Will my bottles explode?

[jeffdill]

I am brewing an IPA from a brew kit. It fermented for about two weeks so it should be good to be bottled. I added the full priming sugar packet they included and bottled away.

But here's the thing...when I got done, I ended up with only 38 of standard sized bottles. I had thought that I might have not added enough water before fermenting, and this pretty much confirmed it. So I said screw it and bottled it anyway...guess I'll just have less beer to drink.

But then I realized that I added the priming sugar for a full five gallons of beer. Do you think my bottles will be OK, or should I dump the batch before I get some explosions? If it is good, should I add more time to carb in the bottle or drink it sooner?

Thanks! Sorry for the noob question.

 

[ColonelForbin]

you will probably be fine, you may just have an overcarbed beer. do you remember how many grams of priming sugar was in the pack?

 

[lumpher]

i'd leave it, because it might be ok. BUT i would also put it in a tote/box/container, as bottle-bombs are likely. those that don't blow in the first 5-7 days, you can cold-crash them by putting them in the fridge. this will leave them sweeter and less potent, but you won't have to dump them, and it stops, or at least slows, fermentation. they should be fully carbed after a week anyway, also

 

[beersydoesit]

I've had poor yeild on a few batches and didn't alter the priming sugar and had no troubles. I wouldn't worry. Though I put my bottles in bomb shelters as a matter of course.

so far I haven't needed it.

 

[jeffdill]

do you remember how many grams of priming sugar was in the pack?

It was a 5oz package - 141.75 grams.

 

[jeffdill]

Also for what it's worth they are fermenting on the warm side - about 70 degrees. Maybe I should put them in the fridge before the full two weeks are up so they don't get overcarbed?

 

[KeithMoonsLiver]

thats about 3.5 gallons, 5 ounces at 70 degrees should yield somewhere around 3.5 volumes. My pressure/volumes/temperature chart doesnt go that high but extrapolating gives me a value of something like 55-60psi. That's pretty close to the stated limit for most bottles, iirc. It is early so my math could be off.

 

[jeffdill]

Will the bottles explode upwards or outwards (or both)?

 

[Jenks829]

Will the bottles explode upwards or outwards (or both)?

If the bottles are going to explode, they will do so at the weakest point in the glass. This is usually at the right angle the wall makes with the bottom. This won't be true for every bottle as there may be some flaws in other areas.

Personally, I think you will be ok. As others have said, you may end up with a slightly high carbonation but not much worse than that. Whenever I have a questionable bottle batch, I simply store in Tupperware bins or at least put the two cases in a heavy duty trash bag. If bad things happen, it will help in clean up.

 

[Beer_Guy]

According to my figures you will get 3.43 volumes of CO2. There are several styles which get that or more. So it should be fine.

Co2 level per style:
Belgian Gueuze Lambic: 3.0-4.5
Belgian Lambic: 3.0-4.5
Berliner Weisse: 3.5
Dunkelweizen: 3.6-4.5

Because even a mild carb can rupture a weak bottle, my bottles always go in at the least a cardboard box.

 

[DarkUncle]

My recent bottle bomb blew at about 40% of the length from the top. The bottom half of the bottle is still intact and sitting in the box. There is glass bits stuck all over the sides of the other bottles. Made kind of a mess. Only happened to one of them after 2.5 weeks so I think I will be ok. I'm putting them in the fridge this week anyway.

 

[jeffdill]

Thanks for the help, everyone. I put them in trash bags in case anything goes wrong but it sounds like I'll be OK. I'll just carb in the bottles for two weeks then refridgerate.

 

[jmf143]

Will the bottles explode upwards or outwards (or both)?

Everywards!

 

[shipfaced]

I've picked sharp shards of glass out of the wall so make sure you hold the bottles down and away from your face. Don't knock them around .... handle like they are full of nitro!

 

[remilard]

Standard bottles at 3.5 volumes and 70 F are fine. If you have any flawed bottles they are more likely to break but you should always be visually inspecting bottles for flaws if you reuse them.

Just don't leave them sitting in your car in the summer and you should be fine. If you are really worried, refrigerate them when you are finished carbing. Don't try to arrest the carbonation part way through, that will just make the beer sweeter which is not fixable. You can always shake out extra c02 in the glass, it's not a bad flaw at all.