Bottling Belgians

[mhenry41h]

Has anybody ever carbed to 3.5 volumes in normal 12 ouncers? looks like next weekend will be time to put my tripel in glass. I'm fearful of bottle bombs. I have a case of Sierra Nevada bottles and they seem heavier in nature than "normal" 12's. Would you go for it at 3.5 volumes of CO2?

coming soon...to a fridge near you!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I have inadvertently had beers bottled beyond 3.5. You definitely need to cold condition those beers. You should also be prepared for the beer to foam out very fast. You might want to have a couple glasses ready to catch all the beer since most of what will come out is foam.

Unfortunately, if the bottle is overcarbed enough to foam out it usually has the effect of rousing the yeast cake in the bottom and you end up with a more yeasty beer and more yeast flavor as a result.

 

[smokinghole]

I also accidentally carbed a beer past 3.5 volumes. I had one single bottle break actually somewhere around the 4/5 months mark.

Easy way to check glass content of your bottle choice is to do a quick scale test with it set on grams if you have the ability. It's entirely possible to use regular bottles but I would just keep them somewhere safe and easy to clean up if you were to get one to bust. Remember the will most likely bust out the bottom.

 

[TipsyDragon]

well for one if your carbing to style 3.5 is way to high for a Belgian. two for a triple you are going to have a VERY hard time getting it to carb at all much less to 3.5 using priming sugar. you can force carbonate that high. if you do the strength of the bottles isn't much of an issue.

 

[smokinghole]

well for one if your carbing to style 3.5 is way to high for a Belgian. two for a triple you are going to have a VERY hard time getting it to carb at all much less to 3.5 using priming sugar. you can force carbonate that high. if you do the strength of the bottles isn't much of an issue.

While I agree 3.5 is a bit high who cares about style. He asked about carbing to 3.5. Second you can bottle condition higher than you can force carbonate reasonably. There's a reason that champagne is made the way its made. I just carbed my tripelish belgian to 3vol using 7oz of dextrose. It's carbed up just fine at 10.5%abv.

 

[mhenry41h]

According to Brew Like a Monk, 3.5 is pretty average for a tripel. In fact I don't think any of the Trappists carb below 3. Some go as high as 4. I'm actually considering 3.25 for my tripel but somewhat concerned that I may get some exploders. I'm going to bottle 12 in 750 ml Belgian bottles with corks but the rest in standard bottles.

coming soon...to a fridge near you!

 

[smokinghole]

I'm with you on the carbing. BJCP guidelines also don't list saison past 2.9 volumes which we all know to be false. Hell under BJCP 16E it lists the highest at 2.9 and we know Orval is more like 5.

 

[meadowstream]

Totally agree with respect to BJCP guidelines being inaccurate with respect to real-world examples of style. I always bottle to at least 3 volumes for Belgians and think that 3.0-4.0 is the range for most dubbels and triples (Trappist anyway.)

Have seen it written that BJCP guidelines specify 2.4 as the limit because of the pressure limitations of 12 oz standard bottles.

 

[mhenry41h]

Thanks all. I think that part of the reason this forum is so good is due to the almost "self-correction" that takes place. I'm well studied and experienced when it comes to Belgians so I knew better, but it makes me leery when I see somebody make a comment like, " 3.5 is way too high for Belgians." this is clearly false.

coming soon...to a fridge near you!

 

[smokinghole]

Just noticed you're from Harrisburg. Do yourself a favor it you can. Start saving up the 330ml belgian bottles that a lot of the belgians come in. Not the squat little duvel bottles though I'd save those too. Wittekerke comes in them and a number of other beers. I weighed them via a gram scale and they are considerably heavier with glass and a smaller bottle overall. So compared to standard american 12oz bottles they're better to use. However I think you could get away with 3volumes in a standard bottle I would just take the necessary precautions for a potential blown up bottle in case you over do it slightly. A large plastic tub should work especially if they're in a case. The cardboard will hold in most of the energy from the breaking glass.

 

[mhenry41h]

Just noticed you're from Harrisburg. Do yourself a favor it you can. Start saving up the 330ml belgian bottles that a lot of the belgians come in. Not the squat little duvel bottles though I'd save those too. Wittekerke comes in them and a number of other beers. I weighed them via a gram scale and they are considerably heavier with glass and a smaller bottle overall. So compared to standard american 12oz bottles they're better to use. However I think you could get away with 3volumes in a standard bottle I would just take the necessary precautions for a potential blown up bottle in case you over do it slightly. A large plastic tub should work especially if they're in a case. The cardboard will hold in most of the energy from the breaking glass.

Thanks smoking hole. I'm going to weigh my Sierra Nevada bottles as they just feel stronger than normal bottles. Are you from central PA as well? I go over to Al's of Hampden alot as they have a nice Belgian selection and I sneak my empties out to save. I really like Lost Abbey and Jolly Pumpkin bottles!

coming soon...to a fridge near you!

 

[DannPM]

Theoretically the standard 12oz bottles can hold 4 volumes of Co2. I've been too scared to go past about 3.25 though cause I don't want a bottle bomb :cross: