DrSanta

Recipes 

My friend and I have noticed some bottles seriously popping with some gas explosions when we open them (caps are NOT flying off on their own, thankfully), and I was thinking it might due to under-filling the bottle.

So my question is: How much of the neck of the bottle do you leave empty before capping it? We're filling beer up to the bottom of the neck, but not much higher than that.

Thanks!

Revvy

Recipes 

If you're using a bottling wand properly and filling the beer til it starts to overflow then pulling the wand out, all the bottles should have the same headspace, which is between 1 and 1 1/2 inches from the lip.

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IrregularPulse

Recipes 

If they are gushing out of the bottles when opened, there is a good chance of infection. Known as "Gushers".

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Revvy

Recipes 

Or opening them too soon; before the co2 has totally assimilated into the beer.

Or openning then warm....the beer needs to be cold to absorb the co2 fully.

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Like my snazzy new avatar? Get Sons of Zymurgy swag, here, and brew with the best.

Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

JoeMama

Recipes 

Also, how long did you let it sit in the primary? (Did it FULLY finish fermenting)
And how much priming sugar did you use at bottling time?
-Me

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DrSanta

Recipes 

OK, we use a wand and we're certainly not filling it all the way until it almost overflows. That must be the trick.

Regarding fermenting: We usually let it ferment in the primary for 1-1.5 weeks depending on activity, and then we secondary for another 1-2 weeks. I don't think it's still fermenting.

Regarding Priming Sugar: It varies per recipe. Some are kits that have a set amount of sugar which are already premeasured, others have us use some light malt extract and we're pretty good with measuring that out.

Maybe the recipe or the kit has us putting too much sugar in, but I'm thinking we're going to start with the wand overflow trick and work our way from there.

Thanks all for your help

MBasile

Recipes 

I agree with Revvy. I've been filling them to just before they overflow and then remove the wand. The level looks to be about the same as commercial 22 ouncers from the store, so I figured it was a good level and it has seemed to work for me.

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