Bottle Bombs Need Help

[flemj]

Hi Guys & Gals,

I am on my second batch, first one tastes fine, brewed a blonde and found it a little bland, but no problems with it large bottles 650ml

2nd batch I made using stubbies and I made a wheat beer and after 23 days I had 3 blow in a big way.

The beer was made using these ingredients,
Morgans wheat beer 1.7kg, morgans dark crystal 1.0kg, Brewcraft Corn Syrup 500 grams, Safbre WB 06 yeast 11.5 g
Morgans finishing hops Tettnanger tea bag, Brewcraft wheat beer improver 1.0kg total 21 litres.

When I bottled the gravity was still high, but I presumed that was due to ingredients having high sugar content??
Gravity was about 18 on my guage.

Brewed 30/1/09 and bottled 9/2/09 heard a bottle blow 4/3/09

I had split the stubbies into 2 batches after bottling, 30 in a cardboard box on a shelf in my garage and 30 in a wardrobe in the garage. They were all standing up, not laying down.

The three that blew were in the wardrobe, primed with 1 of those glucose tablet that you buy preprepared.

Questions should I have added more water at the start or have I stored them incorrectly?
Should I have laid then down after a couple of days?
I live in Victoria and I wouldnt say the temperature was excessive.

Did I bottle to early, fermentation had definately stopped.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
John

 

[Pollux]

I presume you took multiple SG readings to ensure the FG was constant?

 

[buttersd70]

Did I bottle to early, fermentation had definately stopped.

Definately? based on....consistant sg readings? or your airlock stopped bubbling? h34r:

how many consistant sg readings were there?

 

[Gavo]

Morgans wheat beer 1.7kg, morgans dark crystal 1.0kg, Brewcraft Corn Syrup 500 grams, Safbre WB 06 yeast 11.5 g
Morgans finishing hops Tettnanger tea bag, Brewcraft wheat beer improver 1.0kg total 21 litres.

Gravity was about 18 on my guage.

Brewed 30/1/09 and bottled 9/2/09

With the amount of fermentables here and the short amount of time in the fermenter it most likely had not finished.
Did you try rousing the yeast? As pollux has said, did you take multiple SG readings to ensure the FG was constant?

To limit any further losses you could try chilling the beer then uncap the bottles and let them sit for a while with the caps just sitting on them. An hour should do it. Then recap them. Wear some good safety gear though as you don't want them blowing up in your face.

Gavo.

 

[EK]

flemj,

you say that fermentation had "definately" ended...here's a trap for young players: the airlock is not a good indication that fermentation has finished. A minute leak in the seal of the tank may let out enough CO2 that the airlock will stop but fermentation can still be occurring.

Use your hydrometer to determine if the fermentation has finished by taking readings once a day after fermentation slows significantly. When the reading is the same 3 days running, then it's done.

When taking a reading don't forget to shake the bubbles off the hydrometer when it is in the test jar/tube, also remember to look at the temperature adjustment chart that came with it.

The hydrometer can be a really useful tool if you use it in this manner.

Also, keep written records if you don't already. This can be really helpful after you have had a beer in the bottle for 3 months and then you ask around AHB and you need the data.

At 1.018, it would seem to me that the fermentation was not finished. This would seem to be the reason for the bottle bombs.

What was the original gravity reading. My guess is that it would be somewhere between 1.035 and 1.050. If that is the case then there is a lot of fermentation potential in 1.018 wort. Unless it is a really strong beer, this is the reason for explosion.

:icon_cheers:
EK

 

[manticle]

As others have said - use a hydrometer to check for stable readings over several days. Many brewing info sites I've come across recommend leaving your brew for a while after that (even a week or two).

I've had a couple of bottles go off on really, really super hot days - I'm in Vic as well but 46 degrees is hot anywhere.

I've also had a recent brew finish at 1020 but it had a shitload more fermentables than your recipe and was estimated by more knowledgeable brewers in here to have started at around 1090. It was also stable at 1020 for over 8 days.

Storing them standing shouldn't influence explosiveness one way or the other and as far as I'm aware they should be stored upright for the entire carbonation period (if not right up until drinking time).

 

[flemj]

No I didnt take a gravity reading at the start, didnt know I had to till I started reading this forum properly.

I took reading over a couple of days, but I would have to say I was probably impatient and bottled early.
I plan to cool and then recap this weekend.
Thanks for all your answers much appreciated.

I am learning lots if ever so slowly.

Thanks again
John

 

[Pollux]

Main reason for storing upright is so the yeast sediment settles to the base of the bottle, allowing you to pour a nice clear beer and leave the yeast behind.

 

[Justin]

Seriously be really, REALLY careful with those bottles. Just handling them is very dangerous as there can be a trendous amount of pressure in those bottles and if it blows in your hand or face you could be in big trouble.

When you handle them make sure you are well protected, at bare minium eye protection/face mask and heavy gloves. I'd wear a heavy long sleeve shirt, a jumper and jeans also. You could basically be dealing with flying glass shards so take precautions. Also be very gentle when handling them, no banging or clinking as that could be enough to let the bottle go. Handle each bottle as though it could explode right there and then. I dont mean to scare you but really, it's worth being as careful as you can.

FWIW, if they are as badly pressurised as they sound like they could be I wouldn't uncap them in the kitchen LOL! Be prepared for some gushing bottles (hence the importance of chilling them down). I'd do it outside or somewhere where the mess is easy to clean up. You also may have to accept the fact that this batch could be lost. If your bottles gush you'll lose most of your beer.

Just a tip, it's quite fine to let your beer sit in the primary fermenter for a couple of weeks. Dont be in a rush to bottle it, there will still be plenty of active yeast in there for a long time to come so if you can let it sit two weeks after fermentation stops this is not a bad thing. Measuring fermentation by days is not a great technique, so as outlined above, learn to use your hydrometer. It is a very handy tool. Not only can it tell you the strength of the beer but it can tell you when fermentation has stopped, what your residual sweetness is like, how healthy your yeast is and how well it attenuated etc. One of the best tools in the brewery and probably the easiest to break LOL. Plus the bonus is when you draw a hydrometer sample you get to have a little taste of how the brew is progressing. I drink all my hydrometer samples

Good luck, and be safe.

 

[thunderchild]

Just another thought on safety, not sure what bottles you are using but if yu are using the commercial twist top ones they are not very thick at all. Try if you can to collect the true crown seal bottles, the glass is a little thicker. Won't help with a massive over carb issue but just a little more insurance....

happy brewing!

 

[raven19]

Also in future, if things seem to have slowed down, you can rack to a secondary fermentor to get things going again. Works a treat for me & others when it appears to have stalled.

 

[corneg]

Having recently had the same experience, my advice is to take your wheelie bin and drop the bottles in there one at a time. Say goodbye to the batch and the bottles, they're replacable.

If one explode in your hand you'll be saying "What the hell was I thinking" for years to come. Rather chuck it and have another go.

 

[flemj]

I have managed to save all the beer except 1 stubby.
Left all the beer in the fridge for a couple of days then opened them up using caution as advised in previous posts. Opened them all up, no gushes but a lot of slow oozes that had to be left in the sink for quite awhile, then they were sat with there lids off and then eventually recapped. The one I lost was from the neck on the stubby breaking when I was trying to lift the cap.

The next question will the beer still mature and condition even if I store them in the fridge or do they have to be stored at room temperature?

Thanks in advance
John

P.S. I intend to rack next time.

 

[buttersd70]

Now that they have been vented and re capped, just store them as you normally would....I would be checking another one in a couple of days, just to be sure that one vent is enough....depending on how badly overcarbed it was, you might need to do a repeat performance.