The old and probably no longer available returnable bottles that came in a case of 24 were much thicker than today's cheap, thin bottles used by most major breweries.
That said, I have had no problems using the thinnest bottles, even screw tops, using a bench style capper that's easy on the bottle necks when pressing down on the cap. No leaks, either, from the screw-tops!
I believe the problem you had wasn't from temperature but from one of two other things.
It could be an infection that allowed fermentation of things that the yeast would never ferment. If your beer tastes fine and not sour or has no other off-flavors, then you can probably discount this as the source of your bottle bomb.
The other thing that I can think of that might have happened is that your fermentation was not finished. It could have been "stuck" at a slightly high gravity reading and only began to continue fermenting after you added the priming sugar and possibly moved it to a warmer place that would favor fermentation.
Did you take gravity readings on three successive days to be sure that fermentation was complete? Did your final gravity reading come close to where the recipe said it should, assuming that you followed the recipe's exact procedure, didn't substitute malts, etc.?
If you bottle before fermentation is complete, it's like using too much priming sugar, only the over-carbonation may take a while to burst the bottle(s).
One thing is sure--you're likely to have more bottles burst, and it's quite dangerous. My brother had this happen and he decided to open and recap his bottles. Some of them burst while he was doing this. He got some cuts to the hand and arms, so if you do this, wear some protective clothing, face protection, and open them behind a panel or something so that you won't get glass coming toward your body.
The other thing you can do is to bury the whole batch (for safety reasons) and call it a loss.
It is unlikely, but possible, that only one bottle got an infection. But if the whole batch seems over-carbonated, maybe foaming out the top of the bottle after opening, it may only get worse.
This happens to me when I make a mead. Every time. Meads ferment so slowly so that even with yeast nutrient, a warm place, and a year's time, it isn't really completely done. Gravity readings on three successive days, even weeks, probably won't show any signs of fermentation. But after I prime with corn sugar and bottle it, it carbonates perfectly. After a couple of months, signs of over-carbonation begin to show, and around three months, the foam begins climbing out of the bottles. At that point, well before they become dangerous, I make that (mead) my only alcoholic beverage until it's gone.
If you catch a batch in the bottle moving towards over-carbonation early enough, you can take my approach and avoid the danger of bursting bottles and not lose any of your beer, either, unless you can't drink it up faster than it goes toward over-carbonation.
Hope it all works out for you, and please, be careful!
Donald
but I believe Shock Top is Michelob not Miller.
