dancing caps

[HItransplant]

Tried to search for this but I honestly didnt know what to put in the search field... also struggled with a search title.

anyway, I just bottled my 2nd batch, and while my bottles were sitting with caps set on top of them (not pressed on yet), I noticed a little clicking noise coming from the bunch.... almost like they were tap dancing.

Now, Ive read that its a good idea to bottle this way (allowing bottles to sit with caps on them loosely), to allow some of the O2 left in the bottle to be purged out by the co2... but, I didnt hear this the last time.

I assume that the priming sugar isnt responsible for this (too early), and instead its just co2 comming out of suspension.

1. am I right?

2. does this mean I need to be more concerned with bottle bombs? (Im really skiddish about bottle bombs)

this brings up another issue and 2 more questions:

3. at what point can you consider yourself "in the clear" from bottle bombs?
4. just how much over "normal" priming levels does it take to cause bottle bombs?.. 1 volume co2? half a volume?

ok, thats all.

 

[plaidpaint]

Most pressure vessels are built with pretty hefty safety margins, so I'd say it would probably be safe to about double the design pressure. Not really a good idea to test safety margins, but they are there for a reason. The problem with glass is that it doesn't really behave like most civilised materials, and fails catastrophically, without warning; similar to unreinforced concrete. The other problem with glass is that it tends to fail at a weak point, like a chip, deep scratch, or flaw in the moulding process, which would happen at a lower pressure than an undamaged bottle.

I think the general consensus is that a bottle is carbed up by 2-3 weeks at room temperature, so you'd be unlikely to get a bottle bomb after that, unless you get the bottles really warm, and a lot of CO2 comes out of solution.

I'm actually surprised that bottle bombs don't just result in the caps being blown off, as they should be the weak point in the system, like the safety valve on a propane cylinder.

As for the rest of your questions, I don't know

 

[ChshreCat]

Most likely just CO2 coming out of solution from the agitation of transferring into the bottle. Can't see how it would be any sign of future bottle bombs.

You know you're safe from bottle bombs when your beer is carbonated and you keep opening them to find normal carbonation. If you find them getting more and more carbed with each bottle you open, then that'd be a sign something is going on. If you open the first one and it shoots the bottlecap up into the ceiling, be nervous about the rest of 'em.