Fixing a bottle bomb

[mdatum]

I brewed a watermelon wheat for my brother's wedding, and I seem to have over carbed it. It was barely carbed at 3 weeks so I gave it an extra week and was moving one to the fridge to drink tomorrow when one of the bottles in the box blew up.

I imagine it was from me bumping/moving it around so they arent to the point of blowing up on their own. I opened one carefully and it shot out foam.

These were new bottles and I didn't do anything differently in my bottling process so don't know what it could be.

Is there a way to save the batch or will I have to tell my brother the bad news?

 

[SirJoshuaIV]

From my experience they're all going to be gushers and there is nothing you'll be able to do about it unfortunately. I had a batch of strawberry wheat do something similar. I may not have got the strawberries hot enough before adding to secondary and they fermented away very slowly for weeks... until BOOM! I threw them into a cooler with ice, and got them extremely cold and they didn't gush as badly because they can dissolve more co2 when they are colder, but as you pour you'll have lots and lots of foam. It's a time consuming method to save the beer, but I would hate to dump a batch!

If you don't plan to dump them, make sure to get them cold quickly to stop the ferment, and/or put them in a Tupperware container so they don't explode all over and cause injury and a big mess.

 

[mdatum]

I got them in the fridge/freezer but then more started exploding so I put on protection and opened them all. Oh well. I guess I'll just put them all in the fridge and drink them tonight before they go flat.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

.......................I guess I'll just put them all in the fridge and drink them tonight before they go flat.

As tough as it may sound, I volunteer my services to aid you in this endeavor. I am en route as we speak with a couple Papa Murphey's pizzas, "FASTER & FASTEST" on DVD, and a sleeping bag. I'll be there shortly.

 

[SirJoshuaIV]

I got them in the fridge/freezer but then more started exploding so I put on protection and opened them all. Oh well. I guess I'll just put them all in the fridge and drink them tonight before they go flat.

Good luck! Out of curiosity, did you hit your target final gravity?

 

[Eisendrath]

An option for gushers & bombs I've sucessfully used thinking it was just not finished before bottling : Dump back in carboy. Let it finish/go flat. Let it sit for a couple/few weeks after the airlock stops bubbling. Then prime normally and rebottle. Just make sure you resterilize everything. Good luck.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

Now that I think about it, this might actually work if you pour carefully/purge the bucket with C02 before hand and sterilize everything.

 

[mdatum]

Good luck! Out of curiosity, did you hit your target final gravity?

I did. Was a bit under my final gravity actually. Only about half the bottles were gushers so it makes me wonder why some were exploding. Maybe there was more watermelon juice in some and it restarted fermentation based off the sugar in the juice.

Next time I do a fruit I'll make a longer secondary. I only had it in for a week, but the gravity was stable for two days before I bottles.

Oh well, only 4 left out of the 24 craft bottles. Was one hell of a day.

 

[Eisendrath]

I always try to error on the side of too long a secondary.
I've never gone only one week