Old beers turn into gushers?

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

So I have a question. Does the age of a beer make it more susceptible to turn into a gusher? The reason I'm asking...

I made a Pilsner last year May (holy shit, it's been that long already!?) and fermented it slowly, before lagering it for a period of around 3 months. I bottled it in September. The first bunch were great, clear beers with perfect head and head retention. So I stored a bunch of them in crates, granted it might have been a bit warm, but still nice and dark and not like super hot.

Now I'm down to the last few of them, and the past few pours have all been almost gushers. Open the bottle, there's a good psst but nothing too hectic (no popping), and then a second or three later you can see the yeast cake lifting up, creating nucleus points for the CO2 and poof, the beer is super murky and starts rising up in the neck. Flavour is a bit down (which is fine), but I'm wondering why it's only happening to the last few samples?

The beer was well-hopped, so I was thinking hop creep, but surely that would have happened a long time ago already? It's not like I dry hopped and it happened in a week or two?

There is also no infection in the beers. The last few, specially the last 5 or so have tasted quite stale so I'm guessing age had an impact there, but it still doesn't explain the gushing.

Any ideas?

[Langchop Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Langchop]

A. You pour too slowly. Seriously, i have found with overcarbed beers (not overgushers), if you get the bottle horizontal quickly the bubbling up yeast stays in the zone near the bottom and doesnt tear through and murk up your beer as much.
B. More seriously.... those choc stouts pic I posted?.... in april last year they were way on the flat side and barely got any foam. Now they open with a pop and a hiss as you pour and builds up a solid head. So definately there does seem to be a steady, slow increase in carbonation. And yet I have had much older beers where I didnt notice it as much, but maybe I had more of a frame of reference in this case?

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

Short answer = YES

If you watch as much YT vids of brewers as I do, then you'll see when they send each other beers that they forget about and open way later, it's a gusher.

.... and +1 on point A made by Lang

PS: I got that also way back when I used to store stout for long periods

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

OK so it doesn't matter if I pour quickly or slowly. As soon as the cap is off and the contents is disturbed, the yeast cake moves and gushes. It's a bummer, but luckily I'm on my last one of those. Won't make that mistake again. Rather invite people over to come kill beers.

EDIT: And when I say "gusher" it's not like it sprays a stream. It just starts foaming and eventually the foam overflows. The first one or two I thought "infection" but then I saw later all of them do it.

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

My theory: with unpasteurised beer, eventually the yeast dies and even the smallest presence of any bacteria means the bacteria takes over.
Only pasteurised beers can last forever IMHO.

Moral of the story: drink them fresh.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

OK so it doesn't matter if I pour quickly or slowly. As soon as the cap is off and the contents is disturbed, the yeast cake moves and gushes. It's a bummer, but luckily I'm on my last one of those. Won't make that mistake again. Rather invite people over to come kill beers.

EDIT: And when I say "gusher" it's not like it sprays a stream. It just starts foaming and eventually the foam overflows. The first one or two I thought "infection" but then I saw later all of them do it.

Maybe from standing the yeast tries to survive by eating every bit of sugar still available thus (over)carbing the beer more and more ... hows the taste compared to fresh? ... isn't it drier which could relate to my theory ? If not, Jake has a point

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

I have had ale's after 6 month no issues.
If ale is stored in fridge the left over yeast should be inactive.
Had gushers with an Irish Red once, I think I bottled bofore floculation completed, had a lot of trub at bottom of each bottle.

[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

old beer? what is that?

i'd keep unpasteurized for longer than a year if the abv is high, say 8%+ anything else is a crapshoot without my good mate louis' pasteurizing procedures

[jay95 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jay95]

To make 100% sure it's not infected you can check the gravity vs. when it was bottled

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Yeah it's not particularly drier, but I have to add I fermented it to very dry to begin with. I thing FG was something like 1.006. So I think Jakes has a point. It doesn't taste off at all, but it is more bitter than I remember, hop flavour and aroma is all mushy and it does taste oxidized.

So yeah, drink it fresh from now on!

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

The last one I opened from these old pilsners of mine was such a gusher I didn't even have time to stick my mouth over the opening to catch it. It sprayed EVERYWHERE and my office is full of beer now. I put the bottle on the floor on a towel and when it was done only 1/3rd of the beer remained.

So yeah, drink 'em fast from now on.

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

The last one I opened from these old pilsners of mine was such a gusher I didn't even have time to stick my mouth over the opening to catch it. It sprayed EVERYWHERE and my office is full of beer now. I put the bottle on the floor on a towel and when it was done only 1/3rd of the beer remained.

So yeah, drink 'em fast from now on.

That'll teach you for drinking in the office during working hours.......

[Langchop Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Langchop]

Careful... you're heading toward a scalloped circle scar on the other cheek too!?

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

Careful... you're heading toward a scalloped circle scar on the other cheek too!?

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

LOL. It was after hours, I just happened to be in the home office at the time And it's interesting, they don't have excessive pressure like the other ones. They still open with a very gentle "psst" like I enjoy them, and then they just gush up. It's WEIRD.