Bottle Bomb Tester

[smegger]

So, as a new brewer, I should take from this that I can make and bottle a woodchuck clone and not worry about bottle bombs? Although, I am planning on using flip-top, Grolsh-style bottles for my batch...anything I should really worry about then?

Well I wouldn't quite take this as a sign that you don't need to worry about bottle bombs. More that certain bottles can take a lot more pressure than you'd think.

If you're using fliptop bottles however I doubt you'd need to worry about bottle bombs as much because the seal at the top will likely fail before the glass does.

 

[Curtis2010]

....
If you're using fliptop bottles however I doubt you'd need to worry about bottle bombs as much because the seal at the top will likely fail before the glass does.

Nope, bottle fails at the bottom edge first -- the voice of experience.

Left a few flip-top bottles conditioning a couple of years ago while I was gone that turned into bottle bombs in the middle of the night. The property caretaker here thought the next revolution was starting!

However, you can use the flip top to bleed off a little pressure if you suspect you might be making bottle bombs.

 

[snortwheeze]

Plus you wouldn't want to just let the bottles go. Remember he said that it was way too bubbly for him? You want your bottles to have the right am out of carb so they bubble nicely, not geyser onto your ceiling! I do feel much better about bottling now though, at first I was terrified of BB's. Now, not so much!

 

[roadymi]

Don't let this one antedotal experiment lull you into false sense of security............BOTTLE BOMBS are a VERY REAL HAZARD and shouldn't be taken lightly.

 

[smegger]

Agreed. For every story about avoiding bottle bombs there are plenty with people narrowly avoiding getting hit by flying shards of glass or coming into their garage in the morning to find exploded bottles.

 

[snortwheeze]

I will still respect my cabing bottles and gingerly stove top pasteurize them, along with the pop bottle gauge and this thread, I just feel more comfortable with it.

 

[HAREEBROWNBEEST]

Agreed. There are to many variables here that did not cause the bottle to explode. I would still be careful. I did find that if I follow my back sweetening technique and make my ciders very similar that two to three days is the making of a pretty decent bubbly sweet cider.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

 

[HAREEBROWNBEEST]

Cool, did you just make that?

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Cool, did you just make that?

nah, just read the whole thread and needed to see a bottle blow, just a google grab. Loved your experiment.

 

[HAREEBROWNBEEST]

Thanks

 

[alpha224]

I guess my next question is: If I want to back sweeten and bottle carb, could I use some concentrate as a priming agent and a non fermenting sugar like lactose or splenda?

 

[snortwheeze]

It's my impression that you should add sugar ( or concentrate ) to taste, then a touch more and let it go at that. As an experiment, I used what I had drawn out of my apple cider for a hydrometer test plus a touch more, added a tsp. of brown sugar and let it go in a coke bottle on my counter for about 4 days. Very little carbonation, moderate-heavy alcohol taste. So, in my 1 gallon batch of cran apple, I added 1 can of concentrate, 1 cup of sugar, and topped it off to 145 ounces with apple juice. Tasted awesome, can't wait for it to carb up!

 

[alpha224]

OK, then to stop the process I should just toss them in the fridge? Fwi, I am just making sure I have a pretty clear idea of what to do when I start a batch next week...and for aeration, with a 6.5gal carboy, should I just try aerating in the bottles the juice came in?

 

[snortwheeze]

OK, then to stop the process I should just toss them in the fridge? Fwi, I am just making sure I have a pretty clear idea of what to do when I start a batch next week...and for aeration, with a 6.5gal carboy, should I just try aerating in the bottles the juice came in?

You can do that or you can try the "stove top pasteurizing" sticky. I prefer the method where you heat the bottles under normal hot tap water then transfer to you stove top pot. I highly recommend the stovetop method if you are going to give any of it away. I kinda jumped into this last weekend and kinda freaked out when my 1 gallon batch had stopped fermenting after 3 days. Warm temps will make your yeast go crazy! Bottling "upstatemike's" Carmel apple cider next weekend( hopefully ) and I plan to stove top. you can also do the oven method, where you put all you bottles in the oven, and slowly heat up to 150*, let that sit for 25 mins, then very slowly cool back down to room temp. Lots of info on here, just do a lot of reading

 

[DisturbdChemist]

If you are doing the stove top pasteurization. Make sure its not over carbonation because BOOM!. It happened to me ( only one bottle)

 

[HAREEBROWNBEEST]

I like the method (haven't tried it) where you put the bottles in the dishwasher on sterilization cycle that sounds too easy, gotta try it.

 

[bottlebomber]

I like the method (haven't tried it) where you put the bottles in the dishwasher on sterilization cycle that sounds too easy, gotta try it.

It does work, but beer bottles aren't tempered and aren't designed to be repeatedly heated to those temperatures. When my old brew mate used to do this to his bottles, he'd get a bomb here and there, or sometimes when opening a bottle the crown would come off with the cap lol. I still prefer to do the Starsan soak.

 

[HAREEBROWNBEEST]

What's the star San soak? BTW I love star San. That chit works great!

 

[bottlebomber]

What's the star San soak? BTW I love star San. That chit works great!

My preferred method is filling a Rubbermaid chest with bottles sitting up, and using a watering can to fill all the bottles full of Starsan. I let it sit for a half hour or so. I also love Starsan. I haven't had an infection yet, and I am far from anal about sanitization. I've made fermented pickles and sauerkraut in brewing buckets, Starsaned them, and put them right back into action with beer with no consequence.

 

[HAREEBROWNBEEST]

Nice! I made a root beer once in one of my carboys and the smell is slightly there still. Yeah, you can't go wrong with starsan, great stuff.