time margin for bottle bombs

[marshman]

Every batch I've bottled goes into a case, and then I put the case in a big trash bag for a while in case of emergency. Is there any sort of "time lapse rule of thumb" after which the lilelihood of a bomb is pretty long?

They just look so sad in their little black bags...

 

[user 574]

Have you had a blow-up yet? I've only had one and it was a long time ago so don't remember why. But, if you bottle when you're certain your ferment is done and use the right amount of priming sugar you're probably not going to have a bomb. But, I usually open one after 7-10 days and see how the carb is. If you get a lot of fiz, might be iffy. If after two weeks you open one and it flows over the bottle you're probably close to armed and dangerous. Get em all in the fridge asap to halt/slow any final ferment. Other than that no probs. Oh, I'd guess 2-3 weeks tops.

 

[ajf]

If you're really worried about this, you could send them to me for safe keeping.

-a.

 

[marshman]

Thanks, AJF, you're a peach...and desert brew, thanks for actually answering the qustion.

Yeah, I've had a few blow up on me over the years. When I started brewing 4 or 5 years ago I found a couple shards of glass in the bottom of my 'cellar', and then (after a 3 year hiatus from brewing) I found 2 a few weeks ago. The bottles are all stored in cases now, so I don't worry much about shrapnel, it's just spillage I'm trying to contain.

I'm also running out of storage space in the basement. I guess I'll have to throw out some of the wifes' old dishes or something...

 

[marshman]

Well, I'm here to follow up on my own query.

This afternoon, May 12, 2008, I was working in my mancave and actually heard the explosion. It was a curious pop--intense, but not gunshot like. Probably stifled by the cardboard.

Beer was bottled on April 25th, 2007. It's the first bomb I've had in a while (probably since I asked the question originally), so apparently, despite the evidence to the contrary, a full year is still not too much.

 

[Couevas]

WOW, a whole year?!

Your temps in your celler must have quite a range to be able to put the yeasty beasty's to sleep and then wake them back up a year later.

 

[marshman]

Well, I keep the bottles near to the heat pump, so they don't get too cold during the winter, but the cellar never seems to get much above 65 all year long. I must admit, however, that I've never tracked the behavior of the temps down there, so anything is possible. I'm looking to do some rearranging down there, maybe I'll try a new spot for long-term beer storage...

 

[BarleyWater]

Well, it looks like you answered your own question, and gave us a bit of info as well. Bottle bombs can happen for an indefinate amount of time in bottle conditioned beers.