Worried about fruit beer bottle bombs

d_striker · Feb 6, 2011

I let a wheat beer ferment for 2 weeks in primary using WY3068. I racked 2.5 gallons of wheat beer onto 1 lb of pureed oregon fruit blueberries. I let it sit in secondary for 2 weeks. The activity was very slow after racking onto the fruit. I was expecting a violent secondary fermentation after reading a lot of threads on here.

I'm worried that all of the sugar from the blueberries wasn't completely fermented. I bottled using 5 Tablespoons of cane sugar (approx. 2.2-2.5 oz.) They've been sitting in a cooler at 70 F for about 3 days now. The bottles have a little ring of foam at the top. I've never seen this in any of my other batches.

Should I expect some BB's?

MalFet · Feb 7, 2011

Did you take gravity readings before you bottled?

d_striker · Feb 7, 2011

After priming sugar addition it was 1.012

MalFet · Feb 7, 2011

d_striker said:
After priming sugar addition it was 1.012

If that had been a steady number for a few days, I'm sure you're fine. Take usual precautions, of course...don't store the bottles next to your fabergé egg collection or anything. I'd bet the foam is just suspended solids, which you're bound to have more of in a fruit beer, plus protein from the wheat.

d_striker · Feb 8, 2011

The cooler will contain any mess but I'm scared of even handling them when transferring into the fridge in three weeks.

This was only my second all grain batch and third batch overall. I need to start monitoring gravity throughout fermentation. I plan on getting another glass hydrometer that I can just drop in the carboy.

MalFet · Feb 8, 2011

d_striker said:
The cooler will contain any mess but I'm scared of even handling them when transferring into the fridge in three weeks.

This was only my second all grain batch and third batch overall. I need to start monitoring gravity throughout fermentation. I plan on getting another glass hydrometer that I can just drop in the carboy.

No need throughout fermentation, just a couple of matched readings at the end. You'll be fine. Jostle them a bit in the cooler before you start moving them.