28 More Bomb Bottles :(

[Swinging Beef]

I dont quite know what happened, but i have 28b more long necks of lovely Porter on my hands that launches its self out of the bottle like a 15 year old at schoolies week.

What to do?
Throw back into a fermenter and let it calm down for a couple of days, reprime and rebottle?

All advice keenly accepted.

 

[Fents]

are they in PET bottles? if so your lucky and you can just vent them a few times and they should be right.

if its glass i'd be opeing the lot on the front lawn with a big jacket and sunnys.

 

[Swinging Beef]

are they in PET bottles? if so your lucky and you can just vent them a few times and they should be right.

if its glass i'd be opeing the lot on the front lawn with a big jacket and sunnys.

Yeah, I video'd myself doing that once before.
They are glass.
Just recap them and see what happens, or what?

 

[reviled]

Call the bomb squad

 

[Fents]

cant hurt to recap them as long as you think your quick enough to get a new cap on before the niagra falls gush, obv making sure its all santizsed at the same time. big job, goodluck.

 

[KGB]

Have any exploded or are they just gushing? I'd gear up and then try recapping them.

 

[buttersd70]

if you're careful with the bottle opener, and can just crack the seal without actually removing the lid, they will vent, with maybe a little frothing running down the glass.....unless the pressure is really high, then the lids will pop off. If you can get that seal cracked, leave them for half an hour like that, then recap them. Then try one a couple hours/days later, after they've had time to settle down, and repeat if needed.

 

[Tyred]

Before re-capping, try and cool the bottles down as much as possible. The colder brew will hold more CO2 and hopefully limit the loss when opening.

 

[KGB]

^^ Good tip.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

I had this happen to me once with a hefeweizen that was bottled too soon.

I was able to (eventually) recap the little buggers but only after two separate lots went off.

+ 1 for waiting 1/2 hour before recapping

Also get them into a fridge if possible (note do this first thing in the morning ie at the coolest part of the day, especially don't try it at dusk which seems to be peak exploding time ). This will decrease the likelihood of a trip to hospital due to exploding bottle bomb.

I had to redo mine twice cause I didn't wait long enough between recapping, but they where ok after that.

 

[Swinging Beef]

I had this happen to me once with a hefeweizen that was bottled too soon.
I was able to (eventually) recap the little buggers but only after two separate lots went off.
+ 1 for waiting 1/2 hour before recapping
Also get them into a fridge if possible (note do this first thing in the morning ie at the coolest part of the day, especially don't try it at dusk which seems to be peak exploding time ). This will decrease the likelihood of a trip to hospital due to exploding bottle bomb.
I had to redo mine twice cause I didn't wait long enough between recapping, but they where ok after that.

Oh, they arent at the exploding stage, just yet, and may not get there, its just they fizz fountain out the top.
I reckon I will just throw the lot back into a clean fermenter and re bottle in a few days.

 

[Jazzafish]

Oh, they arent at the exploding stage, just yet, and may not get there, its just they fizz fountain out the top.
I reckon I will just throw the lot back into a clean fermenter and re bottle in a few days.

Drink them fast if you do this. It will encourage potential issues like oxidisation/infections.

Your best bet is to cool them, then slightly crack them to vent. Recap when stable.

 

[Swinging Beef]

Drink them fast if you do this. It will encourage potential issues like oxidisation/infections.

Your best bet is to cool them, then slightly crack them to vent. Recap when stable.

Ok.. I will try that instead.
Thanks.

Got to say.. Im not that impressed with the beer I made anyhow... its a bit of an ordinary porter.

 

[buttersd70]

Send em to me, I'll dispose of em for you

 

[Steve]

Send em to me, I'll dispose of em for you

sounds like they'd prolly knock the plane out of the sky

 

[Swinging Beef]

they could power the plane, if opened appropriately.

 

[reVoxAHB]

In addition to looking for a quick fix to the situation at hand, you should look at what caused the bomb bottles so can be avoided in future.

Did you use carb drops? = consider bulk priming next time and use a bulk priming calculator
Was the beer fully fermented out? = make sure you have consecutive gravity readings over 3 days before bottling
Could you be dealing with an infection? = take a look at your sanitation, brewing process/fermentation throughout

Try to get a bottle to another brewer, preferably one who can detect faults for a second opinion.

reVox

 

[Swinging Beef]

Did you use carb drops? = consider bulk priming next time and use a bulk priming calculator

No... this time, I primed using the white sugar and strange bottling teaspoon thingie you get from brew shops.



Was the beer fully fermented out? = make sure you have consecutive gravity readings over 3 days before bottling

Yes.. been at 1015 - 1013 for a week.. it was also a fresh wort pack, and there is no guidelines from the mfr about what tg to expect.



Could you be dealing with an infection? = take a look at your sanitation, brewing process/fermentation throughout

Always a possibilty, but I have been a good boy with sanitising and cleaning lately.



Try to get a bottle to another brewer, preferably one who can detect faults for a second opinion.

That will happen regardless.

 

[drtomc]

No... this time, I primed using the white sugar and strange bottling teaspoon thingie you get from brew shops.

I used one of them when I started out - it came with the gear kit I bought. I reckon they make it really easy to produce beer with very inconsistent carbonation. Maybe I was just too impatient to use it carefully enough. Also, I tend to use a variety of bottles (330, 375, 450, 500, 650, 750, 1000, oh and 2x2.5L Darwin stubbies), for which the scoop thingy doesn't have enough options. ;-)

+1 for bulk priming.

The worst bottle-bomb disaster I had was a batch bottled in just-scavanged 500ml San Pellgrino bottles. Insufficient cleaning. Warm day. Chain reaction on the top shelf. Big mess. Shame - it was a nice beer too.

T.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Sorry to steal the thread but YESTERDAY !

Came home from a walk and found four bottles of an old brew (at least 6 months old) had blown in my storage room. Took out the remaining few bottles and opened them in the laundry tubs - massive gushes that sprayed me big time. Last bottle .. facing the bottle down, holding in my left hand, cracks lid with my right hand and WHOOSKA - the bottle slips (rockets) out of my hand, hits the laundry wall about a metre from where I'm standing, leaving a half bottle base size hole in the plaster. I just shut my eyes, clench my bum cheeks and wait for the final consequences. Bottle hits floor, shatters and there's beer and glass all over the room. Never seen that before. Thankfully no glass hits me with any force to cause damage. The force to propel the bottle and crack the plaster wall had to be very large. For the record, it was an old (at least twenty years) crown seal Reschs bottle, which is probably why it survived exploding earlier.

So remember .. you can't be too cautious when it comes to opening 1. aged beer 2. bottle bombs.