Gushers

[haerbob3]

I remembered that some were having problems with gushers. It turns out, there are molds that are found in malt & extracts that excrete proteins that form nucleation sites for carbon dioxide breakout in finished beer. I came across this tid-bit in The Home Brewer's Answer Book.

[BigPapaG]

Interesting Bob...

Does it talk about either eradicating or preventing said molds or reducing the proteins (better break in AG I suspect, but what about extract brewers?)

It would be great if we could be proactive about it to help prevent the gushers...

[zorak1066]

wouldn't a wort boil kill any potential molds that were in the malt? an hour at 212F seems like it should kill just about anything!

[mashani]

Yes, but it wouldn't be about killing it in this case. It would be about denaturing and/or precipitating the proteins that they created while they were still alive out of suspension in the solution before it gets into your bottles. Whirlpool or Whirfloc or what not...

[zorak1066]

ok I get 'nucleation sites' now. I used a cup of carbonated water in the microwave to warm it then added a teaspoon of instant coffee to the cup! our water here is crap... lol! instant gusher! the co2, already excited from the microwave must have bonded to the coffee grounds which attracted more co2 out of suspension...then more... and it just wouldn't stop until about an inch of the coffee was in the sink.

so.. the dead moldy stuff and associated proteins give the co2 a place to latch on.. like the formation of raindrops in clouds... and the bottle fills up with co2 not in suspension? then when you open it...FIZZZZZZ!!!!!! or worse... before you can open it BOOM. right?

[Brewbirds]

If the protein was already excreted it doesn't matter if the molds are killed in the boil right?
Seems like this goes all the way back to The Hat's first gusher discussion re: choclate malt harvested wet. Hmmm???
It seems like a lot of folks have been talking about random gusher events lately.
Any further details in your reading materials HB3?

[mashani]

If the protein was already excreted it doesn't matter if the molds are killed in the boil right?

Nope, no difference, you would need to get the solids left over out of solution.

[JimH]

Interesting topic. What can cause them other than these mold spores?

I have been having random gushers, as well. Ruined a really good IIPA last night. I have had a couple, but only one of them has been a gusher. I sent one to BlackDuck for Christmas, and he noted over carbonation, but not a gusher. This one was my second AG attempt, and I think I may have let a few grain hulls and other junk end up in the fermenter. I don't think it would be infection in my case, just since it has only been one or two out of a batch.

[mashani]

Bits of grain husks, bits of crushed coriander seeds (IE in a WIT beer), or just about anything else that is solid and provides surface area for the CO2 to interact with. But hop bits from pellet hops don't seem to do it - at least never happened to me when I got hop bits in my bottles due to commando hops. I guess they aren't solid enough.

And of course a bacterial or wild yeast infection that ferments more stuff in your bottle.

[FedoraDave]

This is one way gushers form. But not the only way.

It's probably pretty well known around here that I've had entire batches turn gusher. Whatever the problem's origin, I'm convinced it infected an LBK. I noticed that there were large yeasty-looking chunks in the finished beer. Could have been mold, but could have been wild yeast trub. It wasn't grain husks or anything solid, I know that. And I do use Whirlfloc at the end of my AG boils.

Originally, I thought the problem was from a package of chocolate malt that might have been infected somehow. All the gusher recipes seemed to have used chocolate malt, and it came from the same package. But it seemed to happen only with the batches made in a certain LBK, hence my suspicion that the vessel itself was the culprit.

Turns out I'm retiring all my LBKs, as I just bought a new BB 3-gallon carboy yesterday. Hopefully, this will mean the end of my gushers.

[haerbob3]

The book "THE HOME BREWER'S ANSWER BOOK" By Ashton Lewis is a collection of questions from BYO's Help Me Mr. Wizard column. Gives the mold Fusarium the blame. It is the proteins excreted by the mold Fusarium that form the nucleation site.

Protein rests & decoction mashing are said to be able to help with this ~~~ "GERMAN WHEAT BEER" By breaking down the protein bonds.

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

I recently ran into a batch of gushers from a batch of Amber Ale I brewed at the beginning of this year. Funny thing is all other batches since then have been fine, it was just the Amber Ale batch I had to end up dumping. Not sure if it was infected malts/grains or something did not get sanitized properly during the brew day. I just find it odd that just one batch ended up being infected causing gushers and no other batches on the same system, fermentation and priming vessels have been effected.

Time to go through the entire system with a fine tooth comb and make 100% sure everything is proper order. Hate having to dump beer over something that I could possibly control.

[zorak1066]

dunno if this was a gusher but... my last batch of brew demon ipa ... my last 2 bottles after sitting forgotten for about 4 months had tons of foam. they were fortunately in plastic bottles. after being in the fridge I was able to open ... sloooooowly... but on trying the careful pour it was like I was pouring foam. I had 8" of foam in a glass! eventually it settled down and I was able to drink it. I didn't over carb it so... (shrug)

in this case im thinking it was some rogue yeast got into it. the beer had a slightly off taste I cant describe. it was kind of like licorice mixed with metal mixed with yeast mixed with beer mixed with strong bittering hops so no idea. all the possible causes of licorice, metal, etc... I did not do. I used fromunda yeast... watched my temps.. used a stainless steel pot to boil the mineral water... no visible floaties until I opened it then of course the bottle trub went nuts.

[DaYooper]

Argh I hate this thread! I think reading it has given me the wrather of The Gushergod as got two in a row last nite.

[JimH]

Green Flash Brewing has a Belgian Pale Ale. That thing pours like straight foam as well. And I don't remember which, but I think I have had a commercial brew gush on me as well. It is very frustrating to know gushers happen, but I don't know how, and how to prevent. I am working on filtering better into and out of the fermenter to avoid my floating grain particles next time.