Brew time, and avoiding bottle explosions.

[Andrew21213]

This is I believe only my second post here. I am starting to get into brewing again, and I wanted to ask about brew time and for tips on how to avoid bottle explosions. So for most of the beer recipes I see it asks to ferment for around 2 weeks. My question is if I wanted to add honey to my brew, will the extra sugar require me to ferment for longer to avoid bottle explosion? Or will the beer yeast just naturally stop fermenting due to the ABV? Perhaps I should give it more than 2 weeks anyway? I hear brews only get better with age.

Also, I previously made a beer that called for “priming sugars” and those bottles ended up exploding, I’m guessing because they continued to ferment and create gas. Any tips for avoiding this? How can I be sure the bottled beer won’t continue to ferment and create gasses that’ll over pressurize my bottles?

I know there is an agent you can add to stop fermentation, but I don’t currently have that. I did however order some but I’m skeptical about adding too many artificial things to my brew. Thank you in advanced!

 

[Jag75]

Priming sugar is what you use to carbonate your beer . You can use honey to prime . There are quite of few things you can use as priming sugar. The one thing you need to make sure of is fermentation. If you bottle to early or add too much primer you can get bottle bombs . Bottle bombs could also be an infection. Check with a hydrometer to make certain your fermentation is complete and use this calculator to determine how much primer to use .

https://www.northernbrewer.com/pages/priming-sugar-calculator

 

[McKnuckle]

Primary fermentation and bottle priming both involve fermentation. The former is always allowed to finish before the latter is started. And bottle priming is done correctly by carefully measuring beer volume and priming sugar weight. If you add too much sugar for the beer volume, you will over-carbonate and potentially create an explosive situation. It is also far more reliable to weigh the sugar (preferably in grams) than to "eye it out" with spoons, cups, etc.

A calculator is here.

If you want to add honey to your recipe, no problem - but it is fully fermentable, so you need to allow that to complete. Typically you would add the honey either in the late part of the boil, or after primary fermentation has been active. Then just wait til all activity has ceased, as confirmed by gravity readings. Don't bother checking for at least 7 days, and if you're patient, wait 2 weeks.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Use a hydrometer. Take an OG reading. Only bottle when the FG allows.

 

[THESULLI]

Yeast get tired and put themselves to bed when they run out of sugars to eat. That is when they start dropping out of suspension and collecting on the bottom of the fermenter. As others have stated, it is important to know how much sugar to prime with. You only want to feed the yeast enough to carbonate each individual bottle. Feed them too much and they will blow up the bottle. I only bottled twice before switching to kegging. I was lucky... I winged it both times as far as priming goes. I kept all the bottles in a storage bin with a tight lid just in case they went off.

 

[Andrew21213]

Thanks for the answers everyone. New issue. It’s been 3 days since I pitched my yeast to my blonde ale and I’m not seeing any signs of fermentation. On the first day it was bubbling a little, but then it stopped. There is a lot of stuff just settled on the bottom of the Carboy but I see nothing on the top. I sanitized and switched the gas blow up off thing for a different one in case there was a leak.

If I don’t see the airlock bubbling after another day or two, should I perhaps pitch additional yeast? Maybe I killed the yeast somehow when I pitched it? I have two other batches going (both mead) and they are both bubbling away pretty consistently

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the answers everyone. New issue. It’s been 3 days since I pitched my yeast to my blonde ale and I’m not seeing any signs of fermentation. On the first day it was bubbling a little, but then it stopped. There is a lot of stuff just settled on the bottom of the Carboy but I see nothing on the top. I sanitized and switched the gas blow up off thing for a different one in case there was a leak.

If I don’t see the airlock bubbling after another day or two, should I perhaps pitch additional yeast? Maybe I killed the yeast somehow when I pitched it? I have two other batches going (both mead) and they are both bubbling away pretty consistently

Your fermentation could be done, or close to it. The way to know is to take a hydrometer reading (be sure to follow sanitizing protocol), and then take another one in three days. If the SG hasn't changed, fermentation is done, and it is now safe to prime and bottle.

Brew on

 

[Andrew21213]

Your fermentation could be done, or close to it. The way to know is to take a hydrometer reading (be sure to follow sanitizing protocol), and then take another one in three days. If the SG hasn't changed, fermentation is done, and it is now safe to prime and bottle.

Brew on

Oh wow really? The instructions say 2 weeks and it’s only been 3 days? Should I just let it sit for 2 weeks even if it’s done fermentation?

 

[doug293cz]

Oh wow really? The instructions say 2 weeks and it’s only been 3 days? Should I just let it sit for 2 weeks even if it’s done fermentation?

The instructions with kits are notoriously bad. They say two weeks just to be conservative (minimize the chance of someone bottling before fermentation is complete.) Yeast work to their own time table depending on yeast health, gravity of wort, pitch rate, temperature, and several other variables. Yeast can't tell time or read calendars. If you have a stable SG for three days, there is no reason to wait any longer to bottle, although it won't hurt anything if you do wait.

Brew on

 

[Andrew21213]

The instructions with kits are notoriously bad. They say two weeks just to be conservative (minimize the chance of someone bottling before fermentation is complete.) Yeast work to their own time table depending on yeast health, gravity of wort, pitch rate, temperature, and several other variables. Yeast can't tell time or read calendars. If you have a stable SG for three days, there is no reason to wait any longer to bottle, although it won't hurt anything if you do wait.

Brew on

Alright, thank you for the information, it’s much appreciated. I actually just got a hydrometer in the mail today, before I was just winging it. I’m gonna watch some YouTube videos and figure out how to use it, and decide what to do form there. I’m in no rush to drink my beer, just want it to turn out alright. Being very careful about sanitation, and all that.

 

[RM-MN]

I’m in no rush to drink my beer, just want it to turn out alright. Being very careful about sanitation, and all that.

Most beers improve with some "maturation time". That can be in the fermenter or in the bottle. If you bottle early it takes more time in the bottle and you get a lot of sediment that settles in the bottle. Given more time the sediment settles in the fermenter and gets discarded instead of going into the bottles.

Bottle bombs happen in 3 ways. First and most common is bottling before fermentation is complete and the yeast keep on fermenting in the bottle. Second is from adding too much priming sugar. Weigh the sugar, don't just use a cup or scoop. Third is from a bacteria or wild yeast infection. Sanitation is critical.

 

[mashpaddled]

We're all taking guesses at the cause of your homebrewing woes. The combination of potentially sluggish fermentation with repeat bottle bombs suggests you have sluggish fermentations that are starting slow, running slow and continuing into the bottle

Where are you fermenting in your home and what are temperatures like in that area?

If you are fermenting in a cool area of in the basement on the floor your fermenting beer might be quite cool for the yeast which would cause them to perform poorly in several ways. That would explain sluggish starts and slow fermentation. If the yeast are cold they can flocc out prematurely and then when you rack into bottles get roused back into the beer and start fermenting again, causing excessive gas production.

 

[doug293cz]

Alright, thank you for the information, it’s much appreciated. I actually just got a hydrometer in the mail today, before I was just winging it. I’m gonna watch some YouTube videos and figure out how to use it, and decide what to do form there. I’m in no rush to drink my beer, just want it to turn out alright. Being very careful about sanitation, and all that.

Let us know what you get for your first SG reading.

Brew on