Infected batch - cap comes off with explosive force

[29thfloor]

I've been holding out hope that my first all grain batch from earlier this year wasn't infected but I'm pretty sure it is. After around 3-4 weeks in the bottle I was getting gushers. I thought maybe they just needed more time, but it's been several months now and they're just getting worse.

Typically I was chilling them down for 24-48 hours before opening (and still getting crazy gushing) but last night I decided to open one that's been sitting at room temp the whole time and the cap literally shot off like a champagne cork. It made a realy loud popping sound and at first I thought the bottle exploded as I was opening it. I tried another one at room temp and got the same thing.

I threw a bunch in the fridge that I might try opening later tonight. At this point I'm planning on dumping the rest but I really don't want to open 40+ more bottles with all the caps coming off like that. Will some time in the fridge bring the pressure back down a bit or is it too late for that?

Has anyone else had this happen? I think one of them actually did explode at some point because there's glass shrapnel on the shelf with the rest of the bottles, but I'm surprised more haven't gone off with that much pressure building up.

 

[Rivenin]

not likely infections, but too much priming sugar or it wasn't done fermenting is usually the cause of explosive bottles, deff put as many as you can in the fridge.

 

[29thfloor]

I used 3.7 oz of corn sugar. In my experience that's nowhere near "too much" but I guess it's possible it wasn't done fermenting. The FG was stable for several days at least, probably more like a week, but maybe it was stuck?

 

[29thfloor]

Also, are infections really that rare? Pretty much everyone that says they think they might have an infection gets a bunch of responses saying "probably not an infection". I get that they're probably less likely than most newbies think, but this would be my first out of 20 or so batches. I've overcarbed a couple other batches but this seems different to me.

 

[jtejedor]

Does it taste weird?

 

[TyTanium]

Have a pair of safety glasses? May not be a bad idea.

 

[JuanMoore]

Will some time in the fridge bring the pressure back down a bit or is it too late for that?

No, putting them in the fridge will stop or slow down the process, but there's nothing you can do to reverse it.

 

[amandabab]

get the saftey glasses, get the heavy gloves, get the coat with a hood, get them open today.

infection, over prime/carb, doesn't really matter at this point.

 

[jasonkeithscott]

If you're not going to drink them, take the whole lot out to a quarry with your buddies and some guns. Problem solved.

 

[zacster]

I have a batch right now that's over carbed, but not that bad. I use a kitchen towel over the top when I open them. They are OK once they settle a bit. I also have some in Grolsh bottles that really pop when I open them.

And I have the opposite problem with my lager batch. Not getting carbed after 2.5 weeks. I'm beginning to worry a bit. I made sure that I stirred the yeast a bit so that some would be back in suspension after cold lagering for a month.

 

[29thfloor]

get the saftey glasses, get the heavy gloves, get the coat with a hood, get them open today.

infection, over prime/carb, doesn't really matter at this point.

Yeah my kitchen is pretty much a scene from The Hurt Locker right now.