Homebrew Tragedy! [with Pics]

[shaunbrew]

wow thats crazy ****, so lucky no one got seriously hurt! being a newbie i am gonna e extra carefull about carbonating i have a brewing scoop that gives me the exact amount, definatly wont be using thin bottles either, by the sounds of it most ppl have an exploding story
glad i have a spare wardrobe for storing them

shaun

 

[kelbygreen]

them scoops like carb drops usually carb a bit higher then usual. I used to weigh a scoop and then work out the carb from there so it means you might not fill the scoop right up. But if you keep a good eye on the bottles for cracks and chips and use bottles like coopers then you will be fine

 

[InCider]

Thirstyboy posted a pic a couple of years ago of his hand after a PET bottle exploded...just as nasty!

KEGs....carb then to your hearts content.

 

[brocky_555]

Use champange bottles you shouldn't be able to make those explode. Much more durable

 

[gjn200]

If anybody is wondering which glass bottles to use, this is from the Coopers web site

"A beer, such as an Imperial Stout, intended to be aged for 2 years or more, should be bottled into sturdy glass designed for re-use. With this in mind, Coopers also produce Original Pale Ale, Sparkling Ale and Best Extra Stout beverages in sturdy 750ml glass bottles. These bottles have a lip designed for a prise-off crown seal and weigh a formidable 560g empty! They are an excellent option for brewers and sauce makers, alike."

 

[cosmo]

Someone should sticky this thread so the next person who asks "brew at 1020 for 3 days - should I bottle anyway?" can be directed to it.

cheers manticl i actually just asked in anothr thread if it was ok to bottle at 1020 but has been down 2 weeks and got redirected to this so i can take it the answers NO!!! so will try and stir it up a bit for a couple more days

 

[mmmyummybeer]

Wow couldn't see the pic but got the message pretty well. I have been fortunately luckily enough to never experienced a bottle bomb and am now kegging.

I do keep my yeast in Grolsh bottles in the fridge. They do build up some pressure in the first few weeks after going in the fridge but the grolsh bottles are good because you can open them to relieve the pressure then reseal.

Great post to keep us brewers on our toes as to the dangers, I guess if your like me and haven't experienced a bottle bomb its a good reminder not get complacent with cleaning and sanitation, sugar additions for bottling and not to bottle to soon.

 

[Spork]

Pfft. You call that a tragedy?
Saw a mate today, he has a vineyard and winery. He told me that when he bought the winery the previous owner was putting some of his wine into 20 litre SS kegs. I showed him my cornies and he said "yeah, thats the ones, but they were in better nick. There were about 60 of them. Scrap metal bloke gave me $5 each for them".
I almost cried...

Next day off I'm going down the local scrap metal yard and seeing if they ahve any, and giving them my phone no. in case they get some.

 

[agorganic]

Last week there was an almighty bang, went to kitchen and noticed liquid dripping from upper kitchen cupboard (it was a warm day outside even had the aircon on), I have a flat roof so maybe this contributed as this cupboard door is solid. I was so scared as I had previously read this post and I didn't open the cupboard door until I had on thick garden gloves, glasses, long sleeves, pants and shoes with a hoodie to protect my ears! These beers were in the 6 pack carton holders, not too hard to clean the shards of glass, none penetrated the thin carton or stuck in anything. There were only 3 six packs in this cupboard, along with other random beer batches.

I had an empty eski, after loading one beer at a time into the eski I would shudder from the thought that the beer I was just holding could have exploded. These were your James squire golden ale bottles. But this was not the mother load, I had the same beer in same bottles in a different cupboard which has slats so can let cool air in, but I decided to move the remaining slab in its original carton along with 3 other slabs of beer, besides the loose ones in the eski, all my beers are now resting on the terra-cotta tiles at the bottom of a cupboard.

Just now I protected myself and using a towel wrapped around bottle to the lid, i opened a bottle from eski and cupboard, both extra fizzy. But these are my beers gone wrong and not reserved for drinking. The hydrometer reading I did on pouring beer a moment ago was 1010! it still fruity, see link below.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...c=57766&hl=

 

[Dars183]

I've just weighed all my bottles and am only going to use the ones that weigh <560gms That was a great little tidbit in this forum

Cheers

 

[Acasta]

Good choice, thoose coopers long necks are great and sturdy! But when you catch the bug like I did when this happened I was putting beer in everything I could find so I could make more! haha :lol:

 

[Superoo]

The earlier post about having a bottle bomb at someones party etc bears thinking about, how bad would you feel if....

horrible thought..

 

[krisisdog]

I've just weighed all my bottles and am only going to use the ones that weigh <560gms That was a great little tidbit in this forum

Cheers

< = less than. > = greater than.

 

[losp]

This has made me think about being much more careful as well. I have never had a bottle explode. But there is always a first.

Yesterday i bulk primed a 22L cider with 200 grams dextrose, now i am thinking that may have been too much. I went by what i read online, but it is certainly more than i have ever put in any of my brews.
I have also never checked by bottles to see how thin they are. Perhaps i should start doing this?

I am re thinking my procedure. Usually i tap out to a bottling bucket and while it is swirling (well soughta swirling) around in the bucket gradually drop the dextrose in, and then give it a little stir (gently) and bottle immediately.

Would i be able to mix it in with hot water in a 600ml bottle first and then gradually tip it in with the same process to get a better dilution? Or is there some no-no there?

 

[Acasta]

Losp, don't worry too much. Bottle bombs are usually caused by infection or bottling too early. So the pressure from that plus priming sugar will add up.
What was the co2/vol you were aiming for with the dex? What you said gives me 3.15 which should be an issue. A Hefeweizen is 2.5-2.9 according to BS2.

I am re thinking my procedure. Usually i tap out to a bottling bucket and while it is swirling (well soughta swirling) around in the bucket gradually drop the dextrose in, and then give it a little stir (gently) and bottle immediately.

Would i be able to mix it in with hot water in a 600ml bottle first and then gradually tip it in with the same process to get a better dilution? Or is there some no-no there?

Wont really change. What I used to do was dex and boiling water in a jug, dissolve to syrup and add to bottling bucket. Is yours disolved?

 

[jaypes]

Man this thread has me worried about my first brew, I do have Coopers longnecks and some of the PET ones.

With 3 young kids I dont want to get this one wrong

Might buy some more PET ones to be on the safe side

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Start putting money away for a keg setup, they don't blow up

 

[jaypes]

Yep, just have to get it past the Warden

 

[IainMcLean]

Yep, just have to get it past the Warden

That's easy - just leave 60 empty 330ml bottles laying around the kitchen for a while then have a bottle bomb go off in the shed/garage the day after you comment that *** homebrew store is havign a sale on keg setups and wouldn't it be great to have a beer on tap and a cider/soda whatever for the wife/kids whoever...

Leave it a week and then you'll have your passport stamp ;-)

 

[tricache]

That's easy - just leave 60 empty 330ml bottles laying around the kitchen for a while then have a bottle bomb go off in the shed/garage the day after you comment that *** homebrew store is havign a sale on keg setups and wouldn't it be great to have a beer on tap and a cider/soda whatever for the wife/kids whoever...

Leave it a week and then you'll have your passport stamp ;-)

Or all your bottles in the recycle bin and fermenter on ebay :lol: