Quick Question Concerning Bottle Bombs

[saintdog327]

Hello friends,

Just bottled 5 gallons of some strong 8% Imperial Pale Ale. What point in time after bottling do you know you wont get bottle bombs?

 

[spenghali]

you won't know after bottling, rather before bottling. You need to make sure your beer has finished fermenting by taking two gravity readings 2-3 days apart.

 

[nukinfuts29]

Did you bottle any in a 20oz soda bottle? I always do because i can monitor the pressure in the plastic, and if the plastic bursts I know it's time to get my glass bottles cold.

 

[spenghali]

If you have a hydrometer it is much better/safer to do what I said above. If your gravity is no longer dropping, then you are ready to bottle, and won't have exploding bottles (unless you put way too much priming sugar in).

 

[nukinfuts29]

Obviously, but he is past that point.

 

[spenghali]

Oh i see. I was reading it as "bought 5 gallons..." instead of bottled. Well there's not much you can do now to know for sure...

 

[nukinfuts29]

If he bought it, how would he have taken a hydro reading before bottling it? And why would he be worried about bottle bombs on a production beer he purchased? And if you thought he bought it, I'm really confused by this:

you won't know after bottling, rather before bottling. You need to make sure your beer has finished fermenting by taking two gravity readings 2-3 days apart.

 

[saintdog327]

Thank you for the quick responses guys. To clarify, I just bottled 5 gallons of homebrew yesterday. I did not use a plastic bottle as I was not aware of such a technique as it was my first homebrew ever. I did wait three weeks until the gravity was stable and used less than recommended priming sugar because i was afraid of glass shrapnel

Just incase, I stored them under a blanket (to protect from light / flying glass) and wrapped in a large garbage bag (so that a leak doesn't ruin my wooden floors). I guess it's impossible to know for sure. Nukinfuts, should i open one and bottle it in a plastic coke bottle or something?

Thank you guys,
Saintdog

 

[kh54s10]

Why do you have concerns about bottle bombs?

What was the gravity when stable?

Why so concerned to use less priming sugar?

I think that if you transferred one to a plastic bottle now you would lose any carbonation already there and it would not really tell you anything about the original bottling.

Depending on how much you cut your priming sugar you may have gone so timid as to prevent the beer from carbonating properly.

 

[saintdog327]

KH, I dont think so as I really only cut it about .5 oz from the 5oz it suggested

The FG was 1.018

I think I'll be fine...

 

[nukinfuts29]

I think that if you transferred one to a plastic bottle now you would lose any carbonation already there and it would not really tell you anything about the original bottling.

Correct ^^

It's normal to worry on your first brew, but really you shouldn't unless they start exploding. We have a saying around here, RDWHAHB. It means relax, don't worry, have a home brew. Since you doin't have a home brew to drink, have a commercial one

 

[saintdog327]

I agree. Once they explode, THEN i'll let you guys know!

Thank you everyone for your time!

Best of luck,
Saintdog