beer carbonating under layer of dry hops?

Hello all- A few days ago I racked my beer to the secondary (it's a bastardized porter recipe that I tweaked in a lot of ways and decided to add an insane amount of hops to). When in the secondary, I dry hopped with 2

3/4 ounces of cascade hops (from hop plugs I cut in half and popped directly into the carboy). The beer was not completely done fermenting when I transfered it to the new carboy, but it was almost done. Now I have noticed something strange. When I rattled my carboy around a bit, I noticed a fair amount of bubbles surfacing from the bottom of the carboy- as if the beer is now lightly carbonated! Is the thick layer of hops on the top of the carboy acting like a bottle cap preventing Co2 from escaping the carboy and prematurely carbonating my beer? My gut reaction is that I need to remove the hops from the carboy (probably the easiest way is to transfer to a new carboy). Anyone have this experience before? Any thoughts/suggestions? I need some help on this one.

Thanks!

Alf

Reply to
Alf McLaughlin
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The beer should have some level of carbonation even after racking (just not fizzy like you would think), look really really close and you should be able to see small pin sized bubbles all throughout the beer, what is more than likely happening is the sludge (if any) on the bottom of the carboy is acting as a collection point for all these small bubbles, a bunch of small bubbles make bigger bubbles, bigger bubbles make even biggerer bubbles and when they're big enough, they rise to the top. If there is no sludge, there may be small bits of hops that have sunk doing the same thing.

Just make sure your airlock does not get plugged up!!! That is the only thing that could be potentially hazardous; as a highly pressurized carboy can be one huge bottle bomb. Not sure how true but I've heard of people with plugged up airlocks & when they realize it and unplug it, beer shoots all the way up to the ceiling or worse. If this is the case...do not open it unless you are outside or in your bathtub/shower.

So keep in mind, if you are still getting bubbles rising in the beer, you should also be having some bubbles in the airlock

Otherwise, this is normal...don't worry about it!!! Recite the homebrewer's Mantra: Relax, have a homebrew.

Kent

Reply to
blah

Yes, that's exactly what I see are small bubbles (like a bottle that has carbonated beer inside). The beer actually appears drinkably carbonated (if only it were cold). The airlock is definitely A-OK and passing through the gas. This is the first time I have ever noticed carbonation in the carboy and it is also the first time I ever dry-hopped with so many hops. From this response and some other things I read, I think I will leave it in the secondary for a couple of weeks and just assume the gas will slowly make its way out from under the thick hop layer. Perhaps I will use a little less priming sugar for the bottling to compensate.

I will relax and not worry; thanks!

blah wrote:

Reply to
Alf McLaughlin

I would still use the normal amount of priming sugar when you bottle. All beer has disolved CO2 in it from the fermentation process. The main reason you are seeing it is because of the dry hopping. The hops are a place for the CO2 to come out of solution. It may seem like there is alot of CO2 in there, but there isn't enough to affect carbonation levels.

Michael Herrenbruck Drag> Yes, that's exactly what I see are small bubbles (like a bottle that

Reply to
DragonTail281

Bottled the beer and drank some a few days ago- perfect! I did use a little less priming sugar than 3/4 cup, but only because I was sure the beer was no longer 5 gallons. So, I've learned that if you think you see carbonation in the carboy and you're sure the fermentation lock isn't clogged then forget about it!

Reply to
Alf McLaughlin

Good to hear!! Drink one for me!

Kent

Reply to
blah

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