Overcharged Bottles

[fatmike1968]

I'm sorry if this question has been brought up before.

My co-brewer and I have recently, and historically, made beer that literally explodes when the bottle is popped. We have been racking our brains trying to figure out the issue. We have thought that perhaps it has something to do with the amount of dried malt extract/corn sugar that is added at bottling, since the beer is not very carbonated in the secondary fermenter.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[deharris]

What do you mean your beer literally explodes? Since you're able to open the bottle it sounds like your bottles are not exploding from the pressure, i.e. "bottle bombs." Do you mean the beer gushes out? Or is it exploding in a flaming fireball? When you add your priming sugar or malt, how much are you adding? 3/4 c per 5 gallon batch is standard. How hot is your beer stored and served? If you answer these questions we can help you better.

 

[Evan!]

I'm sorry if this question has been brought up before.

My co-brewer and I have recently, and historically, made beer that literally explodes when the bottle is popped. We have been racking our brains trying to figure out the issue. We have thought that perhaps it has something to do with the amount of dried malt extract/corn sugar that is added at bottling, since the beer is not very carbonated in the secondary fermenter.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

First off, welcome to HBT...you'll find that we can answer almost any question, and most are friendly, even too noobs...

Secondly, it's not supposed to be carbonated in the secondary. The reason beer carbonates in the bottle is because you induce another fermentation by adding the priming sugar at bottling time. Fermentation produces CO2 as a byproduct, and when this happens in a sealed bottle, the CO2 has nowhere to go but back into the beer as carbonation. Since your secondary fermenter isn't sealed, any CO2 that comes off of it is expelled out the airlock, so it won't be carbonated.

Thirdly, in order to produce the right amount of carbonation in bottles, you need to be very precise with how much sugar you add, and thus, how much CO2 is produced. For a 5 gallon batch, 3/4 cup of dextrose (corn sugar) is standard. I don't like using malt extract, because it's not quite as fermentable as dextrose, and you might end up with less carbonation than you want depending on who the extract was produced by. But if you really want to use extract, it's 1.25 cups per 5 gallons.

 

[Scimmia]

But if you really want to use extract, it's 1.25 cups per 5 gallons.

Don't different brands have different amounts of fermentability? If so, using DME could be a guessing game.

 

[Evan!]

Don't different brands have different amounts of fermentability? If so, using DME could be a guessing game.

that's sort of my point. one time I used laaglander DME to prime a couple batches of wheat beer, and neither of them carbonated worth a damn...I had to go back and uncap, add carbtabs, and recap. Since then, I've vowed to only use dextrose.

 

[Donasay]

Are you sure the beer is finished fermenting before you put it in the bottles. Did you take a gravity reading before bottling, what was your OG and FG?

 

[Scimmia]

that's sort of my point. one time I used laaglander DME to prime a couple batches of wheat beer, and neither of them carbonated worth a damn...I had to go back and uncap, add carbtabs, and recap. Since then, I've vowed to only use dextrose.

Ah, yeah, sorry, I missed the "who the extract was produced by" part of your post. Chalk it up to a newbie still trying to figure everything out.

 

[fatmike1968]

Okay so I'll try and address many of your questions in one post:

Are you sure the beer is finished fermenting before you put it in the bottles. Did you take a gravity reading before bottling, what was your OG and FG?​

We've been brewing under the assumption that when the balling reading stays constant for a number of readings that the fermentation is complete.

Secondly, it's not supposed to be carbonated in the secondary. The reason beer carbonates in the bottle is because you induce another fermentation by adding the priming sugar at bottling time. Fermentation produces CO2 as a byproduct, and when this happens in a sealed bottle, the CO2 has nowhere to go but back into the beer as carbonation. Since your secondary fermenter isn't sealed, any CO2 that comes off of it is expelled out the airlock, so it won't be carbonated.
​

We are aware of this, and we were just trying to rack our brains to figure out if something is going wrong in our brewing/fermenting process

What do you mean your beer literally explodes? Since you're able to open the bottle it sounds like your bottles are not exploding from the pressure, i.e. "bottle bombs." Do you mean the beer gushes out? Or is it exploding in a flaming fireball? When you add your priming sugar or malt, how much are you adding? 3/4 c per 5 gallon batch is standard. How hot is your beer stored and served? If you answer these questions we can help you better.​

Sorry, I should have been more specific. We have had some beers explode and break the bottles. But the majority of them expel foam like a fountain.

As for the priming sugar, since we use the malt extract we put in 1.25 cups per 5 gallon batch(which generally is much less than 5 gallons by the time we bottle it).

As for the heat of storage, it's kept at ground level, in a house that's kept at or below 68 degrees

Thanks for any and all advice!!

 

[gresc]

Not much of a bottler but are you sure these bad boys are done fermenting? IMHO you'll need to take the OG/FG readings. Most kits and recipes will give it to you also make sure you adjust for temp though that doesn't sound like an issue.

Or ....you can buy a keg !!!

 

[Dycokac]

no one is shaking them on you before you open them are they?

 

[fatmike1968]

Hahahaha no. I'm getting them straight from the fridge.

 

[madavis25]

If you add 1.25c DME/ "much less than 5 gallons," then that could be your culprit-if you only have 3-4 gallons to bottle, but are adding DME as if you have 5 gallons, you would have too much priming sugar.