Gushers

[Mark Weusten]

I have had 3 batches of gushers lately and they all share a ring of scum around the top of the bottle as can be seen in my clear bottle pic attached. Dos this give any clues to why? I have just released the excess carbonation and they are good drinking, no off flavours. I have always used carbonation drops and thinking of moving away to bulk priming with dextrose.

[Dyl]

Its because you have made a PKB clone, these are no good and will need to be sent to me immediately

[Mark Weusten]

ha ha, I wish I hadnt added Pacific Jade to bitter as I saw the new version is using. Still not bad

[Dyl]

If its half as good as a PKB then it will be great!

As to your gusher problem, I take it you definitely allowed the fermentation to finish? Also at what temp did you bottle? that will effect the carbonation. Maybe used a bit too much yeast in the fermentation?

Im just guessing here :-)

I have moved to bulk priming also...and definitely recommend it. Less fiddly and my carbonation has been spot on so far. Make sure when you siphon the beer to your bottling bucket you get a good swirl going (if that makes sense) and give it a good stir with a santised stirrer just before bottling. The site below is the nuts

http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

I normally aim for 2.4 for pale ales

[DMAC]

I had a ring of scum on some of my brews which also gushed if left long enough (more than a month). They also dried out with time and took on an astringent flavour. I think its an infection if some sort - brettanomyces seems to be implicated if you search the web.

[Ryan Perkins]

I have just had a batch do the same and I'm pretty sure I can put it down to an infection.  The beer was cloudy with a slightly sour and funky aftertaste.  Ended up getting rid of it... felt like I was pouring one of my children down the sink.

[Mark Weusten]

Yes got rid of my Yakima clone which defo had an infection, hard work pouring all the bottles down the toilet. As for the others my PKB was worst and I spent some serious time turning the caps a very small degree. I don't get an astringent taste with these beers however that I got with the Yakima clone. Probably is an infection to a smaller degree, I have been incredibly hygenic with my bottling today.

[Ryan Perkins]

I'm pretty sure I know what caused mine.  I was late with the dry hop addition so I added a bit of dry sugar straight into the fermenter In the hopes to purge any oxygen introduced with CO2.  A bit of a lazy moment but it taught me a good lesson.

[Peter Smith]

soak you auto-syphon in hot water with Napisan , replace any hose you can etc etc

[Ryan Perkins]

Yeah everything got a double clean.  If I get a repeat I might have to get a new fermenter....maybe something shiny.