pwortiz said:Man....what a difference 24 hours can make. I've been testing these bottles every day since Friday night when I bottled. Last night there was very little carbonation....Today however I popped one open a little early for my wife because I saw some bubbles going on in the bottles. The thing wouldn't stop fizzing. But, as soon as it "fizzed out" the beverage itself actually had very little carbonation. Either way, I decided upon an emergency pasteurization. I pulled out my outdoor burner and larger pot and I'm glad I did now as I had one blow up right next to my feet as I was setting them down on the ground to cool off (first batch out of the pot). Luck was with me - the bottle halves went either side of me.
I'm going to call this the summer of bottle bombs as this is my third batch (different stuff each time) that has had some type of carb issues. Out to pull the next batch out of the pot....
Just be careful when removing the bottles after pasteurising them. Try warming the surface you are placing the bottles on. The sudden change from hot to cold may cause temperature shock in the glass.
I know I've read reports of people having problems with this. I think they either used a towel or something for a few minutes to lessen the temperature difference while they were cooling.