Exploding bottles

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TxBrew

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I helped a friend start a batch awhile back. He called and told me it was ready and he wanted to bottle it so I helped out yesterday. He called me today and told me they were exploding! I rarely bottle but from reading all I can think is it got cold here fast and there was still some unfermented sugar. Can there be any other cause of this?
 
What style was it? How long did it ferment? How much priming sugar did you add?
 
How did you prime it. Did you prime each bottle seperatly or did you add it to the bottling bucket. Most times I have seen this it is when you added the sugar to the bottles and over primed them. Should only use about a tbls full each. Boiling the sugar and mixing it into the bottling bucket distributes it better and gives ,ore consistant carbination.
 
That should be teaspoonful (5 ml), not tbls (tablespoon, 15 ml) per bottle.

I don't think it was fully fermented yet. Exploding in less than 24 hours is a sign of over priming (as mentioned) or incomplete ferments.
 
ditto with david_42...if it was not done fermenting, and you introduced additional priming sugar, then you might get extra action. Haven't had it happen yet, but I have let me brews go a while 'fore bottling.
 
TxBrew said:
Can there be any other cause of this?

I can't think of anything other than an incomplete fermentation suddenly re-starting.

What were the OG and FG when bottled ?

80/-
 
either not done fermenting, or too much priming sugar. the cold would have slowed the carbonation process down, so that's not it. now, it if got too warm, like he had it in a room with the heater blast'n away on it, that could do it too.
 
Being that things cool down this time of year, probably incomplete ferment. I ran in the same broblem. My bottles held up but when opened it was a foam gyser. I switched to cold tolerant yeasts and give more time to complete.
 
1 week primary
2 weeks secondary
Prime with no more than 1 cup corn sugar (high carb) for 5 gallons and then bottle.

Following these guidelines, you will not have exploding bottles.

If you cut the times short, or prime with more, without further testing and analyzing, you're asking for trouble.
 
TxBrew said:
I helped a friend start a batch awhile back. He called and told me it was ready and he wanted to bottle it so I helped out yesterday. He called me today and told me they were exploding! I rarely bottle but from reading all I can think is it got cold here fast and there was still some unfermented sugar. Can there be any other cause of this?


You guys bottled way too soon. Give us the specifics and we'll nail it down.
 
It was a bavarian weizen. We started it 4-5 weeks ago. I don't know about all the details because he mostly did the ingredients and tested it, when I got there he was already bottling. He didn't prime them by bottle he did it in the bucket so I gusss it just wasen't done fermenting.
 
From old Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian texts, a workman was to receive some gallon to a gallon and a half of beer as part of his pay. Also, the Mayflower had a gallon of beer a day for every man, woman and child when it left port. Seems obvious they didn't want anyone getting sick from the water. There are still many places in the US wher tap water is at least questionable. Best to not take any chances and drink your own home made beer.
 
TxBrew said:
He didn't prime them by bottle he did it in the bucket so I gusss it just wasen't done fermenting.

Unless he used lbs of sugar instead of cups in measuring the amount to be used in priming.

I take it the bottles are somewhere cold now and that he has vented the pressure on all of those that haven't yet blown ?

You may be able to salvage some of the batch

HTH

80/-
 
See if he didn't take a gravity reading while bottling - it'd be nice to know what it was. It should have been in the 1.015 range or perhaps lower.

As for what should be done know, I'd suggest that you try and figure out exactly what went wrong so you know roughly how much extra fermentables you've got in there (i.e. what was the FG). Open a bottle and take a gravity reading to see where you are now. If it's super high then vent all the bottles and reseal them and vent and reseal them again and again if necessary. Once the beer tastes ok to drink (when enough of the sugar has fermented so that it's not sweet) then put them all in the fridge. Refrigerating the brew will stop further fermenting even if there's still sugar in the bottle. The good news is, the beer is probably salvageable with a bit of work.
 
In the start of this fourm there was a top poster and home brew shop owner who told me if I didn't stop Janx from telling his opinion on hydrometers they would leave lol
 
I don't recall any HBS owners posting of late...I guess you told em not to let the door hit them in the ass?

That wasn't anybody from around here was it? Just curious.
 
smorris said:
It's a secret ..
Some of us remember. :D

Yep, some of us do. Didn't they post a message that their store was up for sale? Think it was hydro sales just cutting into the bottom line. :p
 
You starting trouble again today? ...or just bored?

lmao...

bored and sober at work as usual ;)

janx had some great posts, and good recipies, even if he/she didn't use a hydrometer. now that i got my little brother brewing with me, i might have him use the hydro as he likes science stuff, and is always timing everything; mash times/temps, boil times, hop additions, and he keeps meticulous notes, i'm more a let it boil for an hour or two, toss the hops in whenever, whatever temp the mash hits is fine by me, it 9 outta ten times comes out as beer :cross:
 
ORRELSE said:
Yeah, they got out of the biz completely I guess.

The good old days. :) :rolleyes: ;)
I've been looking back thru old posts trying to figure out who you guys were talking about...haven't found it yet, but sure have run across some funny stuff, like this :D
 
Just wondering if anyone has experienced shrapnel producing exploding bottles. I mean the type that requires bomb squad protection. The only case I really heard of involved root beer. Poor guy was afraid to go into his basement for weeks.
 
I had the problem with the root beer exploding, but I don't remember saying anything about keeping out of my basement. Must have been someone else. :D

In case you are wondering, the answer is YES and NO. YES, the root beer was great and NO, I have NOT brewed any more of that. :D
 
homebrewer_99 said:
I had the problem with the root beer exploding, but I don't remember saying anything about keeping out of my basement. Must have been someone else. :D

In case you are wondering, the answer is YES and NO. YES, the root beer was great and NO, I have NOT brewed any more of that. :D

Ive been looking for someone with a root beer recipie they liked. Do you still have yours? Do have an idea why you produced exploding bottles?
 
homebrewer_99 said:
...another reason to use a hydrometer (actually the only real reason).

How about calculating alcohol content...?
 
ALPS said:
How about calculating alcohol content...?
Actually, no. A hydrometer measures the gravity of the water w/wo any other substances in it. Among the other scales, it also measures gravity. You are the one who does all the calculations.:D

IMHO, saying a hydrometer calculates an alcohol content is a (phrased) misnomer.

A sucker for instance (taffy, lollipop, whatever you call it where you are from), is not a sucker, but the "suckee". It is the one being sucked. You and I are the suckers.:eek:
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Actually, no. A hydrometer measures the gravity of the water w/wo any other substances in it. Among the other scales, it also measures gravity. You are the one who does all the calculations.:D

IMHO, saying a hydrometer calculates an alcohol content is a (phrased) misnomer.

A sucker for instance (taffy, lollipop, whatever you call it where you are from), is not a sucker, but the "suckee". It is the one being sucked. You and I are the suckers.:eek:

My point was that there is another "real" use for the hydrometer, not the single use as you had claimed. Using it to find out how much alcohol is in your beer is certainly something it can be used for.

I thought it would be understood the brewer would be the one doing the calculations. I didn't mean to confuse anyone. Perhaps I should be more clear in the future so we all understand.

Also, the word "sucker" can be both a verb and a noun. Therefore, a sucker certainly is a sucker.
 
ALPS said:
My point was that there is another "real" use for the hydrometer, not the single use as you had claimed. Using it to find out how much alcohol is in your beer is certainly something it can be used for.

I thought it would be understood the brewer would be the one doing the calculations. I didn't mean to confuse anyone. Perhaps I should be more clear in the future so we all understand.

Also, the word "sucker" can be both a verb and a noun. Therefore, a sucker certainly is a sucker.

Are you certain? A hydrometers only purpose is to measure gravity.

I believe what you are referring to is a Triple Scale Hydrometer. I was not, but you could not have known that.

I will agree with you that a Triple Scale Hydrometer has other purposes. But it still doesn't measure alcohol content.

Per the Random House College Dictionary:

"hydrometer: an instrument for determining the specific gravity of a liquid, consisting of a sealed cylinder and weighted bulb, that, when placed in a liquid, indicates its specific gravity by a comparison of the surface of the liquid with the graduations on the emerging stem."

As for the word "sucker", my Random House College Dictionary says: n. 1. a person or thing that sucks........6. Informal. a lollipop.

Additionally, lollipop: n. a piece of hard candy or taffy stuck on the end of a stick. Also, lollypop (dialect unknown) lolly tongue + pop.

No verbs were mentioned in either entry. I will agree with you that it is commonly used as a verb although when you conjegate the verb "to suck" it does not change from the original word - suck is suck.

Word!:eek:

PS ...and I will agree with your quote on partying too!
 
I had my first bottle explode last night. It was my Blind Pig IPA (OG 1.066, FG 1.018) and it's been in the bottle almost 2 weeks now, since the 12th. I used 4 oz of corn sugar mixed into the bottling bucket. Should I vent the rest and throw them in the fridge of just throw em in the fridge? When I vent I assume I lift the lid a bit with a bottle opener and then reseal with my capper. Is that correct or do I need to replace the cap entirely? Fermentation temp was about 70-72 maybe 74 when the heater kicked on, could this have caused it?
 
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