Question about bottle bombs

[Decimotox]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for reading and for any help in advance. I've been brewing for a few months now and have made 6-7 batches and never had a bottle bomb. I'm pretty thorough about sanitation. New to having a bottle bomb.

Yesterday, I cracked open a test bottle of a batch of pumpkin spice ale I'd brewed. I had it in primary for 4 weeks and then bottled. It had been bottle conditioning for a week as of yesterday. Just wanted to test one. Instantly got a bomb. Not happy, was very sad and thinking I had an infection and had to throw out the whole batch (45 bottles).

Now here's the weird part: I decided to crack open a couple others (leaving them at room temp, not putting them in the fridge first). I cracked, I think, 7 others. Three of them opened normally, no bomb. The other four were bombs.

The only thing I noticed is that the ones that were bombs seemed to have a lot of sediment at the bottom...is that the reason?

Wondering if I have an infection or likely just over-carbonation (but even after only one week..?)

Thanks!

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

A bottle bomb is when the bottle explodes unexpectedly not so much when it spews upon opening. This could be just over carbonation whats your process?

*Side note for your safety if you think they are going to explode put them in a box or something to prevent you from getting hurt. Also you can put them in the fridge as well to slow/stop the carbonation process.

 

[Decimotox]

A bottle bomb is when the bottle explodes unexpectedly not so much when it spews upon opening. This could be just over carbonation whats your process?

*Side note for your safety if you think they are going to explode put them in a box or something to prevent you from getting hurt. Also you can put them in the fridge as well to slow/stop the carbonation process.

Ah, okay. I was confused about terminology. My bad.

My process for bottling is to get everything ready equipment-wise, then sanitize the bottles using Starsan. I then use the included corn sugar (boiled with water for 7-10 mins, usually only 7 mins) as the priming sugar. I boil it, let it cool, and then pour it into the sanitized bottling bucket. Then I rack to the bottling bucket so it mixes evenly. I watch for fruit flies (and didn't see any in the bottling bucket). The beer in the fermentor looked great, just as great as it would normally look for any other ale batch. After that, I just start bottling. Sanitized caps, everything. I don't use a bottle filler, though. I just bottle straight from the spigot (which, of course, is sanitized).

 

[meridianomrebel]

So, you used 5oz corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch? That should have been okay. Did you check the FG of the batch prior to bottling to make sure it had completed fermentation and didn't get "stuck"?

 

[Decimotox]

So, you used 5oz corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch? That should have been okay. Did you check the FG of the batch prior to bottling to make sure it had completed fermentation and didn't get "stuck"?

Yep - 5 oz.

I did - FG was 1.012, just where I wanted it to be. I guess I'm just down to two options: over-carbonation of some bottles or infections in select bottles.

I was going to be giving some to some co-workers, but I suppose that's not a great idea lol.

 

[ncbrewer]

I did - FG was 1.012, just where I wanted it to be. I guess I'm just down to two options: over-carbonation of some bottles or infections in select bottles.

After four weeks in the fermenter it was most likely finished, but to use gravity as an indicator you need to check it twice, 2 - 3 days apart. If gravity is stable, it's finished.

It's possible you just didn't get enough mixing when you racked onto the priming solution, but if it entered on the bottom on a tangent and swirled around, it really should be mixed.

Check on you bottle cleaning method. Maybe some weren't completely clean - I think that's the most likely reason.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

After four weeks in the fermenter it was most likely finished, but to use gravity as an indicator you need to check it twice, 2 - 3 days apart. If gravity is stable, it's finished.

It's possible you just didn't get enough mixing when you racked onto the priming solution, but if it entered on the bottom on a tangent and swirled around, it really should be mixed.

Check on you bottle cleaning method. Maybe some weren't completely clean - I think that's the most likely reason.

I second this, since some are fine and others are not it was either not mixed well..which seems unlikely because you racked the beer on top of the sugar, or some of the bottles may not have been sanitized well. Can't think of another reason why some would spew and some wouldn't.

 

[Sailingeric]

Was the beer cooled or room temp. Have them nice and cold should help with the gushers. Warmer the beer, the more the CO2 wants to come out of suspension.

 

[curtisbrewer]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1477354360.849118.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1477354384.054434.jpg


That's a bottle bomb for future reference =) scary stuff !

 

[Chrispy92]

I'd be pretty confident it's a dirty bottle. In one of my recent batches I opened one of my first beers and it gushed like crazy, had similar thoughts to you however the following bottles opened had no problem, in fact the whole batch by the end was fine. After inspecting the bottle, holding it up to the light I could see a little patch of stuck grime on the inside of the glass which clearly was there when I bottled and caused a small infection. Now I check every bottle by holding them up to a light after cleaning and sanitising them to ensure no sticky funk and haven't had a problem since ��

 

[JimRausch]

Sounds like most of the possibilities have been covered- a speck of dirt, poor mixing, not properly chilled, maybe a smaller volume bottled than expected. BUT one other thing to consider: 5 oz. of dextrose is usually a bit too high for most styles in a 5G batch. It's a convenient amount for the brewshops to ship, but ALWAYS check an online priming calculator. You'll find that somewhere around 4 oz. is usually more appropriate.

 

[kh54s10]

I saw a thread here once that had video of opening bottles at different times during conditioning. Too early and the carbonation was not fully in solution so they foamed. Later they didn't foam as much. I think you may have infection in some bottles, you might have uneven priming, you just might be trying them too soon. I find some are carbonated in a week, some take 2 weeks, some much longer. ALL of them tasted better with 3 weeks bottle conditioning.

I did one that was apparently over carbonated. It gushed out of the bottles. I poured really slowly to let the foam subside, after a while the head receded enough to drink and the beer was really good.

Don't dump them, wait longer for conditioning to finish. Keep them in a plastic storage bin, in case they are bottle bombs. They may end up being a pain to pour, but they may be very good.

 

[PADave]

Could be an infection. You're right at that number of brews where people start to have problems due to build up of stuff where you don't see it on your equipment. I had one batch like that. Started getting gushers a few months after being in the bottle. That was the only batch I've ever had a problem with, and haven't had one since. I still don't know why it happened.

BUT one other thing to consider: 5 oz. of dextrose is usually a bit too high for most styles in a 5G batch. It's a convenient amount for the brewshops to ship, but ALWAYS check an online priming calculator. You'll find that somewhere around 4 oz. is usually more appropriate.

X2 on this.

 

[Decimotox]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll keep the bottles and try them again later on.

Sunday will be 2 weeks of conditioning. I let one sit in the fridge for about 30 hours and popped it open last night. No gushing and it tasted just like it should so it can't be the whole batch. Perhaps it was simply trying to pop them open at room temperature instead of letting them chill. I'm really thorough about washing and sanitizing bottles, but it's definitely possible I missed something. I appreciate the help, everyone!