Over carbonated after 2 days.

[ThwWorm]

This is related to bottle conditioning using the beersmith carbonation tool.

So I am having issues with bottle bombs/over carbonation since using Beersmith. I am convinced this is user error as I have had 100% success copying recipes from other brewers. But every time I use beersmith I have this problem.

My last 2 batches I followed the beersmith instructions to a T.

Beersmith says I should add 5.14 oz of DME for roughly 4.25 gallons of volume.

Checked, and double checked that gravity is stable.
Meticulously sanitized bottles and equipment.
Measured DME out (by weight) and boiled for about 5 minutes then cooled.
dropped DME solution in bottling bucket then added beer.
Bottled and capped. Placed in an ice chest in living room. Bottle explodes after just 2 days.
the result is 100% of my bottles are way over carbonated (see video)

The ONLY thing I can think of is that I do not have a fermentation chamber yet, and the temperature did reach the high 80's in my house for a day or so. but this has never been an issue on the last 10 batches of beer i have made.

As I type this, I am in the process of putting together a fermentation chamber with a dual stage temp controller. I just want to make sure i'm not missing anything else before I explode another batch of beer. I know that a stable temperature is key, but I cant help but feel that I am getting the wrong measurements on the priming sugar.

Looking forward to your feedback, Cheers!!

Heres the video. [ame]http://youtu.be/FXtusxdLRzY[/ame]

 

[ragertom]

I'm a noob but I thought bottles were supposed to condition at 70* for 2-3 weeks

 

[Tinhorn]

I have the opposite problem with using beer smith to calculate amount of corn sugar they end up undercarbed
What I did was use an online calculator which stated to use more than beer smith stated and problem solved

Google priming calculator and a lot of choices show
I use the northern brewery one as it recommendations by style also

 

[ThwWorm]

I'm a noob but I thought bottles were supposed to condition at 70* for 2-3 weeks

Ideally yes.

 

[ThwWorm]

I have the opposite problem with using beer smith to calculate amount of corn sugar they end up undercarbed
What I did was use an online calculator which stated to use more than beer smith stated and problem solved

Google priming calculator and a lot of choices show
I use the northern brewery one as it recommendations by style also

Thanks for the tip!! that calculator is much more user friendly and flexible that beersmith. However, it still gets me pretty close to the same measurements i used previously when all my bottle exploded. So maybe this is a temperature issue. Anything else i may be missing here?

 

[Tinhorn]

Your measurements seem ok are you positive it was done fermenting ? How long in primary and did you reach the expected finished gravity ?

 

[ThwWorm]

Your measurements seem ok are you positive it was done fermenting ? How long in primary and did you reach the expected finished gravity ?

I did a week in primary then moved to secondary for 2 weeks. Gravity was stable for the final week. According to beersmith the estimated FG was 1.014 and i measured 1.010 before bottling.

 

[Dave37]

Perhaps you could try using a different sugar when bottling. I use dextrose when i bottle and have never had a problem.

I believe the default bottling sugar in the program is set for dextrose or corn sugar. So it could be they are telling you 5 oz of dextrose instead if DME. If you use DMe to bottle you might need less for your desired Carbonation than when using dextrose.

Also if i read this correctly. 4.5 volumes of carb is too much for any normal Bottle to withstand. You would need champagne style bottles if you wanted to carb that high. Im not aware of any style that calls for a carbonation tht high.

 

[Tinhorn]

Wow I will have to defer to someone more experienced with bottle bombs
That video is pretty scary for 2 days and good move putting in cooler

Found this that might be helpful

http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/08/27/5-home-brewing-tips-to-avoid-the-dreaded-bottle-bomb/

 

[Dave37]

Perhaps you could try using a different sugar when bottling. I use dextrose when i bottle and have never had a problem.

I believe the default bottling sugar in the program is set for dextrose or corn sugar. So it could be they are telling you 5 oz of dextrose instead if DME. If you use DMe to bottle you might need less for your desired Carbonation than when using dextrose.

Also if i read this correctly. 4.5 volumes of carb is too much for any normal Bottle to withstand. You would need champagne style bottles if you wanted to carb that high. Im not aware of any style that calls for a carbonation tht high.

Edit i misread that part of your post. I thought you were talking about 4.25 volumes of carbonation. Sorry.

 

[Yooper]

I hate those priming calculators!

It seems like overcarbing or undercarbing is a problem, plus carbing "to style" is sort of weird when you're bottling. Most people who buy bottled beer are used to a standard carb level, and not flat (like the stout recommendation) or overcarbed bottle bombs (like the gueze recommendations).

Anyway, I don't know how much DME that is, but it certainly doesn't sound like too much. Is your scale 100% accurate? If you weighed out the 4.25 ounces of DME, that sure wouldn't seem to be much at all to me.

I normally use 4 ounces of priming sugar (corn sugar most often) for a finished batch (about 4.5 gallons). That carb level is perfect.

In this case, there are only to causes I can think of for bottle bombs. One, fermentation wasn't finished; and two, a gusher infection.

Did you have stable FG readings for a while, and was the beer starting to clear? A gusher infections isn't out of the realm of possibility, but it generally would take longer than two days!

 

[Herky21]

I did a week in primary then moved to secondary for 2 weeks. Gravity was stable for the final week. According to beersmith the estimated FG was 1.014 and i measured 1.010 before bottling.

What temp did you take the reading at? 80f? When was the lat time you calibrated your hydrometer? Did you adjust for the reading? What temp was the wort when you bottled? Did you put that into the calculator?

 

[ThwWorm]

What temp did you take the reading at? 80f? When was the lat time you calibrated your hydrometer? Did you adjust for the reading? What temp was the wort when you bottled? Did you put that into the calculator?

i actually did not take temp when i bottled. i just know that it got really freaking hot in the house the next day while i was at work right after bottling. if i had to guess what room temp was when i bottled i would say around 75, and that is what i accounted for in beersmith.

 

[Tinhorn]

What are you using to sanitize ?

 

[ThwWorm]

What are you using to sanitize ?

Iodine

 

[Tinhorn]

You mean idophor ? It's so strange that two days in they are gushing
It sounds like so something is infected somewhere post fermentation so I would oxy clean or replace all of that equipment if it was me

It's strange because until recently i used idophor and never had a Bottle bomb or over carbed gusher like that and that's probably 50 or more batches

One thing I would say is don't give up !

 

[ThwWorm]

You mean idophor ? It's so strange that two days in they are gushing
It sounds like so something is infected somewhere post fermentation so I would oxy clean or replace all of that equipment if it was me

It's strange because until recently i used idophor and never had a Bottle bomb or over carbed gusher like that and that's probably 50 or more batches

One thing I would say is don't give up !

That's gotta be it huh? if temp or adding a little too much sugar wont produce that result it has to be something bad in the wort. i'll work on getting all new bottles rather than trying to reuse old ones. Any thoughts on plastic buckets vs glass carboys?? will plastic buckets run a higher risk of holding on to stubborn bacteria?

 

[Coupleathree]

Any thoughts on plastic buckets vs glass carboys?? will plastic buckets run a higher risk of holding on to stubborn bacteria?

Here we go!

 

[Tinhorn]

Well regardless of glass or plastic seems it's something to do with sanitation meaning infection of some some sort
You hit your FG and gave it plenty of time to get there

I am no expert but I would clean the hell out of I whatever you use

I find oxy clean followed by through rinsing followed by idophor or star San or something of the like

The bottles don't need to be trashed as try for sure can be cleaned and sanitized

For the record I use buckets because it's easier and safer for my purposes

 

[ThwWorm]

here we go!

lol

 

[progmac]

afaik, bottle-bomb gusher type infections take a lot longer than two days.