I just made my first kit, it is a wheat. The problem is that there is too high pressure on the bottles. When I open it, it goes with a bang, and the beer just going out of the bottle as foam. When I taste the beer after the foam is not there, then it taste like there is no CO2.
My question is then. Can i release the pressure, by opening and clossing the bottles, and let the yeast do it work, by removing more of the sugar? I think its because there is to much sugar in the beer that makes the beer foam so much. Does the pressure inflict on how the yeast work?
Congratulations on your first [partially] successful brew!
The very same thing happened to me 3 TIMES with my wheat beers!! Wheats are known for being heady beers, but they can be downright explosive sometimes!! The problem, most likely, is either that you bottled before fermentation was complete (did you taste it before bottling? was it still sweet?), or you've got an infection that is eating up all of the sugar (is it very high-alcohol, or does it taste like crap?). So to answer your question about sugar, yes, you're right, there is too much sugar being converted into CO2 inside the bottles. There isn't really much hope for gushers.... you can either put up with it and drink it anyway, or you can dump it all down the sink (darnit!!), or if you are feeling adventurous, you could try opening each bottle into a clean sanitized bucket, wait for fermentation to complete, and reprime and rebottle. However the finished beer might end up tasting like crap from all of the movement, I'm not sure.
The first time this happened to me, I had a gushing German wheat, but I just drank it anyway, being sure to open my bottles over the bathtub or somewhere safe, because it was gushing pretty bad. The second time, I had bottles of Belgian wit literally exploding all over my house, so I ended up opening all of my bottles outdoors and dumping it all. What a waste. It was undrinkable because it gushed all but an ounce or two, plus it was unsafe to keep around. Oh well. In both cases, it was all because I was too eager and bottled too early, before fermentation was complete. The third and latest time it happened to my prized Christmas ale, based on a Belgian wit. This time, I'm not sure if fermentation wasn't complete or if I had an infection, or both (likely both), but it doesn't gush all that terribly and still tastes good, so I've been drinking it anyway, being sure to open it over the sink. Anyway, after three goof-ups I feel like I've finally learned my lesson!!!!! :)
-- Dave "Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" -- Genesis, 1973-ish
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.