Exploding weizenbier

I brewed up a 5 gallon batch of weizenbier from a kit recently and everything went smoothly during the wort boil, yeast was pitched at 70 degrees and I had active fermentation within 12 hours. Bubbling in the airlock had completely stopped by 3 days and I bottled on day seven. I use 5 ounces of priming sugar boiled and added to the bottling bucket before the siphoning the batch. I bottled the whole batch leaving 1/2'' airspace in each and stored in a spare bedroom.

2 days after bottling, I walked into the room and could immediately smell stale beer. 6 of my bottles had violently exploded, blowing glass and beer all over the room. All of the bottles that exploded were recycled Sam Adams, but not all the Sam Adams exploded. Also it was really hot outside that day and the temperature inside the house was almost 80.

If anyone has any advice on what triggers bottles to explode and more importantly how to make sure it doesn't happen someday while I'm carrying a case under my chin, it would be greatly appreciated.

Exploding in New Mexico

Rio

Incomplete fermentation is the usual cause. I think you rushed it to the bottle and there this brew was not done fermenting. In the future you would be better served checking the finishing gravity with a hydrometer before bottling.

most of what you did sounds correct the only concern is that bottling after only 7 days may have been too soon, as everyone else here will also say you should always use a hydrometer to check for fermentation, krausen and bubbling in the airlock are not perfect indicators of yeast activity. I have had problems with recycled Heineken bottles but only in combination with more like 10oz of corn sugar. 80f is also a little warm for storing bottles but it should not have caused explosions.

Most of my bottles are Sam Adams. I mostly keg now but I still bottle a few batches and have never had a problem with Sam bottles. Like the rest of the replys I think you rushed bottleing. I let primary for 1 week then secondary for 1-2 weeks for .060 or less beers. A+ on the hydrometer, after two weeks check before bottleing. Another thing might have been not mixing in the priming sugar good enough. I have had a batch that I did not mix good enough and about 8 bottles were gushers and the rest were mildly carbed.

Incomplete fermentation...(bottled too soon) gets my vote also.

What was your OG and FG? They'll tell us right off the bat if we're right...and I'm certain we are.

Duly noted. Have been brewing succesfully without a hydrometer for a couple months but I guess its time to get a little more rigorous and take readings. However I think incomplete mixing of the priming sugar might be the cause as the beers have been very mixed on carbonation.

Rio

I'm guilty of rushing my first batch as well...

... and then I stored a couple in the cabinet over the stove where it gets warmer than where the rest of the bottles are. Wife calls me today and tells me I've got a nice mess to clean up when I get home. Bottle exploded and rained down beer all over the stove and counter.

Will have to make the rest stay nice and cool for a while since I rushed to bottle as well. Batches two and three are in the secondaries now, so I will make sure I use the hydrometer method of telling when to bottle this time.

rstamler said:

...Have been brewing succesfully without a hydrometer for a couple months...

Click to expand...

No, not successful, just lucky...

When you use a hydrometer you KNOW exactly if the brew is done fermenting and it's ready to bottle. :rockin:

+10 to what Homebrewer 99 is saying.

you've just been lucky. 7 days is a bare minimum for primary. you guessed wrong this time, and basically the whole batch is a lost cause. most likely every bottle will explode...or foam over like a volcano when opened, dumping 2/3 of the beer on the floor, and putting so much yeast in suspension the remaining 1/3 won't be too tasty.

learn to love your hydrometer.

I had a similar problem a few years back--my first attempt at a bottling bucket (usually bottled straight from secondary--don't ask why), and the last couple ounces of fluid in the bottling bucket was pure sugarwater--apparently, it didn't mix in as I siphoned in the beer, as I'd hoped. Presumably, the last few bottles were much higher charged than the first few. I didn't understand things like that back then, but do remember having a batch with a lot of flat brews and a few bombs.

Even with all that, 7 days was REALLLLY rushin' it.