Beer exploding

[orfeastops]

I've made an all grain belgian tripel ( 10 gallons ) and something went really bad and all the bottles are exploding. This is a video :



The beer is in bottles for about 1 month and it was fermented for 1 month and 5 days cold crash. I bottled using carbonation pills ( 1.5 per bottle of 500 ml). This is the first time seeing this in my batch. Is it 100% contaminated or it might be something else? I thought of recaping the bottles somehow.Do you think is worth it or i should just get rid of them?

Thanks

 

[camonick]

Did you verify that fermentation was complete by taking several hydrometer readings over several days before bottling? The time it’s in the fermenter isn’t always a good way to tell if it’s complete, especially on big beers.

 

[orfeastops]

Yes i started taking readings from week 3 and it was stable at 1.011. The OG was 1.06

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Those are gushers.

Gushers probably need to be discarded safely.

If the beer had exploded ...

A picture is worth a thousand words --

... a broom will be helpful.

 

[jrgtr42]

Certainly a gusher rather than bottle bomb.
Have you tried putting it in the fridge for a few hours before opening? I've had a few batches that do that when opened at cellar temp, that calm down when cold.

 

[wepeeler]

Never made a gusher, but definitely have cracked a few in my life. Could be contaminated. Seems to pop up a lot when people have gushers.

 

[PberBob]

I had an issue like that with Diastaticus yeast strain carry over Into a pale ale (Imperial Napolean, I‘m looking at you. ).
After the fermentation runs with your normal yeast, the carry over yeast converted the dextrins over time, since they don’t have competition.

The remaining ounce in the bottle was pretty good though, but as a saison.

 

[GoodTruble]

I've had gushers before. I've even successfully partially depressured bottles before. But nothing that gushed that quickly. If that was just a normal chilled bottle (not shaken up or anything), then I wouldn't screw around with the rest. They could actually explode. I would open them all, wearing protective gloves and standing behind something that will protect you from flying glass (definitely wouldn't stand over it with my face fully exposed while opening). If you want, open them inside a clean kettle and then pour into a pitcher. You may still be able to enjoy a pitcher of tripel when you're done (but I wouldn't start drinking until the job is done). If there is several gallons, you could also potentially keg it. Good luck.

 

[Andres Falconer]

I wouldn’t get rid of them before tasting what you’ve got, but definitely be careful!

This happened to me once. After the first bottle exploded, I carefully transferred the rest to the refrigerator and turned the temperature all the way down. I had them in 1L bottles with Grolsch flip tops, so I was able to despressurize once cold. I did that in a bucket, with gloves, under a towel, and wearing a coat and safety glasses.

It was most likely a contamination issue with an incomplete fermentation. After a month or so of refrigerator “lagering” the taste cleaned up into something weird but interesting and definitely drinkable. And they still gushed.

 

[SeeMont]

orseastops, I feel you pain. I also brewed a Tripel and had had the same issue. it did taste great after the foaming slowed down. My process is ferment, keg and then bottled. The issue I found it I needed this beer to ferment a long time. a Month at the least. I have found it better is the bottles are chilled.
Good Luck
Cheers

 

[hotbeer]

I had some gushers like that. Pretty sure they were due to random infections in bottles I didn't clean and sanitize well enough after using them for a sour beer.

I measured the SG of several and it was about 1.001. And compared to my FG for that brew which was about 1.011 IIRC. So pretty certain something got in that shouldn't have.

They tasted good enough though. Just a hint of sour to them. Some of the bottles were a little cloudy, but I noticed most cleared up after about a month or maybe closer to two months after bottling.

Also toward last of that bad batch of bottles, I figured out that I could put a bottle from the refrigerator into the freezer for not quite 30 minutes and I could open and have it poured without being a gusher. However at nearly 32°F, it was really too cold to enjoy.

All those bottles got a good soak in chorine bleach solution after a good cleaning. Then on bottling day their usual soak in iodophor. StarSan is fine if you prefer that to iodophor. But the chlorine bleach will kill more bad stuff than either. Though you do need to soak longer.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Apparently bottle bombs happen to the pros on rare occasion (link to article). From the article (link): "... one hop sample was contaminated with diastaticus yeast".

---

aside: to state the obvious, the article is from a vendor and the title includes the words "Case Study" - so expect it to be a combination of marketing, science, and engineering/brewing.

 

[JAReeves]

I had two stouts in a row get infected and gush/bottle bomb. I took the cases out into the driveway and popped each one while still in the cardboard box. The box was a goner anyway, as two bottles had blown out their bottoms. Driveway smelled great, but the beer was a sour stout both times, and not worth saving. The neighbors loved the stout fountains hitting 2-3'.

 

[GratefulBear]

I wouldn’t get rid of them before tasting what you’ve got, but definitely be careful!

This happened to me once. After the first bottle exploded, I carefully transferred the rest to the refrigerator and turned the temperature all the way down. I had them in 1L bottles with Grolsch flip tops, so I was able to despressurize once cold. I did that in a bucket, with gloves, under a towel, and wearing a coat and safety glasses.

It was most likely a contamination issue with an incomplete fermentation. After a month or so of refrigerator “lagering” the taste cleaned up into something weird but interesting and definitely drinkable. And they still gushed.

Was the bottle that exploded a Grolsch swing-top? I was thinking about using them primarily because I thought the excess pressure would cause venting from the cap instead of a bottle bomb if something went wrong... Never heard of one exploding

 

[Andres Falconer]

Was the bottle that exploded a Grolsch swing-top? I was thinking about using them primarily because I thought the excess pressure would cause venting from the cap instead of a bottle bomb if something went wrong... Never heard of one exploding

It was a 1 liter bottle, with the Grolsch-type flip-top. Bigger bottle, more pressure, and yes, it exploded. I’ve noticed that some of the wire flip-top contraptions are rather stiff and others seem flimsy, barely holding on, but I would have also thought that the lid would blow out before the glass broke.

 

[Gilbert Spinning Horse]

I notice that there was a second or so between popping the top and the beer starting to foam out. That should be enough to get your mouth the top and start glugging it down. May take a bit of practice, but waste not want not.

 

[GoodTruble]

I notice that there was a second or so between popping the top and the beer starting to foam out. That should be enough to get your mouth the top and start glugging it down. May take a bit of practice, but waste not want not.

Yes, if a bottle may explode, by all means - stick your face right over over it. =c).

I have successfully flipped the top on over-carbed flip top bottles and then re-sealed before they gushed. ....dangerous game, but it can be won.

 

[GratefulBear]

It was a 1 liter bottle, with the Grolsch-type flip-top. Bigger bottle, more pressure, and yes, it exploded. I’ve noticed that some of the wire flip-top contraptions are rather stiff and others seem flimsy, barely holding on, but I would have also thought that the lid would blow out before the glass broke.

Good to know. I hate the waste and equipment involved in canning but I keep finding myself wanting to buy a can seamer.. Especially for cider