What the . . . .??? A bottle exploded!

I just finished my first homebrew and it has been bottled for 4-5 weeks. I used a Brewcraft Munich Lager and in each bottle I used a Carbonation Drop. For those from New Zealand, I used Monteiths bottles. My girlfriend was sitting on the couch and heard something in the closet where we keep the beer and checked it out and a bottle was missing and there was broken glass everywhere. Is this normal?

Yep, overcarbed beer. U might want to check the rest

By the way - the beer worked out great! A bit cloudy and lots of stuff at the bottom of the bottle, but great taste!

check the rest for what? I am scared they will explode in my hand

The closet they are in is fairly warm - over 20C - does that matter?

sorry -the closet is actually 18C

If you put them in the fridge the co2 will go back into the liquid instead of building up in the headspace of the bottle which is probably why you had one explode

Another has blown its cap. The bottle seems fine. What is going on - damn I am losing good beer. . . .aaaaaargh

U have over carbed beer bro, get those thigns in the fridge

Mycroft... are you of the Doyle variety or the Heinlien? Or does your nick have something to do with something else I don't know about?

+1. Get em in the fridge, or put them in a large cooler and put some ice on em. The added benefit of the cooler is if another one lets go you won't have a mess in the fridge. You might want to wear gloves, a long sleeve shirt, and some eye protection just in case another one lets go.

They may not have completed fermentation when you bottled, and the warm temperature will make the pressure higher as SporkD2 has said.

Into the fridge...they're ready to drink! You may wish to open with gloves and safety glasses, just in case. SRSLY.

Next time check your gravity before bottling to ensure you've reached your intended attenuation. You may have bottled too early...did you do it after only one week? I wait 2-3 at the least before bottling or using a secondary. Another culprit may be too much sugar added during bottling.

Although it sounds like the crux of the problem is bottling too early, I'm not sure how strong Monteiths bottles would be in the long run, they look a little thin to me. I use swappa bottles, they're wicked strong, and they come in crates, bonus! Also it means that when you have "just one" it's 750ml of homebrewed goodness! Have a look on Trademe, there's always people selling them (with or without other gear).

I just want to add that bottle bombs are not "normal," but they do happen. If you get full attenuation and do not overprime your bottles, they should not happen. It sounds like you may have bottled before you reached full attenuation, so fix that with your next batch, get the current bottles into the fridge, and RDWHAHB.


TL

sweet - thanks all for the help. They are all in the garage now. I suited up while handling them, but once in the fridge, cooled and then opened they are great drinks!

My beer sat for just over 14 days before I bottled. I guess a bit longer wouldn't hurt next time. I haven't lost anymore though.

Thanks for the idea on the swappa bottles Styles. 3 beer limit just got a little more interesting

ChshreCat - my nick is based on Doyle . . .

Once again - thanks for all the help everyone! . . . now to RDWHAHB

A) Fridge 'em.

B) Say hi to my uncle Mark in Upper Hut.