Dynachrome
Well-Known Member
Test
.
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.
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?
Enter your email address to join: