Bottle Bombs?

I just bottled a Weissbier and am wondering if I'm going to have bottle bombs. The beer fermented out completely in the primary and sat at the same FG for three days. I bottled it yesterday morning with 3/4C corn sugar. By this afternoon, about 30 hours after capping, the yeast had noticeably settled out. I've never seen this happen so quickly. Being the curious type, I popped one and, sure enough, it was carbed enough to give a satisfying pfft as the cap came off. I poured it and, low and behold, what a head! Carbonation and a good head within 1-1/2 days of bottling!

My question, then: should I expect these bottles to carb up in the next two weeks and start popping on me? I've never had bottle bombs before, but such fast carbing makes me wonder if I should store these somewhere else, like inside some Rubbermaid bins or something. Also, is there anything I can do, other than duck and run? Or just drink them all tomorrow, I guess.

Yeast can do odd things. Its certainly possible that it ate through the sugar in 36 hours. It's something to keep an eye on, but I wouldn't get too worried right now. Maybe test one in a few more days and see if it's over carbing.

Two thoughts:
Was it at it's predicted FG?
Invest in a kitchen scale.

Measuring sugar by weight is much more accurate than measuring it by volume. 3/4 cup of sugar isn't always the same amount depending on how packed it got in the cup. But by weight, it's always the exact amount you expect it to be.

My experience is having bottles fully carbonated after 3 days, so I wouldn't be worry in you case, you used the correct amount of sugar and fermentation did finish before you bottled. I assume you made sure to mix the sugar very well with the beer before bottling.
Just relax and wait to enjoy your beer.

ChshreCat said:

Was it at it's predicted FG?

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Spot on. That's why I went to bottle.

The large amount of head is an indication that the yeast has produced the co2 but it hasn't necessarily been dissolved back into the beer.

If your FG was stable and you measured your priming sugar correctly you have nothing to worry about. If you're extra paranoid, just make sure they're sealed up in a closed area or container so that if you do have bottle bombs, cleanup will be easy. But really, I think you're fine

There are many reasons for bottles to explode, but it usually isn't for adding 3/4 cups of sugar...

When you add priming sugar to beer, the leftover yeast will convert that sugar into alcohol and CO2 just like they did during fermentation... during fermentation, the CO2 escapes through the airlock, but when you bottle it ends up in the headspace of the bottle which is why you hear the hissing sound when you pop one open...

This CO2 will keep on building up and as the pressure builds up, the CO2 will begin to dissolve back into the liquid and 'carbonate' your beer.

So just because you are hearing carbonation 30 hours after capping, doesn't mean you have over-carbonated your beers so I wouldn't worry about it from that perspective...

chshrecat said:

yeast can do odd things. Its certainly possible that it ate through the sugar in 36 hours. It's something to keep an eye on, but i wouldn't get too worried right now. Maybe test one in a few more days and see if it's over carbing.

Two thoughts:
Was it at it's predicted fg?
Invest in a kitchen scale.

Measuring sugar by weight is much more accurate than measuring it by volume. 3/4 cup of sugar isn't always the same amount depending on how packed it got in the cup. But by weight, it's always the exact amount you expect it to be.

Click to expand...

+1

in short, it should be fine. although i always put anything i bottle i a bomb shelter, even though i've only had 2 bottles ever blow ( 1 set the other 1 off )

I don't have a lot of experience bottling since I usually keg. However, I'm starting to like bottling better because of the consistency of carbonation I get. When I do bottle I always keep the bottles in a "Rubbermaid tote". Maybe I'm just paranoid but:

1) The tote keeps the beer away from sunlight--good anyway.
2) I live in Texas so we don't have basements--good anyway.
3) If a bomb does go off it's contained--hasn't happened yet but I bet I like this more than the alternative.

Two good size totes are enough to store about 2.5 batches in about the same amount of space you're going to use anyway. I see it as cheap insurance.