Bottle Bombs?

How likely are bottle bombs? I'm a little worried about this. I have a 5 gallon batch i'm about to bottle and the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup of DME. However, I don't know if this takes into account that i've taken out about 2 cups of beer for hydrometer readings. Basically, how exact does this 1 1/4 cup have to be? If i'm a little over or a little under is it fine? Will I just end up with over carbonated beer?

Thanks!

I have never used dme to carbonate, but I did have bottle bombs once. I have been brewing for close to 14 years, and I find a half cup of priming sugar works fine

The hydrometer samples account for 2.5% of your batch. That is nothing. Not to mention that ~160g of DME is only carbing you to ~ 2 volumes. You would have to double the weight of DME to get you to 3 volumes. All of that is well within what most bottles can handle.

If your recipe calls for that amount, you should be fine. A pint difference in volume shouldn't make a noticeable differencein carbonation. Tastybrew.com has a great calculator for priming amounts, if you want to check for sure, or use it for future brews.

Thanks guys, your replies are very much appreciated!

Bottle bombs occur due to bottling too soon, and/or an infection that continues to slowly ferment past the point when the yeast stopped. 1.25cups should be ok, but this should be a Belgian or Hefe, right?

1.25 cups of DME is actually pretty low- if the beer is finished when you bottle, you have no worries about bottle bombs.

I've brewed over 300 batches, and bottled 200 of those! And I've never had a bottle bomb. They only happen if fermentation isn't finished or if the priming solution isn't mixed in to the finished beer (so that one bottle gets most of the sugar instead of the whole batch). You'll be fine.

Well, I made an IPA. It's been in the primary for 8 days now. By the time I bottle i'll be at 11 days in the primary so i'm pretty sure fermentation will be done by then. Heck, I think fermentation is done now! My hydro readings have been pretty constant the last 3 days. I'll take one on Wednesday and then bottle on Friday night. Basically i'm just letting everything settle right now and clearing it a little.

I wouldn't bottle after 8 days. I can't imagine your beer being very clear after 8 days.

inturnldemize said:

Well, I made an IPA. It's been in the primary for 8 days now. By the time I bottle i'll be at 11 days in the primary so i'm pretty sure fermentation will be done by then. Heck, I think fermentation is done now! My hydro readings have been pretty constant the last 3 days. I'll take one on Wednesday and then bottle on Friday night. Basically i'm just letting everything settle right now and clearing it a little.

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IMHO 11 days is not enough time and pretty constant to me does not mean identical readings meaning absolutely no change.

Remember that while you may get constant readings there is a phase of fermentation that occurs after that when the yeast will continue to clean up, flocculate and help clear your beer and generally most people recommend a period of 2 weeks total for all that to happen and most people on this site would suggest 3-4.

As for your priming +1 to the above suggestions in recalculating your DME amounts. Also take into account the using DME will typically require more conditioning and carbonating time before your packaged beer will be ready to enjoy.

I have a 2 week limit. My beer MUST be bottled within 12 days. If fermentation is done then i'll be fine right? I don't mind if the beer isn't super clear either. All I care is for nice hoppy taste for my IPA. This beer will be bottle-able within 2 weeks though if fermentation is done right?

By the way my FG is 1.008. The recipe called for a FG of 1.012 or so.

inturnldemize said:

I have a 2 week limit. My beer MUST be bottled within 12 days. If fermentation is done then i'll be fine right? I don't mind if the beer isn't super clear either. All I care is for nice hoppy taste for my IPA. This beer will be bottle-able within 2 weeks though if fermentation is done right?

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That's why you let the primary fermentation complete and then dry hop for a few days. The freshest hop aroma around and nice clean beer.

I'm not dry hopping. I've tasted it and the citrusy taste I get from my Cascade hops is exactly what I wanted. I'm not doing anything else to my brew. Just going to bottle it in a few days.

But for some reason i'm paranoid of bottle bombs! lol

I dont wanna thread jack but a new thread isnt needed. Ive never had a bottle bomb so I dont know what to look for other than an exploded bottle. I went to grab some beers to throw in the fridge and found this.....


Is this just a weak bottle or was this a bottle bomb? It was the only one that did it and I didnt use anymore priming sugar than usual. It spent 3 weeks in the carboy so I know it fermented out.

technically a bottle bomb but could just be a weak bottle? Who knows its glass...

KeyWestBrewing said:

It spent 3 weeks in the carboy so I know it fermented out.

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I'm not sure you can say that without hydrometer readings. It's certainly possible it was just a weak bottle. But it could be an infection or a stalled fermentation that restarted after bottling. Hard to say. Throw a few in the fridge and taste them and check their CO2 levels.

OP, you do run a risk bottling this soon. If your deadline means the beer will all be consumed not long after bottling you are probably fine. I wouldn't put those bottles away for very long though. I haven't had any bottle bombs but I came close once. They were so charged that about half shot out on opening. But none blew. I keg mostly now so it's not an issue but I personally wouldn't bottle in less than two weeks, generally three.

Is it possible you had a crack in the bottle and didn't notice?? Strange that only one bottle was affected.

pabloj13 said:

I'm not sure you can say that without hydrometer readings. It's certainly possible it was just a weak bottle. But it could be an infection or a stalled fermentation that restarted after bottling. Hard to say. Throw a few in the fridge and taste them and check their CO2 levels.

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I took hydrometer readings 2 weeks apart and they were the same so I know it finished up. I sanitize really well but if its somehow infection I think its isolated to that bottle because the rest have been fine(tastes like a little too hot of a sparge but fine), Ive been drinking the batch for 2 weeks now. Not sure how to check CO2 levels other than... what my beersmith said to prime with to get it at 2.4 or looking at how carbed the beer is. Which also seems fine.

Im leaning towards the weak bottle since I reuse my bottles. But Ive never seen a bottle bomb either so I thought the blown out bottom might be a tell tale sign.

KeyWestBrewing said:

I took hydrometer readings 2 weeks apart and they were the same so I know it finished up. I sanitize really well but if its somehow infection I think its isolated to that bottle because the rest have been fine(tastes like a little too hot of a sparge but fine), Ive been drinking the batch for 2 weeks now. Not sure how to check CO2 levels other than... what my beersmith said to prime with to get it at 2.4 or looking at how carbed the beer is. Which also seems fine.

Im leaning towards the weak bottle since I reuse my bottles. But Ive never seen a bottle bomb either so I thought the blown out bottom might be a tell tale sign.

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Yeah, that sounds like it's probably the most likely.

KeyWestBrewing said:

I took hydrometer readings 2 weeks apart and they were the same so I know it finished up. I sanitize really well but if its somehow infection I think its isolated to that bottle because the rest have been fine(tastes like a little too hot of a sparge but fine), Ive been drinking the batch for 2 weeks now. Not sure how to check CO2 levels other than... what my beersmith said to prime with to get it at 2.4 or looking at how carbed the beer is. Which also seems fine.

Im leaning towards the weak bottle since I reuse my bottles. But Ive never seen a bottle bomb either so I thought the blown out bottom might be a tell tale sign.

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I am leaning towards weak bottle. IME bottle bombs are much more catastrophic. The cap in the forefront of the pic is about ten feet from the boxes in the rear, where the bottle exploded.

meschaefer said:

I am leaning towards weak bottle. IME bottle bombs are much more catastrophic. The cap in the forefront of the pic is about ten feet from the boxes in the rear, where the bottle exploded.

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That's the impression I got from the term. Thanks guys and sorry for thread jacking.