How much carbonation is too much for a reg. bottle?

[breez7]

I want to brew a strong belgian ale and bottle it instead of keg. What is the highest level of carb. a reg bottle can handle. I would like to have it around 4 volumes but dont want bottle bombs.

Any experience with this???

 

[Darpa17]

Thread might help you


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/standard-beer-bottles-hold-how-much-pressure-121900/

 

[Golddiggie]

From what I've seen, Belgian Strong Ale's are at, or below, 3.0 CO2 volumes... Why are you looking to go all the way up to 4.0 CO2 volumes? Belgian Lambic brews go up to about 4.5 CO2 volumes, but that's not what you're said you're looking to brew.

If you remain within the style range for the Belgian Strong Ale's, pretty much any bottle will do. If you want to do a Lambic, I would suggest going with actual Belgian bottles, corks and cages (you'll need a corker to do that)...

I went with the Belgian bottles for my BarleyWine that I bottled up last weekend. Using a floor corker (not a champagne style) it went pretty well. You just need to be careful, and set the plunger depth so that you leave enough of the cork outside the bottle (but not too much) for the cage to go onto. I do need to get the wire tool for the cages before I use those types of bottles again. I'm actually looking to use them for an old ale I have aging on some oak... I think it adds a touch of class to the presentation of the brew... :rockin:

 

[breez7]

I just read the article in BYO magazine from Jamil Z. and he recommends carbing to 4 volumes. I guess I could go a little less..... I am in the process of saving my thick belgian bottles but I dont have enough for a 5 or even a 2 gal. batch at this point.

 

[breez7]

Just looked at beersmiths style guidelines and it recommends 2.3-2.9 volumes so I guess I have nothing to worry about if I stick with that, even on the higher end.

 

[Legin]

As mentioned in the thread, it really depends on the bottle. I've carbonated at 4 volumes before and only two bottles, from the exact same brewery, exploded. The Belgian-style bottles are thicker and can hold volumes higher than 4. Really, 3.5 is plenty high for anything. Just make sure you are absolutely positive you have reached your F.G. before bottling.

 

[Golddiggie]

The LHBS I visit (and a lot of the online stores) sell a case of Belgian bottles for ~$20... That's 9L worth of bottles. You only need two cases for an entire 5 gallon batch (5 gallons of brew being bottled). I ended up using 22 for the BarleyWine I bottled with them, so I have two left over... I plan on getting either 2 or 4 cases when I go to the LHBS next (probably towards the end of next week)... If I can get a better rate on getting 5 cases, I'll go for 5. I'll just need to order up some more corks and cages to match (pretty cheap when you get them from the right vendor).

I still love using the Grolsch style bottles. Even though they are more money per case. I actually labeled up two brews in Grolsch bottles tonight. They almost look like they were store bought, except for the fact that the labels don't have that much info on them... I'll probably start working on designing my own labels soon...

The fun just NEVER STOPS!!! :rockin:

 

[Legin]

I don't trust Beersmith's guides. They tend to be lower than the traditional recommendation. They have Berliner Weisse at 2.9 max when 3.5 or even 4 sounds more appropriate. Same goes with their Bavarian Weisse suggestions.

 

[breez7]

Ya I've noticed that also. I think for this one I might shoot for 3 volumes untill and make the plunge and pick up a floor corker and some thicker bottles I can cork like Gold. is doing.

not to mention how sweet it looks to have your own beer corked!!!:rockin:

 

[Golddiggie]

I find that Beer Smith's guides are often in alignment (or at least the range is) with the bottle priming widget page...

I've yet to brew any actual Belgian style brews. I'm still going through the British Islands for brew style... I would need to try some Belgian brews before I decided to start brewing any of them...

There is a liquor store not far from where I live (a stone's throw from me in fact, could almost walk there) that seems to have a decent inventory of brews. I'll need to stop over there to get some different ones to try out. Need to see what they have on hand... Thinking about going there tomorrow now...