Too Much Head

Never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth but this last batch is very carbonated. I get over 3/4 head even when I pour it very slowly on a angle. It also looks like champagne. When I drink in out of a glass it is flat after all the action and when I drink it out of the bottle its better but a bit hard as it starts to foam then too. Do I need to wait more and try it in a week or so, it has been three weeks in the bottle? Any ideas? Oh and it is an American Cream Ale.

Are you chilling at least for a few days?

it has been in the frig for two days

If the co2 in the head space(neck of bottle) has not dissolved into the beer that can happen. You can probably open the beer and just let it sit on the counter and it will start to fizz out of the bottle. Leave the beer in the fridge for at least 5 days ( many say a week) and see if that improves it.
And yes this is the only place I ever saw the words "too much head" said and they were serious.......

How much priming sugar did you add to your batch?

It was a BrewCraft Kit and used the amount in the kit. But I could not tell you how much that was.

How long has it been in the bottles at 70 degrees or above before you put it in the fridge?

If it's been under three weeks, then it's gushing because the co2 isn't in solution fully and is coming out before the beer is really carbed, hence the fact that you say it's flat after.

We get this all the time from impatient folks who open their bottles WAAAAAYYYYYYY early. If you opened them at three weeks, or more, you never would have noticed.

If you watch Poindexter's video on time lapsed carbonation, you will see that in many instances, before a beer is carbed it may gush, that's not from infection, or mixing of sugars, but because the co2 hasn't evened out- it hasn't been pulled fully into the beer. Think of it as there's a lot of co2 being generated and most of it is in the headspace, not in the beer, so there's still "over pressure" in the bottle, so it gushes when it is opened.

But when the beer is truly carbed it all evens out, across the bottles.

nikon90s said:

It was a BrewCraft Kit and used the amount in the kit. But I could not tell you how much that was.

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Probably 5 ounces, and if it's a 5 gallon batch that should be fine.

Yep, it needs to sit another week or two. Usually, kits come with what the kit creator considers the proper amount of priming sugar for that sized batch, so I doubt it's over-primed. Let your bottles condition a few more weeks and then put one in the fridge for 48 hours prior to opening. A good two day chill will increase the CO2 holding capacity of the liquid in the bottle, and the CO2 pressure inside of the headspace will force more CO2 into liquid suspension. The colder the beer, the higher the CO2 holding capacity in solution.

No such thin as to much head. Unless you are talking about beer of course.....

Revvy said:

We get this all the time from impatient folks who open their bottles WAAAAAYYYYYYY early. If you opened them at three weeks, or more, you never would have noticed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBlnTfZ2iw

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I bottled on 3/18 and I did not foam over in the bottle just tons of foam in the glass and LOTS of bobbles. I am going to wait another week before I open another and let you all know.

Thanks