First (and hopefully last) bottle bomb...what to do?

[AJ80]

G'day all,

Discovered my first bottle bomb today...obviously quite worried now that the rest is about to go up in a blaze of glass and frothy beer. I've had a bit of a read and it would seem re-capping the batch could be a way to salvage the batch. Anyone had luck with this? Will it impact on the carbonation of the beer?

Before anyone gets stuck in to me for bottling too early, I used S-04 yeast and it had sat at 1.016 (which I did think was a little high) for five days without budging and figured it was finished (obviously wasn't). Learned a lesson tonight and am bloody keen not to repeat.

Thanks in advance.

AJ

 

[Rodolphe01]

Yes it will affect the carbonation, that's the whole point - to reduce it. You might need to do it more than once, chill the bottles first. You can gently ease the edge of the cap up and let the gas escape and let it go and it will re-seal just fine, also saves from gushers.

 

[pimpsqueak]

How long has it been in the bottle? Could be an infection or over priming. Could have been a faulty bottle too.

Whip one open and if it's a monster gusher (but tastes fine) then you should re-cap as per Rudi's advice.

 

[AJ80]

Thanks for the advice guys, appreciate it. Been in the bottle 13 days. Should I chill one down before opening or is it best to test one warm out of the cupboard?

I was wondering about faulty bottle. Regarding priming, went two carb drops in a 650ml bottle.

Cheers.

 

[Econwatson]

Isn't that too much? bum said carb drops tend to over carbonate your brew and the guide is 2 for a tallie which is 750 right?

Maybe you just over-carbed them?

 

[bum]

bum said carb drops tend to over carbonate your brew

Received wisdom says carb drops tend to carb at the high end of the scale. 2 drops in 650 bottle is certainly aiming a bit bit high but a good bottle should hold it. I suspect the batch may not have fermented fully or possibly infection (but probably the first thing).

I always found them to overcarb for my own tastes but I generally like a very low carb.

 

[AJ80]

Was told at the home brew shop that 2 was the go for 650-750ml bottles. Bottles were also bought at the shop.

Personally don't mind the level of carbonation at 2 in 650ml bottle...but that's just my preference.

 

[carniebrew]

I've used 1 carb drop in a 330ml stubby many times, so 2 in a 640 shouldn't make an undamaged bottle explode. As you suggested, likely your brew wasn't finished at 1016, or an infection has taken hold. Definitely taste one...warm is fine, but if you're not sure then chill one and try again.

If you have the space, you could put them all in the fridge (bloody carefully) to put the yeast to sleep, they won't carbonate any further. Just don't let any warm up, ever.

 

[AJ80]

So in the name of science and safety, just cracked a bottle and no gushing or foaming/frothing at all...just that great little 'psst' as I took the cap off. Carb level seems very normal as well (compared with my previous efforts).

Would this make a one off bottle fault/infection the likely culprit?

As an aside, while still a little green (and warm), is a pretty damn good all extract English IPA (my first IPA).

Cheers.

 

[simplefisherman]

Well that makes it 50% proven bottle bombs then? Not being smart (well maybe just a leetle ) but would certainly not let the guard down just yet if I were you.
You may be able to tell from the caps, if some are more domed up than others they are probably more gassed up...
Cheers.

 

[carniebrew]

Can you fit them all in the fridge? Then it won't matter if it's a one off bottle problem or the whole batch.

 

[AJ80]

Can you fit them all in the fridge? Then it won't matter if it's a one off bottle problem or the whole batch.

If only...stuck with a regular sized bar fridge (for now!)

Well that makes it 50% proven bottle bombs then? Not being smart (well maybe just a leetle ) but would certainly not let the guard down just yet if I were you.
You may be able to tell from the caps, if some are more domed up than others they are probably more gassed up...
Cheers.

Yeah I know, not much of a sample size. None of the other caps are domed up at all. Definitely remaining vigilant and have moved all of the potential bombs into a couple of heavy duty plastic storage tubs under the stairs (this was actually where I found the first one - most of the batch was in cardboard boxes however). Will see how they go.

Thanks to everyone for the constructive advice too - appreciate it.

Cheers,

AJ

 

[pimpsqueak]

Something else to consider is the possibility of double dosing when you're priming with carb drops. Easy enough to be momentarily distracted and dose a bottle twice.
Maybe consider bulk priming in the future?

 

[AJ80]

Something else to consider is the possibility of double dosing when you're priming with carb drops. Easy enough to be momentarily distracted and dose a bottle twice.
Maybe consider bulk priming in the future?

Quite possible now that I think about it...

Haven't had another bottle bomb since this one (still keeping vigilant though).