newbie

I brewed a Bock extract kit for my second batch three weeks after bottling i tried one. It was great but just a little flat. Now a week later I just had a bottle spontaneously blow the cap off and spray beer everywhere. What happened and what should I do?

Sounds like when you added the dissolved sugar water it didn't get mixed thoroughly.. Might have some more bottle bombs and flat bottles.

If you have the space move them to the fridge, if its cold outside and they wont freeze put them out side perhaps?

i had a 5gal batch of 1L bail top bottles go kaboom.

did you stir in the water/sugar mix ? ?

Bottle bombs!!!! Hit the deck!!!

Welcome to our world. Bottle bombs can come about from unfermented malt sugars (incomplete fermentation) or from unbalanced priming sugar. The best way I know to ensure an adequate, balanced mix of priming sugar in your beer is to boil it in a cup or two of water and add it directly the bottom of your bottling bucket BEFORE you fill it up. If you're using a racking cane or auto-siphon to fill up your bottling bucket, just run the bottom of the tube straight down and let it rest on the inside base of the bucket. The flow will very gently stir the beer as it fills from your primary/secondary into the bucket. Avoid splashing or aerating your beer or oxidation can creep in.

There is one other cause, and that's a gusher bug. A gusher bug is a bacterial or wild yeast infection that can either be limited to one infected bottle or in an entire infected batch of beer. Basically, the bug will continue to consume normally unfermentable sugars and whatnot in your finished beer until the CO2 pressure causes the bottles to explode. They're usually caused by unsanitary bottling procedures, and don't think anyone is immune. I cracked open a 2012 Cigar City Brewing Improv last weekend that had a gusher bug, and it spewed out the entire bottle all over my kitchen in three seconds flat (faster than I could get it to the sink).

I poured the sugar mix in the bottom of bottling bucket and then used autosiphon to drain from fermenter and let the flow mix in the sugar.

ffd520 said:

I poured the sugar mix in the bottom of bottling bucket and then used autosiphon to drain from fermenter and let the flow mix in the sugar.

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I always use my plastic paddle to gently but thoroughly mix the priming sugar with the beer. be careful not to splash or pull air down into the beer.

always mix it in. i usually fill the bucket before i mix in my disolved sugar/water mix

Did you take gravity readings before you bottled? Did the bottles warm up much in the week between the flat beer and the gusher? If you think you mixed the priming sugar in well, then you most likely either had an incomplete fermentation (which finished in the bottles) or an infection in some of the bottles.

tally350z said:

Sounds like when you added the dissolved sugar water it didn't get mixed thoroughly.. Might have some more bottle bombs and flat bottles.

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I put the brew in the fridge after the night it happened. Tonight I opened another one and it's mostly flat. So I would have to say you were right about the pruning sugar not getting mixed thoroughly. The brew still tastes great so lesson learned. Thanks to all for the advice.