Ugh. Bottle Bombs. Sierra Nevada Bottles Anyone?

[kinkothecarp]

I made an ultra-hoppy (and quite dry and light 4.7%ABV) pale ale about a month ago, let it sit in primary for 3 weeks, and then secondary for a week and a half while dry hopping. It's gravity was constant. I bottled it. A week later I didn't open one, but picked it up and the kneck cracked and it started gushing out. Meh. Whatever. I opened it and drank it even though it wasn't carbed much (why waste?). Yesterday, however, was 102' where I live and at about 3am I heard the most insane crashing sound. I didn't know what it was (I've had a lot of problems with people trying to break in lately) so, half-naked, I grabbed my machette and went to the door. Lord behold, it was another bottle of Pale Ale. Glass was EVERYWHERE. pieces flew across the room. Geh. I read on another forum about bottle bombs that the person only had bottle bombs with SN bottles. Anyone else have this problem with SN bottles? Anyhow, scary stuff man. I coulda died.

 

[BendBrewer]

I used SN bottles on about 15 batches before getting my keg system and never had a problem with them.

Just speaking from my experience with them.

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

2 things....overcarbed beer and 102 degrees....sh!ts gonna blow, don't care what bottles you are using! I'd say move them to the fidge or start disposing so no one gets hurt.

 

[509inc]

That is scary. I have never had a bottle explode, but I have opened a bottle and the beer shot out of the bottle all the way to the ceiling. I never thought I would be mopping my ceiling when I started brewing.

 

[EdWort]

That's interesting considering SN bottle conditions all their beers. Must be too hot in the house.

 

[EdWort]

so, half-naked, I grabbed my machette and went to the door. Lord behold, it was another bottle of Pale Ale.

Sounds like the beginning of a new beer book.

 

[mullenite]

I love my Sierra Nevada bottles. I need to get another 12-pack soon to get more of them.

 

[the_mox]

I've never had a bottle bomb with a SN bottle, never had a problem with them.

 

[carnevoodoo]

SN bottles are my favorite bottles to use. And yes, they bottle condition their beers, so they can obviously take it.

 

[wvlheel]

I also use SN bottles almost exclusively because I like the way the box stores compactly in my closet. I've never had an issue, but have only bottled about 10 batches in my career.

 

[Noontime]

Sounds like the beginning of a new beer book.

I was picturing a giant bottle of pale ale at the door...like the old SNL Land Shark skit.

 

[SoonerDoc]

I was picturing a giant bottle of pale ale at the door...like the old SNL Land Shark skit.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[jmf143]

I store my beer in the pantry with a large towel over the bottles just in case a "bomb" goes off while they're carbing.

 

[r_flagg]

No problems with any bottles so far. My favorites are Widmer Bros, Flat Tyre, and Sierra Nevada. Don't like Anchor because they are too squat and the capper sleeve goes underneath the cap, gets stuck and breaks those little tabs on the side of the wing-capper. Of course, I live in Ventura where it's 70F year round, so I'm not too worried about temp affecting them.

 

[babalu87]

That's interesting considering SN bottle conditions all their beers. Must be too hot in the house.

All except the Bigfoot

 

[kinkothecarp]

All except the Bigfoot

Which are actually the bottles that I'm using...ack...but I'm betting they're all the same.

Oh well, I was just wondering if anyone else had problems like me and the other guy on the forums.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

+1 on using a lot of SN bottles and never having a problem.

 

[KayaBrew]

I used SN bottles on about 15 batches before getting my keg system and never had a problem with them.

Just speaking from my experience with them.

I bottle 95% of my beer in SN bottles. 3 years in, no problems.

 

[rcreveli]

Maybe I'm Paranoid but all of my bottles are in Cardboard boxes and Each box is in a hefty bag while carbing up. I don't expect it to stop exploding glass just, contain the mess.

 

[pksmitty]

How much priming sugar did you use? What size was your batch? How certain are you that the bottles were absolutely clean? I had two bottles out of a batch blow once. (Sam Adams bottles) I figure I must have left a little bit of crud in them and the infection overcarbed those two bottles.

 

[bovineblitz]

How hard are you capping them? I had necks on random bottles break because I capped them too hard... you don't want to leave much of an indent on the cap at all, that means you may have compromised the integrity of the glass at the neck.

 

[r_flagg]

How hard are you capping them? I had necks on random bottles break because I capped them too hard... you don't want to leave much of an indent on the cap at all, that means you may have compromised the integrity of the glass at the neck.

Yeah, this happened to me with a Hoegaarden bottle. I like the bottles, but that extra flare in the neck just cracked when I pushed the capper down a bit too hard.

 

[bovineblitz]

Yeah, this happened to me with a Hoegaarden bottle. I like the bottles, but that extra flare in the neck just cracked when I pushed the capper down a bit too hard.

Mine didn't crack until I went to open them. It was quite disappointing to carb, condition, and chill a beer for 5 weeks then go to open it it and have the bottle snap.

 

[r_flagg]

Mine didn't crack until I went to open them. It was quite disappointing to carb, condition, and chill a beer for 5 weeks then go to open it it and have the bottle snap.

Arrgh, damn microfractures! Aren't you only supposed to be able to reuse bottles a dozen or so times?

 

[Justibone]

Maybe I'm Paranoid but all of my bottles are in Cardboard boxes and Each box is in a hefty bag while carbing up. I don't expect it to stop exploding glass just, contain the mess.

You'd be surprised how little it takes to stop something as light as a glass fragment, even if it is at high velocity.

 

[brian_g]

I've used SN bottle before without a problem. I say look at your bottling procedure.

1) Did you use the correct amount of priming sugar?

2) Did you make sure fermentation was complete before transferring to secondary?

3) Did you make sure the priming sugar was well mixed through the whole batch?

 

[kinkothecarp]

Yeah, I'm sure my procedures are okay. I used 2/3 cup, the fermantation was certainly over, I think it might have just been cracked. I've got over 600 bottles, so I store them outside. I bet a little water got in the SN bottle last winter, froze, and maybe created a small microcrack. Or just the weather weakened the bottles.

 

[TheWeeb]

off topic, but the SN labels are among the easiest to remove . .

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

off topic, but the SN labels are among the easiest to remove . .

Are you kidding? Because they're the ones that give me the most trouble, even after soaking in oxyclean for 24-48 hours. If I didn't love the bottles so much, I probably wouldn't even bother with them. Founder's (who uses the same bottles) labels are much, much easier to remove in my opinion. They usually fall right off after an oxyclean soak.

 

[mullenite]

Are you kidding? Because they're the ones that give me the most trouble, even after soaking in oxyclean for 24-48 hours. If I didn't love the bottles so much, I probably wouldn't even bother with them. Founder's (who uses the same bottles) labels are much, much easier to remove in my opinion. They usually fall right off after an oxyclean soak.

5 minutes in warm oxy solution and my SN labels come right off. Founders labels take all of about 30 seconds to fall off (a good solid stare usually works) but they are harder to cap with a hand capper.

 

[r_flagg]

Yes, the trick with SN bottles is not to soak them for too long. I don't know why, but their glue turns to rock if they soak overnight. I figured the opposite would be true, but I actually threw away the last twelver's worth of bottles after trying to clean just one for 10 minutes and still not even getting halfway done. 12 bottles x 20 minutes each = not worth it. Easiest in my opinion are Anchor, but I hate their bottles. Fat Tire's pretty easy to remove, and so are Widmer.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Wow, I have no idea why I always have trouble with the SN labels. I have no trouble with other breweries at all, they all slide right off after a warm, overnight soak. I ALWAYS have to scrub the SN bottles afterward to get the excess glue off.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Yes, the trick with SN bottles is not to soak them for too long.

Ah, I see. I have always soaked them overnight, which must be the problem. Learn something new from the forum everyday!

 

[TheWeeb]

The key is heat, use water as hot as possible (fill the bottle with hot water as well); 5 min, seems to "melt" the glue. I am using a dilute solution of CLR; have not tried Oxy yet.

 

[Idlehanz]

I love using SN bottles for most of the reasons stated. I can let them soak for anywhere from a few hours to a week and I've never had a problem cleaning them. The labels almost fall off, the glue comes off easy, and I like that they have no identifying marks on them. The other reason I love SN bottles is that I love SN beers and when I need some brew, I buy a sixer, and I have good beer and reusable bottles.

 

[NPB]

chiming in on an old thread here. Sierra Nevada bottles are the only bottles that have broken on me when capping or opening. I use the two handed wing style capper, I think people call it a "red Baron". Mine is older and all metal, no plastic.

I've probably broken a dozen or so SN bottles over the last year. I won't use them anymore, which sucks because I love the beer that comes in them.

 

[skidaddytn]

i have some sierra bottles that must be 2 years old used 5-6 times.... get a new capper... in my experience these have been solid... you know you need a bench capper for christmas ;-)

 

[bovineblitz]

chiming in on an old thread here. Sierra Nevada bottles are the only bottles that have broken on me when capping or opening. I use the two handed wing style capper, I think people call it a "red Baron". Mine is older and all metal, no plastic.

I've probably broken a dozen or so SN bottles over the last year. I won't use them anymore, which sucks because I love the beer that comes in them.

That's pretty funny cuz SN bottles are the only bottles that have never broken for me, lol.

 

[unionrdr]

The only time I ever broke an SN bottle was because I didn't seat the grippers on the neck before squeezing. I gorilla'd the capper & broke the neck of a filled bottle. DOOOOH! so from now on,I seat the grippers onto the neck of the bottle before squeezing. I talk about this in my bottling video. I also have some 40 SN stubbies I've been trying to give away as pick ups. No luck yet,& most are de-labeled. They come with half a bag of gold caps & a blow off jug. Free to a good home,since I collected up some other bottles I like better. Classifieds just don't work in this case.

 

[NPB]

Skidaddy is right, I need a new capper. But, it does work great on all other bottles. Something about the neck-to-lip height. Even when i'm careful, I'll break at least one out of every case. I'm glad they work for others though. I'll trade for the new redhook stubbies any day. What I really need for Christmas is a few corny kegs. That would be sweet!