Bottle exploded. Where did i go wrong?

[exbrit]

Bottled my first batch, a hefe, yesterday after 9 days in primary. The recipe was extract and final gravity had been reached before i bottled.
I used 3/4 cup of dextrose with 1 1/2 cups of water and boiled for 5 minutes. Then racked the beer into a bottling bucket on top of the sugar.

I am using old stubby beer bottles that i found on craigslist and cleaned thoroughly. My friend noted they didn't seem as thick as the newer long neck bottles.

Last night after just over 24 hours one of the bottles exploded. I had been keeping the beer in a closet but will now move them due to being worried about more exploding

My question is: Where did i go wrong? Is this normal?

 

[Yooper]

You bottled after 9 days? What was the FG and how long was it at the FG?

My guess is that the priming solution and the beer didn't get mixed up well, and maybe that one bottle got more priming solution than the others.

However, it's almost unheard of to have a bottle bomb within 24 hours- that may mean that the beer is still fermenting. I'd put them all somewhere safe- like covered in a big rubbermaid container- just in case of more explosions.

I'd venture a guess as to say that bottling after 9 days is a big part of the problem, combined with the unequal mixing of the priming solution.

I think most brewers around here wouldn't bottle until the beer was at least 3 weeks old.

 

[Ernie3]

It sounds like you used too much priming sugar too. I believe 5oz. is the norm... Nine days seems awful fast to go ahead and bottle as well, maybe fermentation wasn't complete.........

 

[flaminpi3]

+1 bottled too early

final gravity had been reached

If this means that you reached the final gravity you were anticipating, instead of your batch's actual final gravity (same SG several days in a row), then that could be your problem. You may have had extra fermentables in your beer before you added the sugar and bottled. I've brewed several beers that had higher attenuation than expected.

 

[exbrit]

I have to admit that the beer only reached the gravity i expected. I didn't wait to see if it stayed the same for a few days in a row. I realize now that was probably a mistake.

Yikes. Now im really worried. Im putting the bottles somewhere safe imediately

 

[Yooper]

I have to admit that the beer only reached the gravity i expected. I didn't wait to see if it stayed the same for a few days in a row. I realize now that was probably a mistake.

Yikes. Now im really worried. Im putting the bottles somewhere safe imediately

Yes, bottle bombs are very dangerous. Hopefully, it's just that one that might have had more priming sugar or was a weak bottle. But since it's only been 24 hours, that's not a good sign at all. Make sure that they are well covered and your family is protected in case of another.

If you do have another, I'd suggest dumping the whole batch.

 

[exbrit]

I've been so careful up till now. I feel dumb. and sad..lol

 

[flaminpi3]

Don't worry about it. It's an easy mistake to make when all you want to do is try your first batch of homebrewed goodness as soon as possible. And who knows, it could still be just a fluke.

 

[Revvy]

I have to admit that the beer only reached the gravity i expected. I didn't wait to see if it stayed the same for a few days in a row. I realize now that was probably a mistake.

Yikes. Now im really worried. Im putting the bottles somewhere safe imediately

Yeah that's your mistake, buddy, you absolute NEED to make sure your gravity is STABLE before bottling, that's why we recommend at least taking 2 grav readings of a 3 day period to make sure it is complete. Usually I suggest 10th and 12th day or 12 and 14th day, as the minimum time.

But as you prolly know many of us leave our beers alone for 3-4 weeks before we bottle. It allows the yeast to clean up after they are done fermenting (Fermentation is just one of the things they do, the are very fastidious creatures and like to clean up the byproducts that they produced while fermenting that lead to off flavors)

SO don't be in such a hurry next time to rush through the process, your beer will thank you, and your bottles won't explode.

 

[dontman]

Maybe pop open a few now. Not to drink but to see how much pressure is in the bottles. If there is a lot you could open them all and then recap them after relieving the pressure.

I would wear oven mitts and eye protection while doing this.

I'm just not convinced that a bottle exploding after 24 hours could ONLY be from fermenting beer. It sounds like it could easily be that you miscapped it and cracked the top of the bottle and really weakened it. I'm not saying everyone is wrong, I'm saying it would be a terrible shame to over react right now and toss a whole batch of good beer because of one flawed bottled.

I kegged my last hefe after 10 days and it was completely done fermenting.

 

[dantose]

+1 open a few to check pressure. I wouldn't dump them if I could help it though.

 

[DeepSix]

uh oh, I just did virtually the same thing. My ratio of water to sugar was higher though...5 oz to 2 cups.

no exploded bottles, but I'm not at the 24 hour mark yet.

 

[triggerman72]

+1 on re-cap. I'd probably recap half and leave the other half (never been in your shoes though...). Tossing the batch is the last option (I'm excrutiatingly cheap), but it is about cost/benefit if the bottles were expensive. Sounds like you might be making beer-champagne....

 

[Ernie3]

uh oh, I just did virtually the same thing. My ratio of water to sugar was higher though...5 oz to 2 cups.

no exploded bottles, but I'm not at the 24 hour mark yet.

You should be just fine as long as fermentation was done. 5oz. of sugar is fine.

 

[DeepSix]

You should be just fine as long as fermentation was done.

Heh, yeah unfortunately I'm unsure if it is. I kinda guessed, which retrospectively seems like bad thinking on my part. I misplaced what the paper stating what the FG was supposed to be, and I looked into vein for it or it's statement elsewhere. I just guessed via ABV calculation. I didn't know (or neglected to remember) about the multiply gravity readings rule, which at least could have covered my ass on making sure it was done.

hmmm...

 

[homebrewer_99]

Whenever I prime my bottles I do not add water. I use a couple of cups of the brew instead.

If your brews are carbonated enough I would place them all in the fridge NOW to retard any further fermentation.

 

[exbrit]

MOD EDIT: Threads merged (no need for two separate discussions).

So i came home from work and found that i did not have any more explosions. I took the advice of a few here and decided to crack a couple open.

I found that after only 48 hours the beer is heavily carbonated. It poured a beautiful head and had the kind of bubbles you would expect from a mature, bottle condiotned beer.

The question is ...what now? Dump the batch? Open them all and re cap? Put them in the fridge?

 

[ChshreCat]

If they're really over carbonated, I'd put on some safety gear and pop them all open and recap them. Then I'd load them all up in the fridge.

If they're just carbed, I'd fridge them all.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Fridge them all...
Fridge them all...
Fridge them all...
Fridge them all...
Fridge them all...
Fridge them all...
Fridge them all...

 

[exbrit]

UPDATE:

After 5 days of worrying that i would have nore bottle bombs i decided to take the advice of some here and put the batch in the fridge

Now, after several days of being the fridge, curiosity got the better of me and i cracked a couple (for quality control reasons only)
What i found is that the carbonation is almost gone now. The bottle poured with a nice head that dissapeared quickly and there wasn't much bubbles in the body.

My question is this: Now that the carbonation seems to have subsided is it safe and or advisable to remove them from the fridge to allow them to bottle condition in the normal manner?

Will the beer be able to carbonate if i leave them in the fridge? Or am i still in danger of having the beer ferment further if i remove them, resulting in bottle bombs. I'm willing to be patient with this beer but if they are better off out of the fridge now i would like to do that.

Thyanks guys

 

[Grizzlybrew]

this thread has me confused. As I read through the replies, I read everything I would have said. I was getting ready to +1 the fridge idea, but now I'm dumbstruck about the carb missing.

Maybe the priming solution wasn't mixed well and either the first or last bottle got an extra dose.

If you take a long time bottling, it is suggested to gently stir the beer to remix the sugar.

idk... still confused...

 

[GrizlyGarou]

Divide them into three seperate groups. Put one group in the fridge, the second in a rubbermaid tub or somesuch with some books on top, and the third should be sent straight to me for inspection!

If there's no carbonation in the fridge, then they're not overcarbed. Just drink them all before they blow up, and on your next batch make sure it's done cooking before you stick the fork in it. I go by the temperature on my fermometer, myself. I only have ales in my basement, which holds at 63 degrees in my secondary. When my primary gets down to 63, I bottle my secondary, rack the primary into secondary, then brew more to refill the primary bck up. Yeast makes heat when it's doing the eating-sugar-and-crapping-alcohol thing...

Ye Olde Edit-
I forgot to mention that you may have gotten a scratched bottle or a weakened bottle.

 

[dontman]

I'm just not convinced that a bottle exploding after 24 hours could ONLY be from fermenting beer. It sounds like it could easily be that you miscapped it and cracked the top of the bottle and really weakened it. I'm not saying everyone is wrong, I'm saying it would be a terrible shame to over react right now and toss a whole batch of good beer because of one flawed bottled.

I kegged my last hefe after 10 days and it was completely done fermenting.

I still think you were fine all along and people were just being alarmist and that you probably cracked the top of the bottle while capping it.

EDIT: What you saw when you opened the next bottles was perfectly normal. Once you prime and the bottle starts carbing it has to produce enough extra co2 to build enough pressure to force co2 back into solution. Early in the process you often see what seems like excess carb in the glass and then over the course of the next week or two that excess co2 will get absorbed into solution and comethrough as actual carbonation in the bottle.