Bottle bombs, speculations regarding

[RobbyBeers]

I have not, so far, had first-hand experience with bottle bombs. However, I have always been a little nervous about it, to the point that I was underpriming my first batches.

I've been doing my homework and asking around about priming, just to try to get my process right, and I've been really surprised at the wide variety of answers I get.

Some carefully measure the amount of sugar according to the final volume, and some say "just dump the whole package and you'll be fine"...

Some try to balance the water ratio, and some use just enough water to dissolve sugar...

Some won't consider bottling until their gravity holds steady, and some bottle no matter what after X amount of days...

And this is to say nothing about the debate over which sugars to use in the first place. Funny thing is, most of the folks using all these various methods will swear that they've never had a problem with bottle bombs.

It seems to me that bottle conditioning, much like the rest of the homebrewing process, is perhaps more robust than it is given credit for. If this is the case, then how far afield does one have to go to get an explosion? And even if all ends well, how much do you think folks are affecting their beers by using these different methods?

 

[hopsalot]

if your gravity is high, like in the 30's, then you may have a problem, but if you are in the teen's to mid 20's you will be alright. If i were you I would "Some won't consider bottling until their gravity holds steady, and some bottle no matter what after X amount of days..." and then "Some carefully measure the amount of sugar according to the final volume, and
try to balance the water ratio, and some use just enough water to dissolve sugar..."

you are right this whole process is more robust than some people make it out to be. RDWHAHB

 

[Edcculus]

You will never have a bottle bomb if you

-wait until gravity is stable (time or reading, your call)
-siphon to bottling bucket which has measurements on the side
-use a program like beersmith to figure out how much sugar or DME to add according to your current volume, temperature and desired C02 level.

I think a normal 12 oz beer bottle can hold 3 volumes of pressure.