chilled. I moved the last bottles into the veggie drawer just in case, and my plan is to leave them as long as possible. I still have 2 bottles conditioning at room temp (the 2 that I was able to vent and recap), and will try to wait a few more days before moving them to the fridge
 

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I still have 2 bottles conditioning at room temp (the 2 that I was able to vent and recap), and will try to wait a few more days before moving them to the fridge
You'll probably find that those or undercarbed or flat. Store the bottles upright in the fridge for a week or two and they'll settle very nicely and the sediment will pack itself on the bottom. When you open and pour, keep the bottle still and pour slowly until you see some of the sediment being dislodged then stop. You'll have a glass of perfectly clear beer. If bottles are stored on their sides or are shaken around, the beer is cloudy. Not necessarily anything bad about that but most beers taste better without the yeast sediment.
 

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