First Bottle Bombs - always check Hydrometer

Hi all,

Thought I would share some advice that I learned the hard way, even though it should be common sense - always check for consistent hydrometer readings before bottling.

I recently brewed up Edwort's Robust Porter which was my 12th batch or so. I was leaving for the holidays for about a week and decided I wanted to get it in bottles before I left. I used 2/3 cup cane sugar to prime and got 48 bottles out of the (5 gallon) recipe. I checked FG before while I bottled (not before I started, BIG MISTAKE) - it was 1.024 (OG was 1.064). I thought the FG was high, but it was my first time using malto-dextrine, and I did a partial mash with 3 pounds DME, so thought that may be normal (plus it was left in the Primary for 4 weeks, so I assumed that it was done fermenting).

This was not the case, I came home about a week after bottling to find 4 bottles had exploded. I live in an apartment and had a note saying the heat was out for a day or two while I was gone. I'm not sure how cold the place got, but it was very hot, maybe about 80 or so degrees, when I first returned. I immediately thought that maybe the extreme temperture shifts caused the bottle bombs, but after cracking about 10 different gushing bottles I was able to get another hydrometer - now done to just under 1.020.

This goes to show you that you can't judge fermentation by time, only by consecutive gravity reading. I now have to dump the remaining bottles and have a wine thief on the shopping list. But will at least drink some good homebrew while I pour it out

lesson learned here: brewing without a hydrometer is like driving without eyes.

You don't need to dump the bottles. Do a search here - People have cracked open the bottles, kept in a clean environment and allowed to gas out for some time, then recapped.

sheeshomatic said:

You don't need to dump the bottles. Do a search here - People have cracked open the bottles, kept in a clean environment and allowed to gas out for some time, then recapped.

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yep! we did that with my wife's horribly over carbed english brown and it worked quite well. turned out to be one of the better beers we've made, actually.

haha very true. Well I have one but decided to go by time instead of checking for a few days in a row.

Thanks for the help! I was thinking of trying to save them that way too, but when I crack them open even the slightest beer starts pouring out. Pretty fast too. I even refrigerated them for 24 hours and tried again but still no luck. If I crack them open normally, I get about a 4 inch geyser off the top.

Hopefully you guys were able to get to him before he commits saccharomicide. Pop them, leaving the caps over the top, let them offgas, then resanitize and recap.

edit: I see they've only been in the bottle a week. Try wrapping them in a plastic bag or putting them in a plastic tote, and give them some time. The extra CO2 might dissolve into solution and be a little less vigorous.

I havent dumped them yet - I currently have about 30 or so left from the batch in my fridge. I was nervous about getting more bombs (it made a huge mess) and thought that if you bottle before fermentation was complete there is little you can do. When I try to let just a little air out, I end up loosing at least 1/4 of the bottle. I can try wrapping them and letting them sit, if you think that will work. I'll try anything to try to save it, since it tastes pretty good! Actually i was initially going to have some friends help me drink them all this week, but all of the bottle have small pieces of glass stuck to them and i was afraid of having the bottle explode while holding it if I try to clean them off with water. Or of having a small piece fall into my glass if I just pour it first.

My suggestion was only meant as a way to possibly make it easier to open them and let them offgas.

Even with the geyser you mention, you could just wipe the bottles off and recap. That much CO2 would mean you'd have little worry about it not recarbing.

oh got ya. Yeah I'll try to recap before dumping, no point it just wasting all of it. Thanks everyone for all of your help!

tpaine13 said:

oh got ya. Yeah I'll try to recap before dumping, no point it just wasting all of it. Thanks everyone for all of your help!

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if they don't gush too bad, recapping them should work pretty well.

Please inspect all the bottles before re-use. You might find some of the weaker ones have stress cracks. You will see them if you hold them up to the light. Would hate to re-use a bad bottle.

tpaine13 said:

(plus it was left in the Primary for 4 weeks, so I assumed that it was done fermenting).

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4 weeks in primary is a long time fermenting. Any theories on why it was not done fermenting? I normally feel quite safe bottling after 2 weeks fermenting without checking for stable hydrometer reading.

aidan said:

4 weeks in primary is a long time fermenting. Any theories on why it was not done fermenting? I normally feel quite safe bottling after 2 weeks fermenting without checking for stable hydrometer reading.

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I'm guessing it may have been kind of cold.

Thanks again for all the responses! I did notice some bottles with stress cracks and plan to throw them out. I havent tried rebottling them yet, but plan to tomorrow while brewing up an APA and will let you guys know how it goes.

As far as not being fully fermented in 4 weeks; it was my first time using nottingham (or any dry yeast) and the guy at LHBS told me nottingham does better a little on the cold side. That being side, I kept it around 68 degrees (which I dont think is too cold). To be honest, I'm not too sure what went wrong with this batch and I'm still wondering if the extreme change in temperature (heat apparently went off while gone, then it got very hot) shortly after being bottled kicked the yeast back into gear.

Next time, I think I will 1) make sure the hydrometer readings stay the same over the course of 3 days and 2) shake the primary if FG seems on the high side, and get readings again.

aidan said:

4 weeks in primary is a long time fermenting. Any theories on why it was not done fermenting? I normally feel quite safe bottling after 2 weeks fermenting without checking for stable hydrometer reading.

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Its done when its done. I leave MOST of my beer in primary 4 weeks and seldom secondary. High OG long wait, Low OG less wait. FG? and bottle. You have been lucky my friend. Cheers

I had a very similar experience when I bottled some Tepache. Because it was wild yeast that kicked off fermentation, it was very slow, and even taking a reading it seemed to stabalize. Well I bottled about 12 of them, and a week or so later I found shards all over my storage closet. I used a very very small amount of priming sugar as well. It hadn't finished fermenting. I would open a bottle and get only 1/4 of it left to drink. So in order to drink them I would put on safety glasses, gloves, and a long sleeve shirt. I would take a bottle opener and just EVER SO SLIGHTLY crack open the cap til I could hear it hiss. I would then walk away and repeat until it was openable, keeping it from just gushing out like crazy. It is a pain, but it beats the alternative (grenading them into the trash). You have to be patient when bleeding them.

I also tossed the bottles afterward, just in case their integrity was compramised somehow.I also stored them inside of a a tub, with another tub on top , with a weight to weigh it down, just in case I lost one again.