Yeast Cake Break Up Opening Bottles

ptrain

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Hi Gang,

I've been drinking a dunklewiezen i made for a few weeks now. After 2 weeks in the bottles I've had to be very careful about opening the bottles. If I open normally - quickly - I get a volcano and the yeast cake breaks up and dissolves into the beer ruining the nice flavors.

I carbed it to about 3 volumes. When I open it slowly and gently and pour it fairly quick the yeast stays in tact until i get most of the beer into a glass but it still catches me out now and again, It also has made the beer almost impossible to share with people as they haven't got the knack of opening them.

Anyone else encountered this? Anything I could have done that is causing it? The yeast I used was Mangrove Jacks M20.

I've another regular Bavarian wiezen to do this weekend, my recipe says 3-3.5 vols. I really don't want it ruined by loose yeast, I think its going to be a good one!

Thanks!!
 
Hi Gang,

I've been drinking a dunklewiezen i made for a few weeks now. After 2 weeks in the bottles I've had to be very careful about opening the bottles. If I open normally - quickly - I get a volcano and the yeast cake breaks up and dissolves into the beer ruining the nice flavors.

I carbed it to about 3 volumes. When I open it slowly and gently and pour it fairly quick the yeast stays in tact until i get most of the beer into a glass but it still catches me out now and again, It also has made the beer almost impossible to share with people as they haven't got the knack of opening them.

Anyone else encountered this? Anything I could have done that is causing it? The yeast I used was Mangrove Jacks M20.

I've another regular Bavarian wiezen to do this weekend, my recipe says 3-3.5 vols. I really don't want it ruined by loose yeast, I think its going to be a good one!

Thanks!!

Only thing I can think of is the carbonation level there ptrain. I've had this happen in bottled beers 1 from wild yeast gushers that ain't you. And 2 heavy carbonation sounds like your on to something though with the gentle release of pressure! Good luck
 
Sorry for the basic questions but was the beer finished fermenting when you bottled? that might explain why they seem over carbed if there was still some sugar there and then you added more for priming
are the bottles really cold before you open them? that'll help to keep the co2 in solution longer while you pour
I don't think I've gone to that many volumes before, but after a few gushers I tend to go to the low end of volumes for style. and then maybe even .1 or .2 oz less than that. I had a barleywine years ago explode on me. thankfully it was stored in an unplugged chest freezer. but still a mess to clean up
 
What was your bottling process? You may have used to much sugar. 3 vols is high anyway so if your off high your in trouble. They may (probably) get worse if their this bad after a few weeks. Like mentioned above give it time to finish. When bottling, 3 week minimum for fermentation.
 
A dunklewiezen is the only beer I've ever had bottle bombs with.
 
Some sort of low-level infection is my guess, and too much priming sugar. I used WLP380 slurry from a hefe (that seemed fine) but something happened to the dunkle. That was almost 2 years ago. I feel bad because I gave bottles away, and then tried to recall them. Too late- one I gave away exploded in my wife's step-father's kitchen. "Slow Volcano" was a phrase we used to say quite a bit.
 
Hi Gang,

I've been drinking a dunklewiezen i made for a few weeks now. After 2 weeks in the bottles I've had to be very careful about opening the bottles. If I open normally - quickly - I get a volcano and the yeast cake breaks up and dissolves into the beer ruining the nice flavors.

I carbed it to about 3 volumes. When I open it slowly and gently and pour it fairly quick the yeast stays in tact until i get most of the beer into a glass but it still catches me out now and again, It also has made the beer almost impossible to share with people as they haven't got the knack of opening them.

Anyone else encountered this? Anything I could have done that is causing it? The yeast I used was Mangrove Jacks M20.

I've another regular Bavarian wiezen to do this weekend, my recipe says 3-3.5 vols. I really don't want it ruined by loose yeast, I think its going to be a good one!

Thanks!!

While 3-3.5 volumes might be "to style", the carbonation is very spritzy and that is the cause of the yeast cake breaking up (lots of nucleation points).

I generally carb my bottled beers to 2.5 volumes, partly for that reason. If you're set on a higher carb level, chill the bottles for a longer time before opening, and then pour it into a glass in one pour. That might help.
 
You might be able to salvage them. Let out some pressure and recap.
 
  1. All good points. I had a strong scotch ale do the same thing due to a combination of priming miscalculations and possible incomplete ferment. Luckily I used swing tops so they were easy enough to bleed out over a few days. Always seemed to have trouble bottle priming which was a main motivator for moving to kegs.
 
Domino dots. One per 12 oz bottle. Perfect carbonation every time
 

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