Exploding Bottles!

[sappnasty]

Fellas,

Finally experienced my first exploding bottles the other night and then again tonight. I was home on my lunch break and it was about 3:00am when I heard what sounded like a gunshot in the other end of my house. I grabbed the ol' pistola and headed over to take a look. At first I didn't see or hear anything else, but I smelled beer. That's when it dawned on me. I walked into my man room and found frothy beer everywhere on the floor and a ton of tiny shards of glass. Then I was at work tonight and my parents were over watching my kids when they said they heard a loud bang and called me to ask what it may have been. It turns out it was another bottle burtsing and more mess to clean up. Any suggestions on how to curb this or at least help prevent it? It was my Grapefruit Hefeweizen batch.

-Sapp

 

[insanim8er]

Did you check your final gravity before bottling? You want to check it a few times over a course of a couple days. If it's the same, you bottle. If it changes, you do it again until you get a couple consistent readings.

You also want to calculate the proper volume of co2 to assure you don't add too much sugar. There are calculators on online.

You can try to degas the bottles (slightly open them with a bottle opener then reseal them), but I'd be super cautious handling any of those bottles. They could blow up in your hand.

 

[Walzenbrew]

Definitely agree with the poster above. Uncap those suckers and recap them as soon as possible.

 

[morticaixavier]

woah! before doing anything get your safety gear in place. glasses/goggles and full coverage clothing. then get those bottles cold.

after than you can degas, just pop each bottle (you're still wearing your safety glasses and gloves right?) and recap. just letting off that pressure will help. Now, drink up! anything you can't keep cold has to be emptied.

 

[Brewmenn]

woah! before doing anything get your safety gear in place. glasses/goggles and full coverage clothing. then get those bottles cold.

after than you can degas, just pop each bottle (you're still wearing your safety glasses and gloves right?) and recap. just letting off that pressure will help. Now, drink up! anything you can't keep cold has to be emptied.

Yep, refrigerate, recap, and drink.

 

[grizzly2378]

I recently had my first bottle bombs. A couple of months after bottling, a couple of bottles of my honey porter blew. Opened my closet one morning and wondered why it smelled so strongly of beer. Didn't get on any of my wife's clothes or shoes, thank God. I had to do some rearranging, but I promptly shoved the rest of the bottles in the fridge. I have to pour that batch extra slow because I over-primed it, but no problems since.


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[Grinder12000]

I've never had one but had a few sent to me and just like you. What's that smell???? Beer?? Be very very careful as you now know those are REALLY dangerous.


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[lowelldw]

I am very new to brewing....if bottles are to blow....when is it likely they will blow or when is the time up for them to likely explode??

 

[Travestian]

I am very new to brewing....if bottles are to blow....when is it likely they will blow or when is the time up for them to likely explode??

Usually it's due to over priming or not letting it finish the fermentation. Most bottle bombs will happen in the first few weeks to a month depending on remaining sugars for the yeast to eat.

 

[JonM]

Plan for them to gush when you open them, too. So in addition to the glasses, gloves, coat (and cup?) might want to carefully move them to a place where the mess will be contained.

 

[MaxStout]

Being your own personal bomb-disposal squad isn't fun. As others have mentioned, wear protective gear when handling those bottles, until you can relieve the pressure.

Fermentation is done when the FG stays the same on successive measurements taken over the course of a few days. Just because the airlock has stopped bubbling doesn't mean it's done. You need to take those hydro readings to be sure.

Use a reliable bottle priming calculator to determine the right amount of sugar. Weigh the sugar, rather than using volumetric measures. A cup of sugar can vary widely, depending on how much it has settled. And know the limit of your bottles. Most 12oz longnecks and similar bottles cannot safely withstand more than about 3 volumes of CO2. There are charts online that show the limits of various types of bottles.

 

[Rockindaddy]

Happened to me once and you definitely want to wear protective gear when handling. I wore my motorcycle helmet, gloves and leather jacket. Got them cooled down in the fridge (a couple more burst while I was moving them) and then tried to degas them but ultimately had to throw them out. Just one of the many lessons I've learned along the way in my homebrewing journey. See video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85wiSfIAsoQ

 

[Zwerski]

Maybe I'm a bit more cautious (curious kids in the house) buf my conditioning chamber is a large plastic tote with a locking lid. I can usually fit most of a 5-gallon batch in there. I figure it can contain any bottle bombs and the dangerous mess they might make.

 

[LovesIPA]

Don't you guys check for stable final gravity before bottling?

Advising the guy to pop open the tops on these is dangerous and awful advice. How much pressure does it take to explode a beer bottle and do you want it behind tiny shards of flying glass with your hand wrapped around it?

If you chill them it will stop the yeast activity and the cold will reduce the pressure in the bottle somewhat. They will be slightly less dangerous that way.

 

[insanim8er]

Don't you guys check for stable final gravity before bottling?

Advising the guy to pop open the tops on these is dangerous and awful advice. How much pressure does it take to explode a beer bottle and do you want it behind tiny shards of flying glass with your hand wrapped around it?

If you chill them it will stop the yeast activity and the cold will reduce the pressure in the bottle somewhat. They will be slightly less dangerous that way.

I'm pretty sure everyone noted the danger of taking that route, and encouraged him to take the proper precaution if he chose to do it.

 

[sappnasty]

Fellas,

So I decided to take everyones advice today after waking up from working all night. Apparently right before I woke up (1pm) my wife came and told me that she heard another "pop" while I was sleeping and suspected another beer bottle exploded. Sure nuff, when I walked in yet another bottle had exploded. I keep all of my bottles, fermenters and all other related beer supplies and gear in my man room, which is all tile floor thank god. It made clean-up a lot easier and the beer had nothing to soak into. So I cleaned up the glass and mopped the sticky floor. I cant freakin' believe how explosive the bottle actually are. I had glass all the way across the room as well as the entire top neck of the bottle on top of my desk. WOW

So after clean up, I very carefully moved the bottles (placed them all into closed Sam Adams boxes) into the kitchen and into the sink. At first I was going to put them into the fridge to cool down, but I was afraid one may burst while in there causing not only a huge mess, but a hazard (from broken glass) with all of or food and drinks inside. So I just carefully opened each bottle in the sink and again, I was amazed at how much pressure were in the bottles. After popping the tops, beer came blowing out emptying almost half of the beer in each bottle. It was a crap batch anyways, so I continued to open each one and pour down the sink.

I know most of you have been asking, but yes, to answer your questions, I did take several gravity readings from the batch before bottle. Original, the day before and just before bottling. The last two measurements were exactly the same. I think the problem was created by my actual recipe. My recipe called for using 2.5 gallons of Hefeweizen and 2.5 gallons of grapefruit soda (Squirt). The brew store owner that gave me the recipe said to let the sugars in the soda be the priming sugar and that it would be perfecty fine...so much for that! Either way, this isn't my first mistake and certainly will not be my last. I am glad to have experienced this early, so that I can take steps in all future batches to prevent it again. I will also be storing all of my bottles that are conditioning in milk crates with a bag around the sides to contain any explosions and messes. Thank you everyone so much for the advice! Glad to be a member here!

-Sapp

 

[sappnasty]

Oh and 3 out of the 4 bottles were Sierra Nevada Torpedo bottles. I don't know if that means anything, but I'd say their bottles can handle as much pressure as other bottles.

-Sapp

 

[morticaixavier]

Fellas,

So I decided to take everyones advice today after waking up from working all night. Apparently right before I woke up (1pm) my wife came and told me that she heard another "pop" while I was sleeping and suspected another beer bottle exploded. Sure nuff, when I walked in yet another bottle had exploded. I keep all of my bottles, fermenters and all other related beer supplies and gear in my man room, which is all tile floor thank god. It made clean-up a lot easier and the beer had nothing to soak into. So I cleaned up the glass and mopped the sticky floor. I cant freakin' believe how explosive the bottle actually are. I had glass all the way across the room as well as the entire top neck of the bottle on top of my desk. WOW

So after clean up, I very carefully moved the bottles (placed them all into closed Sam Adams boxes) into the kitchen and into the sink. At first I was going to put them into the fridge to cool down, but I was afraid one may burst while in there causing not only a huge mess, but a hazard (from broken glass) with all of or food and drinks inside. So I just carefully opened each bottle in the sink and again, I was amazed at how much pressure were in the bottles. After popping the tops, beer came blowing out emptying almost half of the beer in each bottle. It was a crap batch anyways, so I continued to open each one and pour down the sink.

I know most of you have been asking, but yes, to answer your questions, I did take several gravity readings from the batch before bottle. Original, the day before and just before bottling. The last two measurements were exactly the same. I think the problem was created by my actual recipe. My recipe called for using 2.5 gallons of Hefeweizen and 2.5 gallons of grapefruit soda (Squirt). The brew store owner that gave me the recipe said to let the sugars in the soda be the priming sugar and that it would be perfecty fine...so much for that! Either way, this isn't my first mistake and certainly will not be my last. I am glad to have experienced this early, so that I can take steps in all future batches to prevent it again. I will also be storing all of my bottles that are conditioning in milk crates with a bag around the sides to contain any explosions and messes. Thank you everyone so much for the advice! Glad to be a member here!

-Sapp

wow, glad it was all handled safely! 2.5 gallons of soda worth of priming sugar for a 5 gallons of liquid. That's 11 ounces of sugar! about 3 times what you needed. I'm guessing you didn't totally degas the soda first either? so that adds even more. In my opinion you should seriously consider never ever taking that guys advice again.

 

[insanim8er]

Lol I just read this

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/working-schofferhofer-grapefruit-clone-recipe-452817/

Sounds like the LHBS owner was telling you to not f-ing try to clone this beer. With it being so bad then bombs.... Lol

 

[chickypad]

In that other thread you said he told you to add the juice to the carboy, are you sure he didn't mean for you to let that ferment out like you would with actual fruit? If he owns a brew shop he had to realize that would add a huge amount of sugar - I think it's more like 1.3 oz sugar per can of soda, and 2.5 gal is a little over a case. That sounds like such a god awful recipe I hope this wasn't his idea of a joke.

 

[LovesIPA]

My recipe called for using 2.5 gallons of Hefeweizen and 2.5 gallons of grapefruit soda (Squirt).

Did I just read that????

 

[Garagebrewski]

How much priming sugar did u add?? May have been too much


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[Jahvon09]

The "exploding" of the bottles can also come from adding too much priming sugar to the bottles.

The trick is to stay within the guidelines as to the recommended same amount of sugar for each bottle, and do not
go over that, or else you will be experiencing it again.