Breaking point of bottles- carbonation

How close is 4.5 vol of CO2 to breaking a standard brown bottle? I've seen many threads on different CO2 levels for different styles, but I can't find anything that give average explosion thresholds.

I'm interested because I want to make highly carbonated cider. Perhaps 1 to 3 gallons.

I bet you could figure it out in a couple of weeks with a simple experiment with 5 or so bottles. My guess is that your experiment will show bottles can tolerate a very high carbonation level. If you add imperfect bottles (with air bubbles in the glass), and higher temperatures into the equation, the bottles will burst earlier. I've always wondered the impact of how tightly I cap the bottle and whether I'm stressing the glass or not. The easiest solution is just to use thicker glass bottles for your high vol needs.

I bet you'd get some interest in that sort of experiment...

Generally I'd say your average beer bottle can take it but like everything there are no absolutes. Hold several bottles up to the light and you will see the glass vary in thickness. The higher pressure you run the greater your chance of finding that 1 in 100 weak bottle.

If carbing in the bottles I'd do it inside a cooler to contain the mess if there is a bad bottle. If you are force carbing and then using a counter pressure filler I might wear safety glasses and thick gloves in case. I've been inside the filling rooms of several plants when they have hit a patch of bad containers. It's a very messy exerience (I always brought an extra set of clothes).

Not all beer bottles are equal, either. New Belgium bottles weigh 195 grams when empty. The empty bottles I buy from my LHBS weigh 232 grams when empty. You can guess which ones I prefer to use for higher carbed brews.

Last time when I asked the same question, the consensus was that a standard 12ozer can handle about 4volumes relatively safely.

Technophallus said:

How close is 4.5 vol of CO2 to breaking a standard brown bottle? I've seen many threads on different CO2 levels for different styles, but I can't find anything that give average explosion thresholds.

I'm interested because I want to make highly carbonated cider. Perhaps 1 to 3 gallons.

Click to expand...

AFAIK you can use champagne bottles or Belgian style bottles. I'm pretty sure they are both made to withstand higher pressure.

Is there any more risk in using 22 oz. bombers for highly carbonated beer? I plan to bottle my Duvel-esque recipe this week, and only have a few Belgian bottles (and no corks), but an ample supply of 22 oz. bombers and standard caps.

I was planning to carb to ~3.8 volumes (for fear of going higher)...

I've done somewhere around 4.3 to 4.5 without problems in regular 12oz longnecks