Is it normal for my beer to be this carbonated?

[Sam123]

I’ve had my first coopers brew kit In fermentation for 6 days. I have an airlock and have not seen it bubble but today when I went to take a sample to get a gravity reading it was extremely carbonated with heaps of foam on top which I didn’t think was meant to happen until you bottle it? I tasted a little bit and it tastes fairly carbonated as well, pretty much as carbonated as I would expect a final product to be. Does this mean it needs degassing or should I bottle normally and still add carbonation drops? Thanks for any help really appreciate it! The gravity reading has also remained stable for 24 hours which means time to bottle? but is it fine being this carbonated? 

[Classic Brewing Co]

5 minutes ago, Sam123 said:

I’ve had my first coopers brew kit In fermentation for 6 days. I have an airlock and have not seen it bubble but today when I went to take a sample to get a gravity reading it was extremely carbonated with heaps of foam on top which I didn’t think was meant to happen until you bottle it? I tasted a little bit and it tastes fairly carbonated as well, pretty much as carbonated as I would expect a final product to be. Does this mean it needs degassing or should I bottle normally and still add carbonation drops? Thanks for any help really appreciate it! The gravity reading has also remained stable for 24 hours which means time to bottle? but is it fine being this carbonated? 

Without knowing all of the details, recipe/temp control or not/yeast/ etc, I would suggest leaving it a bit longer as it may not be fermented out completely.

Why not post more details & it would be easier to comment.

Cheers

Phil

[Sam123]

5 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Without knowing all of the details, recipe/temp control or not/yeast/ etc, I would suggest leaving it a bit longer as it may not be fermented out completely.

Why not post more details & it would be easier to comment.

Cheers

Phil

Cheers Phil, the recipe is just the coopers lager malt extract using the yeast that it came with, paired with the coopers brew enhancer 2. I started the fermentation at about 25 degrees however I do not have temp control so I just let it sit and eventually it got to about 18-19 degrees and sat at that. I didn't use a coopers fermentation vessel and just used another plastic one with an air lock that a family member had but never used, I followed the coopers recipe though and filled it to 23L. I took a gravity ready on day 5 and it was at 1014 and took another one today (day 6) and it was the same and it has been over 24 hours, however both times I've taken the reading there has been lots of fizz on top and has tasted very carbonated haha. Let me know if there are any other details that could help. Thanks!

[Pints]

17 minutes ago, Sam123 said:

Cheers Phil, the recipe is just the coopers lager malt extract using the yeast that it came with, paired with the coopers brew enhancer 2. I started the fermentation at about 25 degrees however I do not have temp control so I just let it sit and eventually it got to about 18-19 degrees and sat at that. I didn't use a coopers fermentation vessel and just used another plastic one with an air lock that a family member had but never used, I followed the coopers recipe though and filled it to 23L. I took a gravity ready on day 5 and it was at 1014 and took another one today (day 6) and it was the same and it has been over 24 hours, however both times I've taken the reading there has been lots of fizz on top and has tasted very carbonated haha. Let me know if there are any other details that could help. Thanks!

Hi Sam. Should wait for it to be stable over 2 days, but 6 days is still early, let it sit at least 10 days for the yeast to clean up a bit.  Between 8 to 14 days is the sweet spot. Im sure all will come out ok, dont worry about the foam etc in the sample

[Sam123]

1 hour ago, Pints said:

Hi Sam. Should wait for it to be stable over 2 days, but 6 days is still early, let it sit at least 10 days for the yeast to clean up a bit.  Between 8 to 14 days is the sweet spot. Im sure all will come out ok, dont worry about the foam etc in the sample

Okay thanks alot! Appreciate it!

[Otto Von Blotto]

It's completely normal for fermenter samples to have a lot of bubbles as there is residual carbon dioxide in the brew from the fermentation process. 

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

5 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

It's completely normal for fermenter samples to have a lot of bubbles as there is residual carbon dioxide in the brew from the fermentation process. 

Great explanation I was wondering myself how fully fermented beer could be fizzy in the sample but flat if tasted. So even the small agitation of kegging or bottling must make this small fizz dissipate.

[Otto Von Blotto]

2 hours ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

Great explanation I was wondering myself how fully fermented beer could be fizzy in the sample but flat if tasted. So even the small agitation of kegging or bottling must make this small fizz dissipate.

I think the key is "fizzy", it's not actually fizzy but it does contain about 1 volume of CO2 so yes, small agitation would knock some of it out of solution, hence the bubbles. 

[Sam123]

4 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I think the key is "fizzy", it's not actually fizzy but it does contain about 1 volume of CO2 so yes, small agitation would knock some of it out of solution, hence the bubbles. 

thats the thing though it actually tastes quite carbonated. hopefully it does just work itself through over the next few days though haha. 

[Otto Von Blotto]

10 hours ago, Sam123 said:

thats the thing though it actually tastes quite carbonated. hopefully it does just work itself through over the next few days though haha. 

 There is probably a little more still in solution at 6 days but over a few more days it'll come out. If you took another sample then it'd still have bubbles but would taste flat. 

[Oldbloke]

On 4/5/2023 at 10:38 PM, Pints said:

Hi Sam. Should wait for it to be stable over 2 days, but 6 days is still early, let it sit at least 10 days for the yeast to clean up a bit.  Between 8 to 14 days is the sweet spot. Im sure all will come out ok, dont worry about the foam etc in the sample

That