Did I make beer bombs?

I got a home brew kit for Christmas with a cherry wheat starter kit, it looked great for about 7 - 8 days then all the bubbles and what not on top seem to be near completely gone so I bottled them I got glass bottles with the rubber tops; it has been about 7 days since I bottled so I decided to try one to see how it was going, when I released the pressure from the top it blew off with some force, and the beer seemed to be very carbonated. Will this go way in a few weeks or did I bottle them to soon? I don't want them to blow up on me.

Did you do any type of hydrometer reading to see if the fermentation was finished?? You will see it repeated on this site over and over that you can't judge fermentation by airlock or bubble activity.

don't worry at 7 days. Give the bottles a few more weeks, and the carbonation may equalize into solution in the beer.

zeeba said:

Will this go way in a few weeks or did I bottle them to soon?

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Probably Not.
Yes but hard to say without a hydrometer reading.

Get some gloves, safety goggles and put them in a plastic bin with trash bags. I'm not sure what to do next (search around here if no one responds), but they will likely explode on you so be careful.
and buy/use a hydrometer and a good brewing book like Palmer's How to Brew. Kit instructions can be quite poor.

I don't have any kind of meters, I wonder if I should just open them all now and poor them out and start over. Don't much want to have glass flying out at me.

unionrdr said:

At 7-8 days you def bottle too soon. That's the reason those bottles popped with such force only 1 week later. Expect it to get worse from here. You can't spped up the process going from brew kettle to glass because you wanna get to your beer. Patience during the whole process will yield a better quality product.
I agree with twalte,you should've taken a hyrometer reading to see if it was done yet. At 8 days,you'd have seen that it wasn't. Bottle bombs can be dangerous with all the pressures built up in the head space of the bottles.

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Would moving to the refrigerator at this point at least stop any further fermentation and enable the CO2 to be better absorbed into the beer. I'm not sure that I know the next steps to safely save this beer.

If you open them can you reclose them?

I'd take them outside and open them let the carbonation out and recap. Then let them sit for a week and in the meantime go to the lhbs and pickup a hydrometer....

I agree that you probably bottled too soon. You might still be able to salvage the situation, and since you have the stopper type bottles it makes it easier. Open each one to vent them and leave them open for some amount of time, like an hour or so. Then recap them and let them sit for a week before trying one again. I think it's worth a try rather than just pouring them all out.

Ok brought them up from the basement and opened one and beer came pooring out the top... I think I may have ruined the beers.

Instead of pulling the cap right off, and beer going everywhere, could you just use a bottle opener style with the pointy edge and just barely pry open a couple ridges in the caps, till you barely hear the sound of air escaping. Let it sit there until it stops hissing from escaping air, then pull the whole cap off and reseal? Then go ahead and put them in the fridge to slow down or stop further fermentation in the bottle?

He has the Grolsch-style swing tops, so he can try to vent them by gently moving the cage just a bit away from the bottle. I think a lot of beer will still flow out because of all the pressure.

I decided not to risk glass shrapnel and a doctor visit. Lesson learned, bought a hydrometer and will start again. Thank you all for the replies. Next beer will be a brown going to stay away from the fruit beers till I know a bit more.

zeeba said:

I decided not to risk glass shrapnel and a doctor visit. Lesson learned, bought a hydrometer and will start again. Thank you all for the replies. Next beer will be a brown going to stay away from the fruit beers till I know a bit more.

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I'm a fairly new brewer, and without this website and Brewing TV (now Chop & Brew) I would be lost.

Keep your head up, we all have to start somewhere!

Happy Brewing!

zeeba said:

I decided not to risk glass shrapnel and a doctor visit. Lesson learned, bought a hydrometer and will start again. Thank you all for the replies. Next beer will be a brown going to stay away from the fruit beers till I know a bit more.

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As someone else said earlier in the thread, get a copy of Palmer's How to Brew and read it. It'll save you a lot of grief.

Rick