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paddhurst

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This is the ceiling:
IMG_8077.JPG

This *was* the shower:
boom.JPG

This is the remains of 34 bottles of stout:
IMG_8074.JPG


The culprit? Lack of climate control. This was in un air conditioned basement apartment, the outside temp reached 95+ for at least four days running.
10 bottles out of 44 survived. 4 of those went to Canada with me (where I was when this happened).

Conditioning beer does not like heat.
 
Haha, that's awesome.

On the upside, I cracked open the first of the remaining bottles this evening, with my landlord (who has been understanding). Its pretty good if I do say so myself. Hes not much of a stout fan, but still enjoyed it.
 
You better crack open the rear of them or they will most likely explode, too. I don't think heat alone would have caused that.

I can't believe the force with which they exploded.
 
Wow. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. :)

I'm glad your landlord is understanding. I'm sure provided you clean up the mess and pay for the repairs. Hoo great story!
 
You better crack open the rear of them or they will most likely explode, too. I don't think heat alone would have caused that.

I can't believe the force with which they exploded.

Yep, beer bottled at the proper time and with the proper amount of sugar wouldn't explode because it got too warm.
 
Well...
I took gravity readings to confirm the ferment was over. Stayed at 1.022 for several days.
I used a ingredient kit, so the sugar was premeasured.
The only variables in play were the bottles, and the temp.
I used Sam Adams empties, which as I understand are one of the best to go with if you're going to reuse.

The temp in the bathroom might well have made it to the upper 80s or low 90s.

The six that lived are in the fridge and don't seem to be in any trouble.
 
I thought about infection, but the brew tastes pretty good! It's my understanding that if it had gone bad, it should taste sour?
 
paddhurst said:
I thought about infection, but the brew tastes pretty good! It's my understanding that if it had gone bad, it should taste sour?

Not always. Some infections have little bearing on the taste, and some actually make the beer have positive taste characteristics, especially early on. I'm no expert, but I don't think 95* heat would be enough to cause a bottle that had been properly primed to explode. Just for the sake of experimentation, dump a beer into a gallon carboy or a flask with an airlock on it (if you have one) and see if a pellicle forms. I'll bet it does.
 
That is both awesome and terrible, all in the same breath. I think I would find it hard to be upset.
 
Haha. Yes it is, I am upset, about the lost beer, and the repair bill. It is a hell of a story though, and I will continue to brew!

I only have 7.5 gallon pails.

I'm far from an expert, but have shared my story on other social sites and have heard back that it was the heat. Granted its only those brewers opinions, and I'm not discounting yours.

I don't know that anything would happen, the survivors have been refrigerated for four days already. The beer that made it to Canada has not been refrigerated at all, and all of it survived. The only difference there has been temperature, and one bottle transfer, it was transferred over a week ago.
 
Glad to see you're alright, still brewing, and retained a positive attitude about the incident.

It's unlikely your home got to the same 95°F inside as out, particularly lower areas, like a basement.

Apart from a priming sugar error, by either using too much, or it not dissolved or mixed thoroughly when bottling, it hints strongly to infection.

If you want to investigate further, measure the gravity of one of your remaining bottles (after it's gone flat). You may find the FG lower than the 1.022. Or even better, as suggested above, pour into a sanitized container with an airlock and let it sit for a few days, in a warm area. Look for a pellicle and measure gravity.
 
That is absolute destruction. Insane. Glad you made it out okay. IMO its not a temp issue. Its either over priming, premature bottling or infection.
 
That is absolute destruction. Insane. Glad you made it out okay. IMO its not a temp issue. Its either over priming, premature bottling or infection.

100%

IF fermentation was finished and proper sugar was used then all high temps would do it cause it to carb faster by stressing the yeast to gobble down on that priming sugar faster.

I would start weighing out ingredients by weight not "pre-measured" kit packs.
Scary stuff!!

Any reason you put them in the shower to begin with?
Also check the other 6 over a sink, make sure you dont have a foaming gyser when you pop the caps!!
 
My vote is also for not only because of temp. I have had 8 cases in the barn for weeks now (due to moving and lack of room) and a few days it has hit 95 up there on the top floor. Not one has exploded nor do I expect one to...

Bottle bombs + high heat = trouble. I suggest using Northern Brewer's priming sugar calculator and stirring priming sugar gently in the bottling bucket.
 
I have some of mine carbing in my garage directly next to a wall that gets afternoon sun. The wall can get above 100f. Beer gets into the 90s at points. Not one problem yet. Nothing gets overcarbed.
 
I have some of mine carbing in my garage directly next to a wall that gets afternoon sun. The wall can get above 100f. Beer gets into the 90s at points. Not one problem yet. Nothing gets overcarbed.

Putting aside the phantom overheating-leading-to-overcarbonation issue, isn't storing beer so warm going to affect the beer flavour? I thought the longer you can keep beer cold, the longer it will keep? Won't such heat cause the beer to go stale, or at least develop off-flavours from conditioning so hot?
 
Putting aside the phantom overheating-leading-to-overcarbonation issue, isn't storing beer so warm going to affect the beer flavour? I thought the longer you can keep beer cold, the longer it will keep? Won't such heat cause the beer to go stale, or at least develop off-flavours from conditioning so hot?

Yes you are correct. However these batches won't last very long. They're fresh IPAs I want carbed asap.
 
100%
Any reason you put them in the shower to begin with?
Also check the other 6 over a sink, make sure you dont have a foaming gyser when you pop the caps!!

The one that I did open was gingerly opened over the sink, just in case, but it didn't have any activity.

I put it in the shower in case of bottle bombs, ironically. The plan was if anything did go boom, the mess would be contained to the shower, I could clean up the glass, and give everything a rinse, and be done.

I just brewed up another batch last night, this time a Wiezen.

What would I stand to lose by conditioning in my secondary for the first week after fermentation ends? Given the results of the last batch I'm thinking:

Ferment in the primary. Transfer to the secondary for a week.
(wash primary, sterilize before transfer).
Transfer back to primary, wash and sterilize secondary, transfer back to secondary and prime. Leave it for a week, and then bottle.

This should (in my mind) still allow the beer to carbonate and condition some, while minimizing the risk of bombs in my warmer than is good for me environment.

Thoughts?
 
That would be nice. I'll skip the juvenile "come" jokes, there are too many :)
 
What would I stand to lose by conditioning in my secondary for the first week after fermentation ends? Given the results of the last batch I'm thinking:

Ferment in the primary. Transfer to the secondary for a week.
(wash primary, sterilize before transfer).
Transfer back to primary, wash and sterilize secondary, transfer back to secondary and prime. Leave it for a week, and then bottle.

This should (in my mind) still allow the beer to carbonate and condition some, while minimizing the risk of bombs in my warmer than is good for me environment.

Thoughts?

1.Youll have many opinions on this, i leave ALL my beers for ATLEAST 2 weeks if not more in the primary ON the yeast, no off flavors here. I also find the rack to secondary voids the "safety co2 blanket" and increases risk of contamination.

2. Primary to secondary back to primary back to secondary??!?!
WHAT?? All you need to do is leave the primary for 2 weeks and prepare your priming solution in the bottling bucket (secondary). Rack to the secondary to mix priming solution and bottle as is which leads to your next comment....

3. When you add additional sugar the yeast will eat it, thus when you "prime" for bottle conditioning you must package the beer ASAP.

4. Stop focusing on the hot weather, this should only be considered during primary fermentation when high temps can cause off flavors. Unless the beer is boiling in the bottles, which now that i think about it if you had a direct sun "bathroom glass" window in there magnified again by the shower glass it could have well been 100+. Regardless dont think heat could be the culprit here...

Measure by weight and make sure to take constant gravity readings.
 
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