First Bottle Bomb

Been brewing over 2 years now without any bottle bombs and had my first one today. Im not too sure if it was a flaw in the bottle, but I cracked open 3 bottles to check and they all had the same level of carbonation. I wouldn't say they were overcarbed but definitely had a ton of it, which I was aiming for since its a saison and I wanted something very traditional. None of the bottles had bulging caps, but as a safe precaution I put them all in the fridge to halt any more carbonation to be created.

My question is:

Im submitting these into a contest in where they will be stored for a couple weeks. Well the yeast reawaken after being a room temp to create more carbonation? Do not want these to explode for the judging.

They COULD if you put in some excessive amount of sugars to prime the bottles. You're sure fermentation was done when you bottled? How much sugar of what type did you add to prime? If everything was spot on and you don't really have any signs of an infection in other bottles then it was probably a fluke. It's happened to me.

shanecb said:

They COULD if you put in some excessive amount of sugars to prime the bottles. You're sure fermentation was done when you bottled? How much sugar of what type did you add to prime? If everything was spot on and you don't really have any signs of an infection in other bottles then it was probably a fluke. It's happened to me.

Click to expand...

Yes my Final Gravity was consistent for 2 weeks straight since i did a 5 week fermentation. I used 6oz of corn sugar in 5 gallons.

Garrett said:

Yes my Final Gravity was consistent for 2 weeks straight since i did a 5 week fermentation. I used 6oz of corn sugar in 5 gallons.

Click to expand...

6 oz is too much!

.75-1.0 oz per gallon of FINiSHED beer is recommended for 2.3-2.4vols of Co2

You over carbonated the beer and if they all haven't blown up then place them in a sealed container like storage tub with lid.

Be careful

duboman said:

6 oz is too much!

.75-1.0 oz per gallon of FINiSHED beer is recommended for 2.3-2.4vols of Co2

You over carbonated the beer and if they all haven't blown up then place them in a sealed container like storage tub with lid.

Be careful

Click to expand...

Really? I was looking to have around 3.2 volumes for this Saison. Most traditional Belgians are highly carbonated and that's what I was aiming for. I put all of them in the fridge already.

What yeast did you use, and what was your FG. A lot of sasion yeast will get you very close to 1.0 and can take several weeks to get there, esp if they aren't kept at warmer temps. Your better off leaving them out of the firdge putting them somewhere safe (plastic tub) for as long as you can to make sure they aren't going to explode, before sending them to judging and let it happen there. I would even say take the ones you want to send out of the fridge and put them somewhere greater than 75 degrees to be safe.

For 3.2 vols then 6 oz is not too much assuming you actually bottled a full 5 gallons of beer. If you bottled less then you over carbonated. Either way, to a lot of American drinkers over 2.7 vols tastes really quite fizzy.

In addition, did you weigh out the sugar or measure by volume. Weight is much more exact and if you measured by volume you may have been a little heavier then you thought as well.

Also, did you bulk prime to ensure an even thorough mix through all bottles. If so you may have just had a bad bottle or so but I would still be cautious, especially if you are going to competition as judges really aren't fans of exploding bottles!

JeepDiver said:

What yeast did you use, and what was your FG. A lot of sasion yeast will get you very close to 1.0 and can take several weeks to get there, esp if they aren't kept at warmer temps. Your better off leaving them out of the firdge putting them somewhere safe (plastic tub) for as long as you can to make sure they aren't going to explode, before sending them to judging and let it happen there. I would even say take the ones you want to send out of the fridge and put them somewhere greater than 75 degrees to be safe.

Click to expand...

I used WLP670 American Farmhouse Blend. FG was 1.012 and held solid for two weeks that way. ill go ahead and put them in a tub.

What type of bottles did you use? Belgian beers are often bottled in stronger glass

duboman said:

For 3.2 vols then 6 oz is not too much assuming you actually bottled a full 5 gallons of beer. If you bottled less then you over carbonated. Either way, to a lot of American drinkers over 2.7 vols tastes really quite fizzy.

In addition, did you weigh out the sugar or measure by volume. Weight is much more exact and if you measured by volume you may have been a little heavier then you thought as well.

Also, did you bulk prime to ensure an even thorough mix through all bottles. If so you may have just had a bad bottle or so but I would still be cautious, especially if you are going to competition as judges really aren't fans of exploding bottles!

Click to expand...

yep it was a full 5 gallons maybe a bit more...

I did weigh out the sugar.

what do you mean by bulk prime?

yeah im hoping it was a bad bottle to, I also just discovered the cabinet I stored the bottles in was close to a pipe that was coming from the hot water heater, the exploding bottle was very close, maybe that could have something to do with it as well. not sure.

masterosouffle said:

What type of bottles did you use? Belgian beers are often bottled in stronger glass

Click to expand...

i used a mix of american craft beer bottles.

Garrett said:

I used WLP670 American Farmhouse Blend. FG was 1.012 and held solid for two weeks that way. ill go ahead and put them in a tub.

Click to expand...

That yeast has Brett which takes a long while to finish, and depending on your original OG, it could go a bit lower than 1.012. Quick search showed people going to 1.008 Hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing your priming sugar restarted it and it is dropping lower than you think, thus causing bottle bombs. Also the beer will probably change while in the bottle with the brett, so the taste could be a lot different by the time it is judged.

JeepDiver said:

That yeast has Brett which takes a long while to finish, and depending on your original OG, it could go a bit lower than 1.012. Quick search showed people going to 1.008 Hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing your priming sugar restarted it and it is dropping lower than you think, thus causing bottle bombs. Also the beer will probably change while in the bottle with the brett, so the taste could be a lot different by the time it is judged.

Click to expand...

Interesting, i guess ill put half int he tub and the half in the fridge and see what happens.

I think your bottles will most likely explode/be over carbonated. Brett can eat a lot of sugars yeast can't, so it wasn't really don't fermenting. Also, you didn't use champagne bottles so your bottles aren't necessarily ready for that level of carbonation.

I'd stick them in the fridge and drink it all young, and personally, I wouldn't submit it to a contest.

Also, be sure to sanitize the **** out if your fermenters. Brett(brettanomyces) is one helluva yeast, it's a survivor, it could cause you problems in the future

harrymanback92 said:

I think your bottles will most likely explode/be over carbonated. Brett can eat a lot of sugars yeast can't, so it wasn't really don't fermenting. Also, you didn't use champagne bottles so your bottles aren't necessarily ready for that level of carbonation.

I'd stick them in the fridge and drink it all young, and personally, I wouldn't submit it to a contest.

Also, be sure to sanitize the **** out if your fermenters. Brett(brettanomyces) is one helluva yeast, it's a survivor, it could cause you problems in the future

Click to expand...

yeah i guess we will see what happens. i currently have half the bottles refrigerated and the rest in a container. i just had a bottle tonight, its honestly amazing. The taste/carb is wonderful.

Yeah Brett is pretty awesome for bottle conditioning, try Orval. To me it's like one of those snake fireworks, the head just oozes out into this awesome clumpy frothy lacy head.


Bet the beers great, just be careful.