Another bottle bomb thread

CornyKegs 728
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Sea_of_Shells

Sea_of_Shells

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We bottled our first batch last Saturday, and today I was informed that a bottle had exploded.
Here are the facts:

-This was an extract kit which included priming sugar.
-We followed the directions precisely.
-The beer was in primary for 3 weeks exactly. No secondary.


I have a hunch that the sugar wasn't integrated into the beer thoroughly. We poured the priming sugar mixture into the bottling bucket, and racked the beer on top. I figured that would be enough to mix it around. Anyway, I'm terrified. In fact, I'm not even sure I want to make another batch. Waiting this long to see if the beer is even drinkable is killing me, and now they are exploding. If the kit can't get it right, then a couple of noobs in a kitchen won't be able to either.

Is there a way to prevent this in the future? Should we open the bottles and recap them to release pressure?
 
Yeah, next time: mix priming sugar with a cup of boiling water, rack beer on top of solution, and use a sanitized stainless steel spoon to slowly, quietly stir solution into beer. After your more experienced a person can even do this with the end of the siphon hose while transfering.
 
I wouldn't give up so easily, there could be a lot of factors here. One bottle bomb doesn't make you a failure of the ages.

You can try to vent your other bottles if you're REALLY concerned. I'd really only do this if I had a bottle explode within a few days though. Be very gentle, and just very slightly pry up the cap until it vents (don't pry it off or bend it). Then re-cap it again. Maybe wear eye protection or something.

Anyway, it could've been an uneven mix of sugar. My first few batches I didn't really mix the sugar. Didn't have any issues but the carbonation was a little inconsistent.

Maybe that bottle was just...a crappy bottle. Hard to see if there's a small crack or ding in the glass sometimes (like a windshield). If there was some kind of imperfection, maybe when it was put under pressure it failed.

Brewing ain't hard, just do some homework and you'll be fine. Here's a priming calculator that should help you determine how much sugar you really should add: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html . Don't really go above 3 vols of CO2...bottles aren't really designed for that. I went to 4 vols with a hefeweizen...miraculously had no bottle bombs (I vented them 2 days later when I found out). You'll probably find that most kits aim to use 5 ounces as a happy medium...gives a generic 2.5 volumes usually.
 
sidepart said:
I wouldn't give up so easily, there could be a lot of factors here. One bottle bomb doesn't make you a failure of the ages.

You can try to vent your other bottles if you're REALLY concerned. I'd really only do this if I had a bottle explode within a few days though. Be very gentle, and just very slightly pry up the cap until it vents (don't pry it off or bend it). Then re-cap it again. Maybe wear eye protection or something.

Anyway, it could've been an uneven mix of sugar. My first few batches I didn't really mix the sugar. Didn't have any issues but the carbonation was a little inconsistent.

Maybe that bottle was just...a crappy bottle. Hard to see if there's a small crack or ding in the glass sometimes (like a windshield). If there was some kind of imperfection, maybe when it was put under pressure it failed.

Brewing ain't hard, just do some homework and you'll be fine. Here's a priming calculator that should help you determine how much sugar you really should add: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html . Don't really go above 3 vols of CO2...bottles aren't really designed for that. I went to 4 vols with a hefeweizen...miraculously had no bottle bombs (I vented them 2 days later when I found out). You'll probably find that most kits aim to use 5 ounces as a happy medium...gives a generic 2.5 volumes usually.
Click to expand...

This was extremely helpful.
 
I'm with "make a sugar syrup and stir it in well." I draw off 500ml of brew into a pyrex measuring cup, add 130g of sugar to it, stir it, microwave it until it is 170F, stirring occasionally to dissolve, let it sit for 5 minutes with the oven door closed, then pour that into the bottling bucket either before the rest of the brew is siphoned in, or drizzled in while stirring the bucket. Never failed.
 
sidepart said:
You can try to vent your other bottles if you're REALLY concerned. I'd really only do this if I had a bottle explode within a few days though. Be very gentle, and just very slightly pry up the cap until it vents (don't pry it off or bend it). Then re-cap it again. Maybe wear eye protection or something.
Click to expand...

I just had a major over carbing issue myself. Someone just told me to do this exact same thing, but they also added to use a quarter when venting the bottles so you dont have to worry so much about bending or denting the cap. Worked well, saved all caps and all beers. Good Luck.
 
I've had the necks of bottles crack off during capping, so it's entirely possible to weaken a bottle or two without realizing it during the capping process. Put your remaining bottles in some tupperware bins with lids and let 'em sit. Relax, don't worry, and have a Schraderbrau.
 
Don't get discouraged.It could have been as simple as a weak bottle or priming sugar that was not evenly mixed. I never stir but just rack on top of the priming sugar solution. It is a great hobby and this place is a wealth of information. I have bottled over 150 cases of brew and never had a bottle bomb. I did have some gushers that were my fault. I did a 4 gallon batch of a Belgian and wanted to carb them a little higher. The only problem was it was a 4 gallon batch and I calculated the priming sugar for a 5 gal batch.

Relax and brew some more.
 
I figured I'd give an update. We had two bottles explode (the bottom failed on both), so we decided to vent the others. The first one we vented started to gush our of control. It was as if I shook it for a few minutes before opening it. We decided not to vent the others, and so far we haven't had any more explode. I think it was just a fluke.
 
Did you happen to notice if those bottles were the first ones that you bottled, therefore more sugar and carbonation for the bottle bombs. Reason I ask, because when I bottle my first brew this summer, I didn't mix the solution at all, after bottleing a few bombers, I remembered I didn't mix it. So I labeled on the box where I put my beers where the first bottles I bottled were, in case they become bombs. They were very carbonated after a week, so I just stuck them in the fridge and they were good.
I would put a few in the fridge for a few days, and if the carbonation is good, to putmore of them in there so you dont have to worry about them any more.

Brew up another batch, so when this one runs out, you have more ready beer to drink so you're not waiting! :)
 
We marked the first bottle, but none of the others. We wrote a giant "1" on the bottle cap in red Sharpie. That one seems to be fine. We're brewing another batch this Saturday. I know it's going to go smoother.
 
No one else has asked it so I'll put this out there. How much head space are you leaving in your bottles? That could also be a factor especially if you added too much sugar.
 
Whattawort said:
No one else has asked it so I'll put this out there. How much head space are you leaving in your bottles? That could also be a factor especially if you added too much sugar.
Click to expand...

I filled the bottles as high as a commercial brewery would. I put the wand into the bottle, filled them until they overflowed, and when the wand was removed, the beer was at a perfect level. I don't think that was the issue. I honestly think the priming sugar didn't get integrated enough.
 
Sea_of_Shells said:
so we decided to vent the others. The first one we vented started to gush our of control.
Click to expand...

LOL!!! I'm so so sorry because I was the one that recommended maybe venting them and off-hand mentioned eyewear. That probably would've scared the **** out of me and my brew partners would be dying laughing on the floor.

That's actually really surprising, I was more worried about an extreme situation where a top might fly off or the bottle would fail at the instant you decided to grab/vent it.
 
sweed said:
Did you happen to notice if those bottles were the first ones that you bottled, therefore more sugar and carbonation for the bottle bombs. Reason I ask, because when I bottle my first brew this summer, I didn't mix the solution at all, after bottleing a few bombers, I remembered I didn't mix it. So I labeled on the box where I put my beers where the first bottles I bottled were, in case they become bombs. They were very carbonated after a week, so I just stuck them in the fridge and they were good.
I would put a few in the fridge for a few days, and if the carbonation is good, to putmore of them in there so you dont have to worry about them any more.

Brew up another batch, so when this one runs out, you have more ready beer to drink so you're not waiting! :)
Click to expand...



That's exactly what happened to me with my last batch. After capping the first 6 bottles, I realized I did not stir in the priming sugar (just racked the beer on top). I marked the caps on those with a Sharpie. They were not gushers, but I could tell they were more carbed than the others.


I'm coming up on the end of this batch (little more than a 12 pack left). I bet the last 6 will be flatter than hell. :facepalm:
 
Sea_of_Shells said:
I filled the bottles as high as a commercial brewery would. I put the wand into the bottle, filled them until they overflowed, and when the wand was removed, the beer was at a perfect level. I don't think that was the issue. I honestly think the priming sugar didn't get integrated enough.
Click to expand...

I would consider not filling quite as high. Maybe a 1/4in less.
 
Whattawort said:
I would consider not filling quite as high. Maybe a 1/4in less.
Click to expand...
+1. when using the bottling wand this is where i fill to:

Bottle-neck.jpg
 
sidepart said:
LOL!!! I'm so so sorry because I was the one that recommended maybe venting them and off-hand mentioned eyewear. That probably would've scared the **** out of me and my brew partners would be dying laughing on the floor.

That's actually really surprising, I was more worried about an extreme situation where a top might fly off or the bottle would fail at the instant you decided to grab/vent it.
Click to expand...

No worries man! I definitely wasn't expecting it, though. We decided not to vent the others just in case. I'm going to crack one open on Saturday (exactly 2 weeks after bottling) during UFC to see how it's coming along. It's cleared up substantially, and we really only had that one little mishap. Also, it's brew day round 2 on Saturday. Wish us luck.
 
Chilling the others will probably stop the bombs. I thought I over primed a batch, put the bottles in containers to be safe, they turned out to be under carb'd :confused: And all bottles are not created equal. Some of my recycled bottles are definitely more heavy duty than others. So far approximately 750 bottles, no bombs.
 
I used "recycled" New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Firestone Walker and Sam Adams bottles. Between my buddies and I, we usually rack up 2 cases in a week. It's more economical to reuse bottles. Have you come across a company whose bottles are more resiliant?
 
New Belgium, Serra Nevada, Bridgeport, and Widmer, no failures yet. No Sam Adams (don't care for it). I am starting to favor 22 oz bottles. Reduced bottling time, one 22 instead of 2 12's after dinner, less storage space. I really look at the bottles now, after I found a cracked lip on one of them. After I wash and dry them, I spend a couple of seconds looking at them against a light source, and make sure the bottle top is sound.
 
This first batch we used 12 oz. so we could share with as many friends as possible. I drink enough bombers though, so maybe next time we'll use those. I'm sure the extra storage space will be welcome, and bombers are shareable as well. I like the way you think.
 
Make shure the bottles are always clean and sanitized well. Make shure you have the right volume bottled for the right amout of priming sugar and boil it and rack on top of it,stirr to finish if you want but you dont really need to,but for peace of mind it may be better.Its possible that something in your bottleing process may not be clean and sanitized well,just make shure its not that because it will keep happening in future batches. Always flush and clean your bottleing stuff immediatly after bottleing. I rinse and flush right after I use them during bottleing.
Its possible something took hold with batch of the beer, make shure you know the source or recognized it with your process so you learn from that.You need to play investigator with that kind of stuff because bombs are pretty serious. And dont open warm beers while youve had them gush,get them in the fridge or dispose of them but make shure your chilling them down at least a day or two also.Some people get that when they dont fully chill,but my experience is I can stick mine in the freezer for 45 min and 99% of the time its fine. But really they benefit more from sitting in the fridge a week or three.
 
CBXBob said:
Chilling the others will probably stop the bombs. I thought I over primed a batch, put the bottles in containers to be safe, they turned out to be under carb'd :confused: And all bottles are not created equal. Some of my recycled bottles are definitely more heavy duty than others. So far approximately 750 bottles, no bombs.
Click to expand...


Did you give them enough conditioning time to fully carbonate? You may have prematurly stuck them in the fridge?
 

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