First stout I made came out to foamy, any idea why?

[justins]

This was my first brew so I just kind of jumped in and went for it. What I have below is really all the notes I have, not gravity readings or boil notes.

The first beer I brewed was a stout that for some reason came out very foamy. If you open a bottle and just set it on the counter withing about 30 seconds foam will start just coming out the top of the beer. It's pretty thick foam to that will hold it's shape as it comes out (it always reminds me of the fire expanding snake things we had as kids). The taste isn't horrible but not great, oddly enough it almost taste kind of flat. I can't really drink it, every now and then when I'm low on beer I pour myself half a bottle and dump the rest (I like heavier beers but this is to much).

I've brewed about 3 more batches since that, no more stouts, a few IPA's and a cream ale. I haven't had that problem since but am still curios what might have caused it if any one has any ideas?

Also I forgot to mention, this foam is very very thick. It's impossible to pour without getting almost a full glass of foam, and when it settles (30-40 minutes later) you are left with about a quarter glass of beer.

 

[BreezyBrew]

How long has it been in bottles? It really needs 3 wks to carb properly. It can be foamy if it's not carbed yet.

 

[pabloj13]

Could be infection, bottled before it was at FG, too much priming sugar, not carbed completely, etc. It's really hard to say. The first three can cause overcarbonation which can give those symptoms. The last one is when the CO2 hasn't gone all the way into solution yet and it can appear overcarbed.

 

[25518]

I had a foamy stout. It was due to 1 Lbs. Of brown sugar.

 

[mojotele]

How long are you refrigerating the bottles before opening them?

 

[unionrdr]

You need more than a couple hours or even a day to carbonate the bottles properly. ! week will work better to get more co2 into solution so it doesn act as a nucleation point where it foams up. A week also gives any chill haze a chance to settle out like a fog.