Beware Miller Fortune Bottles!

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Muskogeee

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I bottled 12 of my batch in these bottles because I thought they looked nice. Some posters on this forum and others said they had trouble with the neck snapping while capping but I didn't

HOWEVER

Today they have started exploding.

I only used 6oz priming sugar and my brewshop bottles are holding up fine so...
 
sounds like it wasn't done fermenting...i'd move your other bottles into a plastic tub.
 
5 Gallon batch. I'm pretty sure it was done fermenting, 2 and a half weeks in primary and gravity didn't move for at least the last 5 days, maybe longer but that's when I started checking. I have 12 16oz bottles, 24 12oz bottles, and a few growlers from my LHBS and they're holding up fine. I'm guessing these bottles just must suck
 
Muskogeee said:
5 Gallon batch. I'm pretty sure it was done fermenting, 2 and a half weeks in primary and gravity didn't move for at least the last 5 days, maybe longer but that's when I started checking. I have 12 16oz bottles, 24 12oz bottles, and a few growlers from my LHBS and they're holding up fine. I'm guessing these bottles just must suck
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Careful with those growlers...
 
Sounds like some bad fortune. Yuck yuck yuck. I'll see myself out.:D

Seriously though, 6oz isn't that much. It's about 3.5 volumes if the beer was fermented on the warmer side. Now if we're talking about a lager, it's a lot.
 
No thankfully I didn't have to drink the Fortune, my girlfriends grandfather did and saved the bottles for me.

Since yesterday no more have exploded though, it was only two to begin with so maybe it was just a single bottle with a defect and then when that one blew it broke the second one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the rest hold up.
 
uncap them all and let them sit open for 1/2 hour then recap them. You should be fine. Some lessons to take away from this include: don't overprime your bottles, don't drink miller, and for God's sake don't then bottle in said Miller bottles!
 
If you choose to uncap them please wear thick protective clothing, gloves, and a face shield. I'm not kidding.
 
Rev2010 said:
No it's not. I used to use 6oz of priming sugar for all my hefeweizen's with not one issue.


Rev.
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I've used eight ounces and regular craft beer bottles without a single issue. BMC bottles tend to be lighter.

Bottles are ratted to PSI not volumes. PSI is also temperature dependent. Keep them cooler and you'l have less problems.
 
Psylocide said:
Oh, is that what this beer was?

Must have missed that... oh, nope. Nevermind.
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The type of beer is irrelevant. His post was about bottles exploding and people saying how 6oz is too much to use for priming when it's not. It's only 20% more than the commonly used 5oz, shouldn't cause bottles to explode. Perhaps Miller is just saving some pennies using cheaper bottles.


Rev.
 
The miller bottles were probably designed to hold the pressure of the miller beer and not something that is carbonated more. So there is nothing wrong with the bottles, you may just be using them for purposes that they weren't specified for. This is probably the case for most macro brews.
 
Rev2010 said:
The type of beer is irrelevant. His post was about bottles exploding and people lamenting how 6oz is too much to use for priming when it's not. It's only 20% more than the commonly used 5oz, shouldn't cause bottles to explode. Perhaps Miller is just saving some pennies using cheaper bottles.


Rev.
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What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

I told him 6 oz looked like a big dose... for most styles at 5 gal, it would be. I never said it would contribute to his bottle breakage. Even 5 oz is too much for most styles, if you ask me.

If he was brewing a Hefeweizen, I think he would've just said, "Nope, it's a Hefeweizen, all is good."

He also stated that he "only" used 6 oz... but, 6 oz is a lot for your typical ale, I don't care how you feel like spinning it.

Would you really wager that he was shooting for over 3 vols of carb?
 
Psylocide said:
What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

I told him 6 oz looked like a big dose... for most styles at 5 gal, it would be. I never said it would contribute to his bottle breakage. Even 5 oz is too much for most styles, if you ask me.

If he was brewing a Hefeweizen, I think he would've just said, "Nope, it's a Hefeweizen, all is good."

He also stated that he "only" used 6 oz... but, 6 oz is a lot for your typical ale, I don't care how you feel like spinning it.

Would you really wager that he was shooting for over 3 vols of carb?
Click to expand...

This argument also have little or nothing to do with bottle breakage.

The volumes I have seen noted as limit for safe bottling is usually around 3 or so.

I would also recommend handling these bottles very carefully.
 
Psylocide said:
I don't care how you feel like spinning it.
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Jesus Christ... of all forums I wouldn't have ever imagined Homebrewer's would be the most sensitive type. What is it with some of you on here?? I simply said, "No it's not. I used to use 6oz of priming sugar for all my hefeweizen's with not one issue." What is with all the butt hurt on here? It's beer. He used 6oz's. Who cares what style it was, he didn't ask if it's too much for the style - of which he did not mention. He said he had bottles exploding which was followed by people essentially saying "oh geez 6oz is too much" which it's not to *cause* bottle bombs with most bottle types. You brought up what style of beer he was brewing, which again I didn't see, with a snarky comment. It's brewing people, ease up on the sensitivity - PLEASE.


Rev.
 
Rev2010 said:
Jesus Christ... of all forums I wouldn't have ever imagined Homebrewer's would be the most sensitive type. What is it with some of you on here?? I simply said, "No it's not. I used to use 6oz of priming sugar for all my hefeweizen's with not one issue." What is with all the butt hurt on here? It's beer. He used 6oz's. Who cares what style it was, he didn't ask if it's too much for the style - of which he did not mention. He said he had bottles exploding which was followed by people essentially saying "oh geez 6oz is too much" which it's not to *cause* bottle bombs with most bottle types. You brought up what style of beer he was brewing, which again I didn't see, with a snarky comment. It's brewing people, ease up on the sensitivity - PLEASE.


Rev.
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I've never seen any sensitive types on this site... but if you keep noticing it, well, maybe you should work on your delivery brother. And unless you know what pressure the Miller glass is rated for, then you really can't say that "No, 6 oz isn't too much, I used to bulls-eye womprats in my T-16 all the time."

Psy.
 
Psylocide said:
And unless you know what pressure the Miller glass is rated for, then you really can't say
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First, yes I can say 6oz isn't too much. It's not my fault if the bottle in question is thinner and flimsier than a standard 12oz beer bottle. That's why he posted no?? His exact thread title is, "Beware Miller Fortune Bottles!". Sounds to me like he was warning people that these bottles aren't really up to snuff for homebrewing re-use. Sounds like a nice heads up to me. What sounds like a not-so-nice heads up is misinformation that 6oz is by golly too much son! It's not.

Secondly, I don't need to work on my delivery. YOU were the one with the snarky comments and telling ME you "don't care how I spin it". There's nothing to spin, 6oz of priming sugar into 5G of beer isn't enough to warrant bottles exploding across the board.


Rev.
 
Rev2010 said:
First, yes I can say 6oz isn't too much. It's not my fault if the bottle in question is thinner and flimsier than a standard 12oz beer bottle. That's why he posted no?? His exact thread title is, "Beware Miller Fortune Bottles!". Sounds to me like he was warning people that these bottles aren't really up to snuff for homebrewing re-use. Sounds like a nice heads up to me. What sounds like a not-so-nice heads up is misinformation that 6oz is by golly too much son! It's not.

Secondly, I don't need to work on my delivery. YOU were the one with the snarky comments and telling ME you "don't care how I spin it". There's nothing to spin, 6oz of priming sugar into 5G of beer isn't enough to warrant bottles exploding across the board.


Rev.
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That's the point though, I didn't say it would contribute to his bottles exploding. Was just an observation, one that a few others pointed out as well.

Oh well, agree to disagree on reading comprehension.

OP - Sorry for acting like an asshat in your thread.

Over and out.
 
Does a crown cap really work on this bottle?
That's the strangest looking neck I've seen yet...

fortune-600x400.jpg


Cheers!
 
Regardless of all this arguing, the oft-repeated rule is to not exceed 3 volumes or 45 psi for standard American beer bottles. This gives you a temperature limit of about 75-80 degrees for that 3 volumes. While I've never found any hard evidence (like a manufacturer's stamp) that confirms that limit, it's been repeated by reputable vendors (Northern Brewer) and other suppliers.

3.5 volumes, while perfect for a hefe, would be pushing this, and while many people have bottled successfully at these levels, it would be considered dangerous and not recommended by many suppliers. The 1/2 liter German wheat bottles (think Weihestaphaner) are perfect for these higher carb levels as they're a bit heavier than standard American bottles and they aren't hard to find.

Or just keg :p

OP, please do not bottle condition in growlers unless they're the heavy-duty flip-top style.
 
This might be a dumb question, but was it actually 5 gallons of beer by the time it got transferred to the bottling bucket? If you guys are saying that 6 oz of priming sugar is okay (but maybe starting to push the limit), then it would be even worse if he really only had, say, 4.5 gallons or so by the time it was transferred to the bottling bucket.

Also - what kind of capper was it? Wing or bench? My old wing capper would clamp down and put stress on the sides of some bottles - they would hold carbonation fine for a few batches but then eventually fail. I have a few of the Miller Fortune bottles in my collection and I have only used the bench capper on them and never had one break.
 

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