BeerBorg

I've just opened three bottles and they all were gushing. Two were from a batch that I split and used different hops on. They were really good just a week ago. They taste bitter now and gush.
That means I have a contaminated or bad batch doesn't it?

The third bottle was from an entirely different batch and brew day. It is also gushing and taste off.

I have to be more mindful of sanitation but I think I was good about my brewing practices.

That's no fun. How long have they been in the bottles? How much priming sugar did you use? The gushing could be from over priming, but the off flavors probably not. Feel free to post your process. Always good to have another set of eyes on things...

yep your process would help. also the types of beer. do you have multiple fermenters. the hat had the same problem and traced it to a bad LBK

Also...are you positive that they were done fermenting before they were bottled? Just another thought to throw out there.

As Bob noted, I had the same problem. My guess was that it was an infected LBK, which I've discarded. Time will tell if I was right, as none of the batches done in other LBKs are ready yet.

One of the things I noticed in these beers was that they tasted more or less okay. But I noticed large floating particles, like chunks of trub, in the glasses after pouring. I don't know if this indicates wild yeast or some other organism present that got into microscopic scratches in this particular LBK. Doesn't matter in the long run, and time will tell if my conclusion is correct.

Start taking notes on this stuff and see if you can narrow it down ASAP. It's heart-breaking to dump a batch of beer.

I have had infected batches with the symptoms Dave mentioned, and some like yours Banjo. I've also had batches in which an infection grew slowly, taste was good at first, sour and foamy later.

I think it might the LBK. I threw one out that had an indentation after I used it to brew one of the gushing batches. It was pushed in and probably caused the problem.
I use recommended carb levels so I don't think it is the sugar amount. I get the levels from Beersmith and usually shoot for the middle of the ranges.

I let it ferment for three weeks and take hygrometer readings to confirm that it's done.

To explain my process is pretty hard. I've been moving to all grain and every batch seems like a new process to me. Any sanitation problem would be post boil anyway so the mash or steeping couldn't be the source. I'm really aware of the sanitation process.
When I batch prime I haven't been boiling for 10 minutes . That is one possible problem.
I rehydrate my yeast by bringing water to a boil for 4-5 minutes in the microwave.I cover the Pyrex measuring cup with foil that has been soaked in Starsan while it cools.
The wort was chiiled in an ice bath . It takes about 30 minutes and I leave the kettle top on.

I have an excuse to brew some more beer but I'm getting a little tired of brewing bad or average beer especially when there really good beers in my local supermarket.
I'm not quitting! Try,try again.

What size batch?? 30 min is getting on the lengthy side for a chill down. This is wort's most vulnerable time. I found that my 25' coil work well for 2.5 gal. When I moved to 6 gallons fermenter batch the 25' took too long. Had a marked improvement in my beers with a 50 footer. I now have a recirculation immersion chiller, really chills the wort down fast.

I went through that Banjo. Half of my first ten batches were bad. Half of the rest were only mediocre. Since then I have produced consistently good beer, though I still hope to improve.

John Sand wrote:I went through that Banjo. Half of my first ten batches were bad. Half of the rest were only mediocre. Since then I have produced consistently good beer, though I still hope to improve.

How much and what kind of yeast did you use? What was the gushing? From the bottles or from the fermentor?

When I open a bottle it just foams out of the top. I tried a Moose Drool clone today and 3/4 if the bottle gushed out. I drank the rest. It had what I would describe as a spicy,slightly hottish flavor.

I guess it could be over carbonated but I always run the numbers through Screwie's carbonation calculator .

I had been fighting this same problem all summer long. Had to dump a lot of beer. Not fun.

As Dave said; I would first suspect your fermenter. But then I would go even further. Do you take your spigot apart when you're doing your post brewing and or bottling clean-up? You'd be surprised at all the little hiding places there are in there for nasties to hide. Also, if you use a bottling wand, do you take it apart and pull tho teeny-weeny o-ring off of the valve stem and sanitize all of that? And lastly, what I think was the root of my problem, do you sanitize your hands when you're bottling? You handle the bottle caps (assuming you're using glass) and I even go so far as to soak my wing capper in Star-San to cut out that route for infection.

Could you have over pitched the amount of yeast, and not have left enough time to ferment? Have you considered cold crashing?

Thanks for the suggestions. i do all the sanitization things that you mentioned.

I have been cold crashing.

As far as over pitching the yeast. I used I smack pack for a 2.5 gallon batch. The 5 gallon recipe called for 2 packs.

I am going to re-brew this recipe and be completely OCD about sanitization. I think I have been up until now but something is off.

I have feeling that I haven't been boiling my late addition DME long enough and when batch priming haven't boiled long enough.

The other suspect is the water boiled to rehydrate the yeast. I have been microwaving for 5 minutes. I am going to boil on the stove for 10 minutes. Its probably overkill.

By the way of lessening the blow: A friend gave me a bottle of his Magnum IPA last night. I poured it today, but more than half the glass was foam, and it was sour. It can happen to anyone.