How many volumes of CO2 is safe for bottling?

[catdaddy66]

I have brewed beer for over 20 years, of which the first 15 were blissfully ignorant of much information regarding 'best' practices. Since I have been a member of HBT I have learned reems of great info that have me brewing really good beer.

Recently I read about volumes of CO2 as it relates to bottling. Obviously kegs can handle higher volumes with near impunity (they're metal for crying out loud) but bottles have a max limit of 2.5 volumes. Is that number correct?

I ask this because I brewed a saison and the priming calculator said I would need 3.2 volumes of CO2, which equated to 1.33 cups of DME for priming. This caused me to use no more than 1 cup (decreased by app 25%) so I wouldn't have bottle bombs. Am I correct in these assumptions? For the record I have had a total of two (!) bottle bombs in 20 years.

Thanks for all of your input!

 

[billl]

Like most other things.... it depends. Brand new beer bottles will safely handle 3.2 vol even if their manufactures won't explicitly make that claim. After you've used them a few times and tossed them from unknown heights into your recycling bin? Would all of them explode at 3.2? Obviously not. Would 1? Maybe.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about 3.2 vol.

 

[bucketnative]

I would move to measuring your priming sugars in terms of mass, rather than volume.

3.2 vol will give you a fizzy saison, which is how they should be. You should be fine. Others may worry about you, but I wouldn't. That's where I usually prime my saisons.

 

[catdaddy66]

Thanks for the reassurance. I would rather have undercarbed beer than bombs going off! Last month my brother had a bottle blow and shot up into the shelf above it like a missle. Not pretty...