Rootbeer glass bottles yeast amount carbonation - Test

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
...another post apocalyptic zombie thread from hell resurrected.

I posted this as a test - years ago - to see what threads it would conjusre at the bottom of the page.

I bought extract flavoring for Sarsaparilla, and Birch beer. I got enough to do 4 gallons of each.

My LHBS guy told me that the carbonation/non-bottle bomb characteristic of bottling soda doesn't depend on how much yeast is added to the pot just prior to bottling.

He contends that it is dependent on the air space left on top of the liquid.

I am on a quest for truth.

I'll be happy to settle for some good advice. I've made rootbeer a few times and only had a couple blow up.
 
.

My LHBS guy told me that the carbonation/non-bottle bomb characteristic of bottling soda doesn't depend on how much yeast is added to the pot just prior to bottling.

He contends that it is dependent on the air space left on top of the liquid.

I am on a quest for truth.

He's right. And wrong.

It's true that you can add 1 yeast cell or 100 billion, and that doesn't decide the carbonation. Yeast multiply, and will digest all fermentable sugars with time

The air space doesn't matter either, so that's where he's wrong. It's true that more air space, say, like half a bottle, will create bottle bombs sooner but that doesn't mean that one filled to the top will never be a bottle bomb either.

If the bottle is not pasteurized, the yeast will still consume all of the available sugars, even if you add one yeast cell. In order to get them to stop, generally cold temperatures are used to make them go dormant, or the soda can be pasteurized. Since pasteurization itself can create bottle bombs, most people just put them someplace cold to stop the yeast, or keg their soda and use no yeast at all.
 
He's right. And wrong.

It's true that you can add 1 yeast cell or 100 billion, and that doesn't decide the carbonation. Yeast multiply, and will digest all fermentable sugars with time

The air space doesn't matter either, so that's where he's wrong. It's true that more air space, say, like half a bottle, will create bottle bombs sooner but that doesn't mean that one filled to the top will never be a bottle bomb either.

If the bottle is not pasteurized, the yeast will still consume all of the available sugars, even if you add one yeast cell. In order to get them to stop, generally cold temperatures are used to make them go dormant, or the soda can be pasteurized. Since pasteurization itself can create bottle bombs, most people just put them someplace cold to stop the yeast, or keg their soda and use no yeast at all.

Now I am not disputing anything said, but rather trying to understand. I have often thought that the more yeast the more carbonation. I mean 1 cell will consume only so much at any time, but 100 million will consume that amount (roughly) times 100 million. So, wouldn't that produce more CO2 at a faster rate?

My personal experience with bottle bombs happened because I used twice as much yeast as normal. That's what happens when you brew late at night. Don't ever do that...lol I typically use 1/8tsp for 1 gallon of brew. I accidentally did 1/4tsp per gallon. My bottles were filled at the level I always fill them. I typically have them sit and ferment for 2-3 days to reach the proper carbonation levels. This particular night, 3am rolled around and we were awaken by a very loud bang. By "we" I mean my step son and wife who then had to wake me up from my coma.

That scenario tells me that it was the amount of yeast I used, which led to sugars being consumed at a higher rate and thus producing CO2 at a higher rate, leading to the mess of shattered glass and delicious smelling brew all over my cupboard. Is that not an accurate assumption?
 
That scenario tells me that it was the amount of yeast I used, which led to sugars being consumed at a higher rate and thus producing CO2 at a higher rate, leading to the mess of shattered glass and delicious smelling brew all over my cupboard. Is that not an accurate assumption?

No, that's correct. But that is not what you originally said. The amount of yeast does not matter to the level of carbonation. The speed of the carbonation level will be faster with more yeast, but it won't be more carbonated. If you have 1 yeast cell, it will reproduce and eventually it will create as much carbonation as 100 million yeast cells. It will just take longer.
 
Back
Top