Yesterday I bottled 6 gallons of pale ale and noticed more foam in the bottles than usual as I was filling. I was wondering if any of the following issues might be the cause:
Temperature of the beer at bottling - I did not let the beer fully rise from 62 to 70 / room temp before I racked it to the bottling bucket
Bottling tubing - I have 4 feet of 3/8 inch (inner diameter) tubing hooked up to my bottling bucket and my spring bottle wand. Not sure if this is the standard diameter to use or not.
Could either of these be the cause? I had some difficulty restarting the auto-siphon as I was nearing the end of transferring to the bottling bucket. Would more of a height difference help? Usually this is not a problem either. Also do you think foam during bottle filling could lead to any off flavors, like oxidation? Just curious. I appreciate your help!
Could be either or both, but I doubt it is the temperature. Did you notice air coming in where the tubing connects to the wand or bucket? Was the beer fully fermented?
Foam in a bottle would probably indicate a small leak in your setup somewhere allowing air to come in during siphon forming bubbles. If you have a 5/16ths siphon and are using 3/8 hose this would probably be the culprit. Take your siphon to a LHBS and size it tight to your bottle filler and siphon.
I didn’t noticed air coming in but since I got this new tubing I noticed that it fits more loosely than before with my old tubing. I will take a look at this. I am pretty sure it was done fermenting. The og was 1048 and gravity at bottling was 1006. Thanks!
It will be an interesting experiment. there is talk on here implying that yeast bearing beer will not oxidize. we may have an opportunity to see science in action here.
You could keep a 6 pack or even just a couple bottles somewhere warm for say 2 months after carbing and keep another couple cold for the same period and taste for oxidation off flavors.
I will do that and reply back with the results. Also will try to get feedback from some of the beer judges in my club who may better at detecting it than me
If the foam was caused by dissolved co2 instead of air from the tubing, I am wondering if it would be oxidized as much then. Anyway I will wait and find out
I dont know if this will eliminate the foaming, but I use a small section of tubing about 2 to 3 inches long connected to my bottling wand and to the bucket spicket, thus eliminating the 4 feet of hose. I just put a bottle up to the wand, fill and cap. Much easier than moving the wand and hose to each bottle.
Yeah +1 to the guys who mentioned your tubing might be a bit too loose. I use 5/16" tubing on 3/8" siphon equipment. This ensures a tight fit for me each time.
