carbonated after 16 hours?

Hey guys. Bottled my first ever batch of brew today after fermenting for 2 weeks and a couple steady hydrometer readings. I bottled in plastic and after 16 hours I noticed the bottles were already fairly pressurized so I opened one up to see how much pressure and the beer started to fizz. I tasted it and it is almost as if its ready to go. Is this normal after such a little wait? Are these bottle bombs waiting to happen?

Thanks!

I have done relatively few brews (6 to be exact) and I havent had any carbonate that quickly. Nor have I used plastic bottles. I would however move these bottles to a bomb proof location until someone else chimes in. Also if you like where the carbonation level is at you could also put them all in the fridge to stop the yeast.

Did you test the gravity twice over a day or two span before bottling?

I can't imagine you're at the proper co2 volume. It's probably mostly residual co2 from the fermentation...

Gravity remained the same over a 2 day span.

This seems a bit to fast (normally it more like 4 days to 2 weeks) - at what temp did you finish your fermentation? at what temp did you bottle? How much priming sugar did you use?

Could just be residual CO2 from fermentation, which got jostled out of solution. When you pour it in a glass, can you see lots of bubbles rising through the beer?

powerslave said:

Hey guys. Bottled my first ever batch of brew today after fermenting for 2 weeks and a couple steady hydrometer readings. I bottled in plastic and after 16 hours I noticed the bottles were already fairly pressurized so I opened one up to see how much pressure and the beer started to fizz. I tasted it and it is almost as if its ready to go. Is this normal after such a little wait? Are these bottle bombs waiting to happen?

Thanks!

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Your dealing with variables that make it hard to predict exactly how long something should take. One yeast can be more active than another. The beer may have still had unfermented sugars, or a hundred other things. Also, I doubt it is actually "carbonated." Yes, there is pressure built up from off-gassing and early stages of carbonation. Keep in mind that freshly fermented beer has CO2 in suspension. This is why late fermentation samples have to be degassed before reading with a hydrometer. Likely this is what you are seeing.

It's not something to really worry about right now, and neither is it something to expect to happen again with another batch. I've had one batch ferment out in a few days and then had another identical batch take a couple weeks. I've had a batch nicely carbonated after a week and an identical batch take three weeks.

Some questions to consider: What temperature are you keeping the bottles at? How much priming sugar did you use? How did you dose? Did you add sugar directly to the bottles or did you use a bottling buck and dose the whole batch? What kind of priming sugar did you use? How did you calculate your dose of priming sugar? When you opened the sample, how vigorously did you pour?

As for bottle bombs, I wouldn't worry too much with plastic bottles (I notice you said they were "fairly pressurized", but if they were a problem they'd feel like rocks). They are much more dangerous with glass--shrapnel. Just feel them every couple days to see how they are doing. If one does rupture, cold crash them fast.

I only had one beer carb in less than a day and it was a honey wheat. Most of the time they take a week.

I suspect that your beer was cooler during fermentation than in the bottle and consequently the CO2 in the brew has become less soluble, hence pressurizing the bottles.

It's quite a safe bet that you bottled too early,
If you have to, then plastic is the best place to do it.
I did an experiment re plastic bottles, I filled a 2litre plastic bottle with water no air space and screwed the lid on, I laid it on my drive and put a plank of timber over it, I then drove my Ford Transit (about two tons) onto it. I drove on and off many times giggling all the while, no probs with the bottle. I then took the bottle and threw it to my son, he threw it back, we cought some but most hit the ground, those bottles are so over engineered, they are fantastic !
Back to beer try not to rush, it's best to wait for about four weeks before bottling most of the time, you will find SG, clarity, taste, sediment issues will all improve dramatically .

cluckk said:

Some questions to consider: What temperature are you keeping the bottles at? How much priming sugar did you use? How did you dose? Did you add sugar directly to the bottles or did you use a bottling buck and dose the whole batch? What kind of priming sugar did you use? How did you calculate your dose of priming sugar? When you opened the sample, how vigorously did you pour?

As for bottle bombs, I wouldn't worry too much with plastic bottles (I notice you said they were "fairly pressurized", but if they were a problem they'd feel like rocks). They are much more dangerous with glass--shrapnel. Just feel them every couple days to see how they are doing. If one does rupture, cold crash them fast.

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Thanks for the help guys. Temperature is the same as the fermenter. 70 degrees. Priming sugar was honey added to a bottling bucket.. used brooklyn brewshop kit recommendation of 3 tablespoons of honey disolved in 1/2 cup water for the batch. bottle foamed when opened but didnt gush and poured nicely.

JonM said:

Could just be residual CO2 from fermentation, which got jostled out of solution. When you pour it in a glass, can you see lots of bubbles rising through the beer?

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It bubbles like a beer should. Not a whole lot. It looked normal.