Another exploding bottle thread...

[Desp]

Help me out here...

After doing a lot of brewing this summer, for myself and some friends I think I figured out I was fermenting WAY to hot. House was 78 degrees... fermenting was probably 80?

Over the past 3 or 4 months I've brewed then bottled several different beers, and EVERY SINGLE PORTER/STOUT has had exploding bottles.

Cherry porter turned into cherry bombs
Guinness foreign extra stout, explosions
Winter warmer, exploding...
Big honkin stout, bombs

Everything finished within .002 of FG.

No infections in anything, priming sugar was always boiled then added to bucket, racked on top then stirred. Generally added the full bag (4.5oz) of priming sugar that AHS sends with each kit, on a few I measured and added less.

After the second brewed and bottled batch I realized what I was doing with fermenting too hot, but I already had the other ones brewed and fermented so I basically messed up 4 batches before I knew it and could correct it.

The all have the rubbing alcohol/butter scotch smell from fusel alcohols, from fermenting to hot I believe.

The thing is, the non stouts I brewed, Orange Cream Ale and Boddington, has not had the fusel off flavors, and none of those exploded.

Could fermenting too hot, of a beer that has a lot of specialty dark grains create bottle bombs?

Can I pop the caps slightly to release pressure then reseal the same cap?

Edit: Can someone come clean out my closet? It smells like beer and is sticky.

 

[lowtones84]

Fermenting too hot shouldn't have anything to do with bottle bombs. When you say it finished within .002 of FG, did you take at least two measurements three days apart and find no change in gravity? Do you know the final volume of your batches? If you had significantly less than 4.5 gallons in the bottling bucket, 4.5 oz. or sugar would be too much. I know that you said that it's only porters and stouts that you had the problem with, but I just don't see why fermenting too hot with dark/roasted grains would cause that problem.

As for popping the cap, that may not be a terrible idea. I personally wouldn't reseal with the same cap though, I'm pretty sure your seal would be compromised.

 

[amandabab]

it sounds like your stouts didn't ferment long enough.
there is no such thing as finished within 2 point of FG. final is final no matter what a computer program or recipe sheet says.

 

[lowtones84]

^Yup

 

[IFMracin]

How long did you ferment them prior to bottling?

 

[Desp]

it sounds like your stouts didn't ferment long enough.
there is no such thing as finished within 2 point of FG. final is final no matter what a computer program or recipe sheet says.

I was just basing it off of the recipe sheet. Finished within 2 points of what the recipe said.

 

[Desp]

How long did you ferment them prior to bottling?

That's what's throwing me off, some of them sat for over 6 weeks.

 

[lowtones84]

I was just basing it off of the recipe sheet. Finished within 2 points of what the recipe said.

Yeah don't go by the recipe sheet. It doesn't actually know where your beer will finish, it's just a guess based on previous experience with the recipe. If you were already higher than what the sheet said the FG should be, it's very likely that you just had a good amount of fermentables left, and that plus the priming sugar=bottle bombs.

 

[Desp]

Yeah don't go by the recipe sheet. It doesn't actually know where your beer will finish, it's just a guess based on previous experience with the recipe. If you were already higher than what the sheet said the FG should be, it's very likely that you just had a good amount of fermentables left, and that plus the priming sugar=bottle bombs.

So after 2 months fermenting it still explodes, what was my original problem, causing it to get stuck then start fermenting again after bottled?