Bottle Bomb Fear-Head in sealed bottle of beer

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KilhavenBrew

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I bottled a Barley Wine just over 2 weeks ago. a couple of the bottles of beer are forming head while still sealed in the bottle. I did not shake them or vibrate them. I used the formula for priming sugar. The yeast was Abble Ale II by Wyeast and I had it in the 2ndary for over a month before bottling.

Is this going to be a bottle bomb problem? Anyone ever see head form and bubbles coming up while still sealed in the bottle?

The barley wine came out to 9% ABV after I fermented for 3 weeks.
 
Not necessarily, although I've never seen it happen. I assume you have some bottle krausen going on.

What was the FG and how much priming sugar did you use?
 
for some reason i always carbonate in buckets with a heavy blanket on top...
This is the entire batch not a bottle with a leaky cap?
 
Could be leaky cap. Cause it seems like only a few of the bottles. What gives on the leaky caps? That is lame. Quality of caps stink? Or just the way I pushed them on?
 
That brings up my next question. I bought cases on corona so that I would have bottles to put beer in after I drink them. (I know it is not good beer, but I had a party and they drank them all anyway). The caps on these bottles seem to hardly press on the sides down. But other bottles like Samuel Adams leftover bottles, have the caps press all around. Is there a better capping tool? Or is it just that Corona bottles are no good for home brew?
 
Corona bottles are no good, not sure about how they cap, but you definitely dont want to bottle in a clear bottle. It'll skunk your beer, and turn your homebrew into a corona! :)
 
Where'd you get the advice for almost a cup of priming sugar for 5 gal? There are two things about this that strike me as odd. First, it's a volume rather than a weight which is highly variable and innaccurate. Second, it seems like way more than needed. Barleywines are typically lightly carbonated, usually around 2 volumes. Even the old school suggestions to measure priming sugar by volume say to use 2/3 of a cup, and often end up in overbcarbed beer. From now on I suggest measuring your priming sugar by weight. Here's a handy calculator to determine the proper amount of priming sugar to use for a desired carbonation level. I agree with yooper that it's likely bottle krausening from so much priming sugar. It takes a lot to create bottle bombs, but you may be testing the limits of your bottles.
 
Well usually they say .75 Cups of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch. But when you transfer into a 2ndary you lost some beer. Then you transfer again to bottle and lose some more. SO if you have 4 gallons left and you use .75 cups of priming sugar. Do the math. 4 gallons times 1.25 is 5 gallons. And .75 cups * 1.25 is .93 of a cup.

So based on that, I use .93 cups of priming sugar for 5 gallons of beer left. I brew my beer in 6 gallon batches and lose about a gallon in transfers.
 
Let's take a step back and look at this for a second, shall we?

"...they say to use .75 cups of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch..."
"...based on that, I use .93 cups of priming sugar for 5 gallons of beer..."

There's your first problem ;) Try cutting it down to the amount they say to use for 5 gallons of beer. Regardless of how much you brewed, you're still only priming 5 gallons.

If you brewed 50 gallons of beer, but only ended up with 5 after siphoning, would you prime with 7.5 cups of dextrose????

Stumbling across some numbers in Google, 1 cup of dextrose is about 7.93 (or 8 cuz it makes the math less harder) ounces. So use that handy-dandy carbonation calculator up there (the one thing styles are good for in homebrewing :) ) then approximate 8oz per cup and go from there.

For example, I'm brewing a brown porter tomorrow. Assuming I end up with 5 gallons, the calculator suggests 3.4oz of dextrose. Using our fancy Google numbers (8oz/cup), this comes out 17/40 of a cup, or between a half and a third of a cup.

On second thought... I can't wait to get a scale!!!! ;)
 
Well usually they say .75 Cups of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch. But when you transfer into a 2ndary you lost some beer. Then you transfer again to bottle and lose some more. SO if you have 4 gallons left and you use .75 cups of priming sugar. Do the math. 4 gallons times 1.25 is 5 gallons. And .75 cups * 1.25 is .93 of a cup.

So based on that, I use .93 cups of priming sugar for 5 gallons of beer left. I brew my beer in 6 gallon batches and lose about a gallon in transfers.

Well, if you bottled 4 gallons, and "they" recommend .75 cups for 5 gallons, why would you INcrease the sugar? If you bottle LESS beer, you DEcrease the sugar! Your logic, and your math, is faulty here. Use no more than 1 ounce (by weight) per gallon of beer being bottled. I don't know what that is in "cups" as I weigh my sugar, but probably a bit more than 1/2 cup.

Yes, you're looking at bottle bombs.
 
The reccomendations for priming sugar are based on the end volume, not the starting volume. Starting with 6 gal to account for losses and end up with 5 gal is a common way to brew a "5 gal batch". Your assumptions about the nomenclature regarding batch size caused you to unneccesarily increase your priming sugar 25% over an already exaggerated amount. According to my rough calculations you used over double the required amount of sugar for even the high end of the style. The bad news is that your barleywine is going to be way overcarbed, and you may even experience a few bottle bombs. The good news is that now you know how to prevent this from happening again. One of the nice things about the calculator I linked is that you can input any volume of beer, so whether you end up with 5.75 gal or 4.25 gal, it's very easy to accurately prime. I hope you don't have to deal with any bottle bombs, but you may want to consider putting the bottles in a waterproof tub with a lid just to be safe.
 
Well, if you bottled 4 gallons, and "they" recommend .75 cups for 5 gallons, why would you INcrease the sugar? If you bottle LESS beer, you DEcrease the sugar! Your logic, and your math, is faulty here. Use no more than 1 ounce (by weight) per gallon of beer being bottled. I don't know what that is in "cups" as I weigh my sugar, but probably a bit more than 1/2 cup.

Yes, you're looking at bottle bombs.

I think you mis-read his post. I know I did the first time through. What he's saying is that he assumed the reccomendations for a 5 gal batch really referred to priming 4 gal because of losses. Since he accounted for losses beforehand he thought he had a higher than normal volume and therefore needed more priming sugar. I guess he didn't realize that batch size usually refers to the end volume, not what you start with, and that most people account for losses.
 
I think you mis-read his post. I know I did the first time through. What he's saying is that he assumed the reccomendations for a 5 gal batch really referred to priming 4 gal because of losses. Since he accounted for losses beforehand he thought he had a higher than normal volume and therefore needed more priming sugar. I guess he didn't realize that batch size usually refers to the end volume, not what you start with, and that most people account for losses.

I miss read it the same way. But, that is still a big assumption on the OP's part. I always assumed that when they recommend X amount of sugar for 5 gallons, they mean 5 gallons, and if they mean 4 gallons they say 4 gallons.

I don't think I've ever heard of anyone losing a full gallon due to racking and bottling, short of a siphon mishap.
 
I appreciate the posts. I like the information. Allow me to replay what I said in another fashion. The first beer I brewed was a kit. It had all ingredients included in one box and had instructions. The instructions said to fill up the Primary to 5 gallons of wort and pitch yeast. I was not liking the weird stuff at the bottom. (sentiment and yeast). So I transferred to a 2ndary to clarify as per some posts in this forum. After 2 weeks, I transferred again to a bottling bucket with a spigot on the bottom. When I measured, I had about 4 gallons of beer left.

I followed the instructions and boiled up the priming sugar which said 5 OZ on it. But when I put it in a measuring cup, it was about .75 cup by volume. I measured it cause I wanted to know if the 5 OZ was by weight or volume and it turned out to be by weight as .75 cup is 6 oz by volume.

Next brew I did using my own design and some information from web pages. I made 6 gallons cause I have a 6.5 gallon carboy. I ended up with a full 5 gallons after transferring. So I did the math. The kit had me pitch .75 cups in 4 gallons of remaining beer to bottle. So I pitched .9 cups in my 5 gallons of beer to bottle.
 
someone said -I hope you don't have to deal with any bottle bombs, but you may want to consider putting the bottles in a waterproof tub with a lid just to be safe.

No sir. I am going to drink all 55 beers this weekend. No bottle bombs will be left. Of course it taste a bit green. Like the yeast is still swimming around in there.
 
Here's a handy calculator to determine the proper amount of priming sugar to use for a desired carbonation level.

This.

I'm pretty sure the designers of your first kit did not anticipate you leaving a gallon of brew behind when they calculated the sugar.

I add 5 oz. by weight of sugar to most of my 5 gallon batches (that are actually 5 gallons when I bottle) and it seems to work fine.
 
someone said -I hope you don't have to deal with any bottle bombs, but you may want to consider putting the bottles in a waterproof tub with a lid just to be safe.

No sir. I am going to drink all 55 beers this weekend. No bottle bombs will be left. Of course it taste a bit green. Like the yeast is still swimming around in there.

Well, if you haven't finished them all, put what's left in the fridge. That should stop the bottle bombs, and give the barleywine some time to age. After a while they're going to be way overcarbed, so remember to release the pressure a little at a time (may take several hours, or even days) so the the beer is pourable.
 
It really stinks when you over carb. They just pour out all over the place like volcanoes.

I brewed a wheat beer and used the same formula. No problems. In fact it seems a little under carbonated.

I think I am going to buy a keg set. This still makes no sense why sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.
 
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