bottle carbonating. in mason jars.

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sanity1676

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ive recently discovered a trick to end bottle bombs and at this moment i am gambling death to prove it. i have bottled skeeter peee, and carbed it in mason jars, and am currently carbing beer in them. the thing is the caps leak before they explode. my current brew is projected to produce 7.0 volumes of c02 at 75 degrees F. that generates over 50psi. i should have bottle bombs, but i can hear the caps leaking across the room, but they only leak when a certian psi is exceeded. therefore, i say i have found an end to bottle bombs, and they do hold a champagne like pressure for months, i have found. (months is the longest i can keep from drinking a brew) just make sure you buy the cheap off brand lids and rings. and not the solid lids.
 
Sounds terrifying... Anyway, wouldn't the pressure relief you're describing mean you're not really getting those levels of carbonation? If you prime to seven volumes and your jars are constantly off-gassing on their own, you're ending up with whatever pressure the lids will handle, but it's certainly less than seven volums, and there's still no guarantee one of the jars won't burst on you sometime if the gasket seals too tightly.

I'm all for experimentation and finding new methods for old tricks, but let's just say I'm not going to try this anytime soon...
 
the metal isnt strong enough to hold the pressure, im carbing to 7 volumes to prove you cannot get beyond a nice level of carbonation with mason jars, enough to produce a decent pop when opened and a small amount of vapor. 2 volumes must be safe, if jars can be way overcarbed with no foul result, not even a gusher.
 
the metal isnt strong enough to hold the pressure, im carbing to 7 volumes to prove you cannot get beyond a nice level of carbonation with mason jars, enough to produce a decent pop when opened and a small amount of vapor. 2 volumes must be safe, if jars can be way overcarbed with no foul result, not even a gusher.

Gotcha. Just a little semantic nitpick: you're not carbing to seven volumes, you're priming to seven volumes and achieving whatever carbonation your jars can hold before they gas off the excess. I wonder if the brand and geometry of the mason jar makes a difference., Ijust bought a dozen Chinese no-shoulder 250mL jars with two-piece lids, and the glass definitely isn't as thick as US jars I've seen from Ball and Kerr. I could see the US jars I've got laying around standing up to two or three volumes, but not these domestically-produced jars.

One question (assuming you've done this more than once, based on your 'hold pressure for months' comment): do you swap the inner lids every time like you're supposed to do if you're canning, or do you use the same lids more than once? I don't know how much those lids cost in the States, but they're certainly more expensive than crown caps if you're only using them once.
 
i swap lids, the jars i use are 1 quart regular mouth mainstays and im experimenting with ball regular mouth 1 quart jars. a 12 pack of the mainstays jars and lids is 7 bucks, whenever i need lids a 24 pack is three bucks. at my LHBS a box of bottles is alot more than 7 bucks, and i dont drink enough beer with the bottle opener style tops to make it cost effective. the jars are very easy to sanitize as well. always use new lids every go round. btw you can find the jars i use at like any walmart
 
You are banking on the fact that the lids give way enough before the glass does, sounds like a recipe for serious injury. I hope the jars are far away from anything that can be seriously harmed. Glass under pressure shoots quite far, I've been there and that was using actual beer bottles intended to hold pressure.

While the lid can leak, if that lid isn't giving way enough then something else will have to give. Bottle bombs with standard beer bottles happen for a reason. There could be an infection, too much priming sugar, fermentation restarted, or compromised glass are some reasons bottles can explode. You can avoid bottle bombs for the most part if you're careful with your process.

I realize you see this as an inexpensive experiment, but I see it as one that is dangerous and unnecessary. I could be wrong though, you seem pretty set on the idea that you have ended the bottle bomb issue forever.
 
Not sure I understand the motivation here. Why not use proper technique to bottle condition in amber beer bottles? You shouldn't get gushers if good sanitation and priming techniques are implemented...

edit: Hello beat me to it. +1 above
 
amber bottles Are so expensive. if i had a bunch of them, i totally would. i was just prooving mason jars as a viable system of bottling. i have the jars locked in a thick wood cabinet.
basically look at how much can be leaked in a short periods of time, they will blow when too much gas is made at once, look at these works bombs i found on youtube some ******* thought to put in a mason jar. that gas is it leaking. skip to 2;25 to skip all the annoying crap on the first video. second video skip to 1:21
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0aIeVre_A[/ame]
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278O0er_FZ0[/ame]
before they blow, huge amounts of gas is expelled, in the second video solid lids are used. it exploded in the second video because the amount of gas was being created much faster than the volume of gas could escape through the leaky seal. not so much a problem with yeast
 
amber bottles Are so expensive. if i had a bunch of them, i totally would. i was just prooving mason jars as a viable system of bottling.

where are you? Anywhere near jacksonville? I have a ton of bottles i was going to give away that the next home-brew club i will gladly donate them to you in order to save your life from a horrible mason jar death grenade.
 
amber bottles Are so expensive. if i had a bunch of them, i totally would. i was just prooving mason jars as a viable system of bottling. i have the jars locked in a thick wood cabinet.
basically look at how much can be leaked in a short periods of time, they will blow when too much gas is made at once, look at these works bombs i found on youtube some ******* thought to put in a mason jar. that gas is it leaking. skip to 2;25 to skip all the annoying crap on the first video. second video skip to 1:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0aIeVre_A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278O0er_FZ0
before they blow, huge amounts of gas is expelled, in the second video solid lids are used. it exploded in the second video because the amount of gas was being created much faster than the volume of gas could escape through the leaky seal. not so much a problem with yeast

These jerks probably left the broken glass to see how many injuries they could cause.
 
amber bottles Are so expensive.

Did you know that they sell amber pry-off bottles full of beer?

I know, sounds crazy... but they do, right there in the store.

Emptying them is a fairly enjoyable process, but some folks might want to forego the hassle and just buy empty ones.
 
amber bottles Are so expensive. if i had a bunch of them, i totally would. i was just prooving mason jars as a viable system of bottling. i have the jars locked in a thick wood cabinet.
basically look at how much can be leaked in a short periods of time, they will blow when too much gas is made at once, look at these works bombs i found on youtube some ******* thought to put in a mason jar. that gas is it leaking. skip to 2;25 to skip all the annoying crap on the first video. second video skip to 1:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0aIeVre_A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278O0er_FZ0
before they blow, huge amounts of gas is expelled, in the second video solid lids are used. it exploded in the second video because the amount of gas was being created much faster than the volume of gas could escape through the leaky seal. not so much a problem with yeast


So- concern about light strike & skunked beer are not a concern?
 
where are you? Anywhere near jacksonville? I have a ton of bottles i was going to give away that the next home-brew club i will gladly donate them to you in order to save your life from a horrible mason jar death grenade.

panama city, so a good minute away, thanks for your offer man, id totally send you a brew, but i doubt my brewing skill is anything to brag about at this point. that and i dont want to mail a grenade. man, people on this forum are so nice!
 
So- concern about light strike & skunked beer are not a concern?

not with my current brews, as they are very low on hops and i store them in the dark, but maybe ill paint some jars and do some art :) so then theyd be opaque
 
Did you know that they sell amber pry-off bottles full of beer?

I know, sounds crazy... but they do, right there in the store.

Emptying them is a fairly enjoyable process, but some folks might want to forego the hassle and just buy empty ones.

yeah, but the cheapest beer that i drink that comes in pry off bottles is becks, and it adds up when you want to buy roughly a hundred bottles. we live on the beach so, my friends and i have to buy mostly cans because its illegal to have glass on beach days.
 
Mason jars are designed to hold a vacuum. They are not designed to hold any kind of outward pressure. This is probably one of the most terrifying threads I've ever read. You should absolutely stop doing this. You're risking serious injury and death every time you come near and/or pick one of these up. You might have had good luck so far, but if you have even one factor change (the lid seals a little better, imperfection in the glass because they're not designed for pressurization, etc.) one of these could easily blow up in your hand when you disturb them. And not like a "Oh man that jar exploded and it was crazy", more like a "Well doctor, a mason jar exploded in his hand and the shrapnel severed his carotid artery/blinded him/mutilated his face/etc."

Hospital bills are a lot more expensive than amber bottles. And there are a lot of ways you can get old beer bottles without buying new ones.

I'm not trying to be dick, I just think what you're doing is very dangerous and I'm concerned.
 
yeah, but the cheapest beer that i drink that comes in pry off bottles is becks, and it adds up when you want to buy roughly a hundred bottles. we live on the beach so, my friends and i have to buy mostly cans because its illegal to have glass on beach days.

Yeah, it's true. I drink a lot of craft beer, so it just kind of goes hand in hand. I don't throw the bottles away.

Another option for you would be screw top PET bottles... I'm sure they're cheaper than glass and you could bring them to the beach.
 
That's true. I'll probably buy some when my Mexican creveza in primary is done, and I'll bottle them in old soda bottles. I just won't use root beer bottles :p till I make the hard root beer I've been procrastinating.
 
Mason jars are designed to hold a vacuum. They are not designed to hold any kind of outward pressure. This is probably one of the most terrifying threads I've ever read. You should absolutely stop doing this.

I agree. I make large starters and keep a portion in mason jars in the fridge. I forgot to loosen the lid on one that I pulled from the fridge once. It was ten minutes before it cracked from the pressure. Luckily it just broke around the bottom and I had extra jars of yeast.
 
Mason jars are designed to hold a vacuum. They are not designed to hold any kind of outward pressure. This is probably one of the most terrifying threads I've ever read. You should absolutely stop doing this. You're risking serious injury and death every time you come near and/or pick one of these up. You might have had good luck so far, but if you have even one factor change (the lid seals a little better, imperfection in the glass because they're not designed for pressurization, etc.) one of these could easily blow up in your hand when you disturb them. And not like a "Oh man that jar exploded and it was crazy", more like a "Well doctor, a mason jar exploded in his hand and the shrapnel severed his carotid artery/blinded him/mutilated his face/etc."

Hospital bills are a lot more expensive than amber bottles. And there are a lot of ways you can get old beer bottles without buying new ones.

I'm not trying to be dick, I just think what you're doing is very dangerous and I'm concerned.

I will buy Amber glass or pet for my next beer, but to ease your mind read this, testing These jars using legit explosions http://www.fuel-saver.org/Thread-Glass-Mason-Jars-Stupid-Idea
 
yeah, but the cheapest beer that i drink that comes in pry off bottles is becks, and it adds up when you want to buy roughly a hundred bottles.

Does your municipality have a bottle exchange / recycling program? Around here, there's a $0.10 deposit on every bottle of beer sold, and when you return the empties you get back $0.05/bottle. If you need some bottles, just go hang out at the bottle exchange and watch for people unloading boxes of pry-off bottles to be returned. Offer them $2/case (that's almost double what they'd get taking the bottles inside). Job done.
 
Mason jars are designed to hold a vacuum. They are not designed to hold any kind of outward pressure. This is probably one of the most terrifying threads I've ever read. You should absolutely stop doing this. You're risking serious injury and death every time you come near and/or pick one of these up.

+1

This is a disaster waiting to happen. This is an absolutely terrible and reckless "experiment."
 
Alright. experiment over, i opening all my jars, and pouring them in my bottling bucket, and ill buy a ton of sprite bottles.
 
Alright. experiment over, i opening all my jars, and pouring them in my bottling bucket, and ill buy a ton of sprite bottles.

You will probably oxidize your beer, but at least you won't be sitting on ticking time bombs. Why not just do it right the first time? A case of 12 ounce bottles here is about the cost of a case of soda. I think it's cheaper, in fact.
I'm curious about your brew setup, totally off topic, but I am. How do you brew your beer?
 
You will probably oxidize your beer, but at least you won't be sitting on ticking time bombs. Why not just do it right the first time? A case of 12 ounce bottles here is about the cost of a case of soda. I think it's cheaper, in fact.
I'm curious about your brew setup, totally off topic, but I am. How do you brew your beer?
I have a big 5 gallon plastic bottle, and an airlock, a big stock pot, and use mostly dme, or if I'm making cider or wine sugar, brown sugar or honey.star San on everything. I've got a recipe as my last thread I want to get into partial grain and adjunct brewing as my next project, but my lhbs doesn't stock grains :/ imma have to order some online. I'm new to beer tbh, I'm big on ciders and wines. Use ec1118 for most wine and Nottingham or safale us05 for beer. Idk what else to say. Big fan of cascade and saaz hops. I Have siphon tubes, and a bottling bucket. I have hop bags. I have a hydrometer, and all that jazz, my setup is still growing.
WANTS:
I need to get a one inch blowoff tube and a big turkey fryer or something to make more wort than 3 gallons
 
yeah, but the cheapest beer that i drink that comes in pry off bottles is becks, and it adds up when you want to buy roughly a hundred bottles. we live on the beach so, my friends and i have to buy mostly cans because its illegal to have glass on beach days.

Try using the "shorty" 16-oz aluminum bottles, like Coors & Miller Lite come in. I am currently using one as an experiment and it seems to hold up nicely. I just don't know how many times I will be able to re-use the can-bottle, but for right now, the screw-on cap is holding pressure.

:)
 
1 liter plastic pop bottles (not water bottles.) You can buy cheap store-brand club soda or tonic water for less than $1 per bottle, and they work great for beer. Store them in a dark place (like in a box) so the light can't skunk your beer.

You can even use 2 liter bottles. I never have because that's usually more beer than I want to consume in one sitting. :drunk:
 
1 liter plastic pop bottles (not water bottles.) You can buy cheap store-brand club soda or tonic water for less than $1 per bottle, and they work great for beer. Store them in a dark place (like in a box) so the light can't skunk your beer.

You can even use 2 liter bottles. I never have because that's usually more beer than I want to consume in one sitting. :drunk:

That's what I was going to say. Soda bottles are perfect- designed to hold pressure, and free/cheap if you're a soda drinker. We have tons of soda bottles going into recycling at work, so you could pay 10 cents a bottle and your work would make out and no one would have to haul them to recycle them. You do need the caps, though!

Mason jars are designed to hold a vacuum, and not pressure, so probably the seals will blow long before the glass but not always.
 
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