homebrewandbeer.com

I just checked my beer cellar and noticed a small piece of glass on the floor...
After looking closer, I found one bottle had exploded up in the back corner - it must have blown up sometime during the last week.

This brew was fermented on 29th May, bottled 4th June. As far as I am aware, it had finished fermenting (but maybe not...)

Anyway, as only one bottle has blown up, is this likely to be an isolated problem, or are all my beers in a bit of trouble?

Open one and find out, I suggest you wear welders gloves and goggles to protect yourself.

What do I look for when I open it? I have already had to one to drink, it was a bit frothy, but tasted dam good...

FWIW, I use beer kits and Coopers Carbonation drops.

The cabonation drops are great... they make excellent bin weights... chuck them all in... then grab the bag of white sugar and do it properly!

Only bottle bomb I ever had was when I first started brewing and I used those drops... also keep in mind that a cold beer will have a lot more gas in solution! I meant you should open one at the temp it is in storage.

There are a few possible explanations.

- Incomplete fermentation: would affect the whole batch and cause gushing and/or exploding bottles.
- Infection of the batch: there may be a microorganism in the whole batch capable of digesting dextrins (longer-chain carbohydrates which yeast cannot digest). This will cause a slow decrease in sweetness and body and will result in gushing/exploding bottles.
- Infection of a single bottle: as above, but due to an unclean bottle. May only have affected that bottle.
- Overcarbonation: how much priming sugar did you use? Any more than 2 carb drops per 750mL or 1 carb drop per 375mL bottles could cause problems.

Kevnlis wrote:The cabonation drops are great... they make excellent bin weights... chuck them all in... then grab the bag of white sugar and do it properly!

Only bottle bomb I ever had was when I first started brewing and I used those drops... also keep in mind that a cold beer will have a lot more gas in solution! I meant you should open one at the temp it is in storage.

I opened one that had been in the fridge for about 30min.
Straight away it frothed up - lost about half of its contents and is still slowly pumping out head.

Are the drops really that bad, or are you just being traditional? I have brewed close to 15 brews with them - havn't had a problem until now.

rwh, I used 1 drop (375ml bottle)


Now I'm really pissed off... cos it was a dam nice tasting brew!

I may have been exaggerating a bit, but it is true the only bottle bombs I ever had were from oen of my first few batches and it was primed with those drops.

They do give an inconsustant prime IMHO. I think it is much safer to measure yourself, plus it gives you control over the final result which is great!

My guess in this case would be incomplete fermentation.

Would you say the rest of the bottles are in danger of blowing up?

Kevnlis wrote:They do give an inconsustant prime IMHO. I think it is much safer to measure yourself, plus it gives you control over the final result which is great!

I have noticed they are of slightly different sizes... I might give the other way a proper go one day. I can bottle a brew in around 40min with drops, how much longer does the other way take?

Depends if you bulk prime, or use the ryan method, but about the same if not quicker.

Yes I do believe the entire batch is in danger. Chill them down, uncap them, let them warm for a while, then recap and see how you go.

Kevnlis wrote:Depends if you bulk prime, or use the ryan method, but about the same if not quicker.

Yes I do believe the entire batch is in danger. Chill them down, uncap them, let them warm for a while, then recap and see how you go.

Not a chance... Ill lose half of each bottle minimum in head. I think ill just go take the lids off now... at least save the bottles!

Well that was depressing... kinda cool, but sad...

I do feel for you..

This was mine, http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewto ... f=2&t=8167

luckily, I was able to take caps off and recap without losing hardly any, worked pretty good..

laxation wrote:Well that was depressing... kinda cool, but sad...

Not sad, those beers look happy in that bubble bath to me!

I was going to ATTEMPT a witty post but that is so bloody depressing I`m going to bed.
I may stay there tomorrow after seeing that.

I managed to salvage about 24 stubbies 3/4 full so I recapped them.
Poured the rest into a jug - its going down nicely.

laxation wrote:I managed to salvage about 24 stubbies 3/4 full so I recapped them.
Poured the rest into a jug - its going down nicely.

...and no doubt you are too soon enough

I feel your pain, mate. There's nothing sadder in brewing than losing a good batch to overcarbonation. It happened to me once with a Saaz lager... I was a little concerned when I saw an arseload of suspended yeast whilst I was bottling it.... two weeks later, I opened the first bottle and ended up wearing the contents.

The whole batch had to be opened under water to avoid the aerosol beer that resulted.

That said, I'm a frequent used of the carbo drops. Frankly, I find them a very convenient way of priming - particularly if I have enlisted a non-HBing mate at bottling time, as there's not much to stuff up - and by and large I find them more than adequate for the job at hand.

Sorry to bring this topic up seening it was on the way out.
I had my first bottle explode on the weekend.
This brew was bottled about 2 months ago. The FG was equal over 2 days.
I used the carbonation drops; 1 for a 330ml bottle.

Question

Is this too much for these types of bttles or more designed for 375ml?? or is more related to the sudden increase in Temp we had in Sydney last week??

I have quarantined the batch to avoid problems.

Please help me understand.

The carbo drops are typically suggested as being suitable for 375ml bottles; having said that, I've used them in heaps of 330ml bottles without issue. The only time it all went pear-shaped and I had an overcarbing issue was when I bottled too early. Whilst a 2-day stable SG reading is theoretically enough, I like to give my beers at least a week at a stable SG in the fermenter to ensure everything is finished. I do this for a couple of reasons... first of all, the extra time allows the yeast to drop out of suspension thoroughly. I don't rack my beers, and I've found this still allows me to produce nice clear lagers with an absolute minimum of sediment. Secondly, this allows me to all but guarantee the yeast has done its job of not only munching all available sugars, but also the job of chewing up undesirable fermentation byproducts such as diacetyl.

Getting back to your experience; the problem could be due to a couple of things. If only one bottle blew up, and the rest are all normally carbonated, then it either had an infection or you double primed - which is honestly easy enough to do if you get distracted whilst bottling. Warm weather will of course accelerate the carbing process by speeding up the metabolism of organisms like yeast and and contaminating bacteria that may have snuck in, so that may well be a contributing factor. If all bottles are gassy, then you may have bottled early or you may have infected the whole batch. Generally, beer that was bottled early will taste fine, just overcarbed to all hell, and may have excessive sediment at the bottom of the bottles. If the beer was infected, you'll probably find it tastes or smells wrong. Vinegar or just plain "foul" tastes and odours, or visually obvious skins or growth of "stuff" may be apparent on examination.

thanks for that it was either one or all of those problems.

Cods70