Do I have a case of grenades on my hands??

[DubbinFive1Eight]

I'm the paranoid type, but only when it comes to cars, and home brewing... So here's why I'm wondering if my bottles are gonna blow.

1. The brew is a Blond Ale. I used white labs yeast, liquid. Healthy fermentation after 24 hours.

2. Primary fermentation for over 3 weeks at 66-70*F (recomended 2)

3. Bubbling stopped after 2.5 weeks, but still had a thick krausen

4. SG readings for three sraight days was 1.010 (within specified range of the recipe)

So I bottled yesterday... But was still very nervous. So today, I barely cracked the cap on one, and a hiss came out (not overly huge).

I've just never had beer carbonate in 24 hours... I've had barely carbonated brew after a week!

So... Do I need to relax? Or is there reason to worry?

Thanks

 

[Revvy]

I see nothing to worry about. You used your hydrometer, it stayed the same for 3 days. That's proof in the pudding to me. Beer will often hiss even hours after you add the sugar to bottle it, co2 is produced pretty quick and can easily fill the headspace, but that doesn't mean the beer is carbed.

As I explain in My Bottling Tips Thread, in the carbonation process the yeast eat the sugar solution you feed them. They "fart" co2. The CO2 fills the headspace in the bottle FIRST (the one to one and a half inch dead space between the beer and the cap) CO2 keeps being generated,and it maxes out the headspace. So it has a couple choices...blow the top of the bottle (the cap) Blow up the bottle, or seek the path of least resistance and dive back into the beer, and get absorbed (carbonated) by the liquid. Since the cap is pretty tight (and ingenious in it's design) and most bottles don't have any flaws and can maintain the pressure, the gas more often than not, takes the third option and goes back into the liquid and is absorbed by it.

So it's perfectly normal for some hiss in a few hours if you decide to waste one and open that early (so don't be so nosey next time.

Just relax!

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

Well I feel a bit better now haha, thanks! And thanks for the link, I'll definitly be absorbing that information in the next few minutes!

 

[bmud0314]

Since you are in NY and are nervous, drive them up to me. I will inspect them closely for you.

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

Haha, no thanks, this stuff smelled worthy of drinking at week 3, I'll consume it carbonated or not