Bottle bomb worries

[sixstringsgareth]

Hey everyone I've had my first brew bottled for 1 day since fermenting for 11 days with no secondary. The og was 10.38 and the fg was 10.12 for 3 days.

It's an Irish red extract kit with steeping grains.

I carbonated with 1.5 coopers carbonation drops in each bottle.

I posted about my debut homebrew a few days ago but can't link because I'm in my phone.

Since bottling I've read a lot about bottle bombs and I'm now terrified of my beer!

Can anyone speak from experience what caused their bottle bombs? Early bottling? Too many drops/too much sugar? Specifics about your method if you can.

I've held a bottle up to a light and I can clearly see that sugary transparent swirl kind of like when you add a spirit to a mixer or in a sugary drink.

I know it's too late to do anything now and I've probably just got first time fears but anything would help whether it be calm down and I'm overreacting or take cover before I get shards of glass in the face!

Go raibh maith agat (thanks) in advance!

 

[sixstringsgareth]

I should probably also note that bottle temp is 64-68F (10-20C) and I'm on my phone, not in...

 

[BobBailey]

The primary cause of bottle bombs is bottling before fermentation is complete. The remaining fermentables along with the priming sugar add up to disaster. Just because your air lock quits bubbling and you are in the range of your expected FG does not mean fermentation is complete.

I remember when I started brewing, I was in a hurry to get some brew ready to drink too. Only after amassing a closet full of barely drinkable to mediocre beer did I become more patient. Luckily, I had no bottle bombs.

I know many kits recommend short fermentation times, but the shortcut methods are not going to make the best beer and can also be dangerous.

Patience will reward you in the form of better beer. Once active fermentation has finished the yeast will begin to clean up the byproducts they produced. Some of these byproducts cause off flavors that usually aren't too tasty. Allowing a minimum of an extra week before transferring or bottling will not only make a big difference in the final product, but also reduce the chances of over carbonating.

Depending on the OG, yeast, fermentation temperature and some other factors many beers require more time. As a rule, stronger beers, beers brewed with more flocculant yeasts and beers fermented at lower temperatures will need more time for the cleanup stage.

I never package a beer until it's at least 3 weeks in the fermenter. Anything over 1.060 gets at least 4 weeks. 1.075 and above is transferred into a glass carboy and bulk aged beyond that.

Another cause of over-carbonation is infection. Be sure to carefully clean and sanitize everything that comes into contact with your wort/beer after the boil. Resist the temptation to take gravity samples prematurely as this is an extra opportunity for an infection to take hold.

Patience and good sanitizing habits will avoid almost all chances of bottle bombs as well as rewarding you with much better beer.

Happy brewing.

 

[wildactbrewer]

The general rule of thumb is if your gravity readings remain the same for 3 days consecutively then you should be fine to bottle. From what you have posted it sounds like your was fine. Give them 2 weeks or so at the current temp and let them spend about 24-48 hours in the fridge after that and you should be ready to enjoy.

Also, the term "Bottle Bomb" is really a misnomer. When you do have an over-carbonated bottle rupture it's not like it's gonna take out half of your house or anything. Messy? Yes. Deadly....I wouldn't want one near my face but otherwise...not really. Fear no beer my friend!

 

[wildactbrewer]

The general rule of thumb is if your gravity readings remain the same for 3 days consecutively then you should be fine to bottle. From what you have posted it sounds like your was fine. Give them 2 weeks or so at the current temp and let them spend about 24-48 hours in the fridge after that and you should be ready to enjoy.

Also, the term "Bottle Bomb" is really a misnomer. When you do have an over-carbonated bottle rupture it's not like it's gonna take out half of your house or anything. Messy? Yes. Deadly....I wouldn't want one near my face but otherwise...not really. Fear no beer my friend!

 

[sixstringsgareth]

Thanks Bob!

I'm impatient because I want it done for xmas.

I guess I'll learn the hard way either with bottle bombs or off flavours. Or maybe I'll get off lightly with just a young tasting beer.

So many variables! Trial and error though. I'll let you all know in a fortnight!

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Thanks Bob!

I'm impatient because I want it done for xmas.

I guess I'll learn the hard way either with bottle bombs or off flavours. Or maybe I'll get off lightly with just a young tasting beer.

So many variables! Trial and error though. I'll let you all know in a fortnight!

It'll probably be pretty green still for christmas, but for a lower gravity beer it won't be that big of a deal. Higher alcohol beers will be green (at least to me it feels like) FOREVER. They should have some carbonation in them by then but they won't be at their best till middle of jan (generally mine are carbonated by 3 weeks, but dont hit their stride till 6 weeks).

 

[sixstringsgareth]

The general rule of thumb is if your gravity readings remain the same for 3 days consecutively then you should be fine to bottle. From what you have posted it sounds like your was fine. Give them 2 weeks or so at the current temp and let them spend about 24-48 hours in the fridge after that and you should be ready to enjoy.



Also, the term "Bottle Bomb" is really a misnomer. When you do have an over-carbonated bottle rupture it's not like it's gonna take out half of your house or anything. Messy? Yes. Deadly....I wouldn't want one near my face but otherwise...not really. Fear no beer my friend!

Thanks wildactbrewer this is the rule of thumb I acted on and now I can cancel the welding mask I ordered...

 

[sixstringsgareth]

The general rule of thumb is if your gravity readings remain the same for 3 days consecutively then you should be fine to bottle. From what you have posted it sounds like your was fine. Give them 2 weeks or so at the current temp and let them spend about 24-48 hours in the fridge after that and you should be ready to enjoy.



Also, the term "Bottle Bomb" is really a misnomer. When you do have an over-carbonated bottle rupture it's not like it's gonna take out half of your house or anything. Messy? Yes. Deadly....I wouldn't want one near my face but otherwise...not really. Fear no beer my friend!

Thanks wildactbrewer this is the rule of thumb I acted on and now I can cancel the welding mask I ordered...

 

[Psylocide]

I also think ferment time depends entirely on the style/yeast pitched/temps etc. I don't think you can put a some arbitrary timeframe on when a beer is "ready" to be bottled.

I've been struggling with this myself in my own thread. Got an - I'm going to call it an APA - that will be in primary for 2 weeks on Saturday that I plan to bottle Saturday. I'm cold crashing now.

It tastes exactly how I want it to taste, it's pretty darn clear (minus hop particles that will fall out during crash), and SG has been stable for around a week and falls right within the average attenuation for my strain of yeast (OG was ~1.064/FG is 1.019).

Why should I let it sit in the fermenter for another 2 weeks? Mine should be all carbed up for Christmas as well, I brewed it on 11/28. If it turns out well, I'll crank out another 2-3 batches like this to build up my pipeline for the time being.

However, my stout I brewed on 11/23 hit stable FG around 12/2, but I'm leaving it for another 2 weeks because the taste is not quite there and I feel that some extra time in the fermenter might clear that up. I could be wrong, but it seems it's getting better every time I check.

TL;DR - I say, it depends.

 

[sixstringsgareth]

The general rule of thumb is if your gravity readings remain the same for 3 days consecutively then you should be fine to bottle. From what you have posted it sounds like your was fine. Give them 2 weeks or so at the current temp and let them spend about 24-48 hours in the fridge after that and you should be ready to enjoy.



Also, the term "Bottle Bomb" is really a misnomer. When you do have an over-carbonated bottle rupture it's not like it's gonna take out half of your house or anything. Messy? Yes. Deadly....I wouldn't want one near my face but otherwise...not really. Fear no beer my friend!

Thanks wildactbrewer this is the rule of thumb I acted on and now I can cancel the welding mask I ordered...