How long before potential bottle bombs can be declared 'safe'?

[philistine]

Just wondering - Ive got a few potential bottle bombs which Ive got conditioning in a big esky with the lid locked on.
Is it safe to assume that if they havent exploded within a certain amount of time (say 2 weeks?) that I can take them out and store them with the others?

 

[dent]

Nope. You're gonna need one of those remote control robots, sorry.

 

[Pogierob]

Why only a few potential bottle bombs?
Is it a whole batch or did you double prime a couple of bottles?

 

[carniebrew]

Definitely not 2 weeks. It's variable dependant on temperature, how badly they might have been over primed, etc etc. I'd be approaching them with extreme caution for as long as you have them out of the fridge. They could be at a point where even the slightest bump when picking them up could make them go off.

If you can get 'em below 10C without them blowing up then they should be fine.

 

[431neb]

I've had random bombs 6 months ofter bottling.

Who knows why. Did I fill one that I just drank, infected bottle, double carbed, weak bottle?…. Who knows.

I have a stack of bottles under a shelf in my office. For some reason they always blow at night resulting in the usual panicked conversation with my sleeping wife,

Him - " What was that noise?!"
Her - "What noise?"
Him - "Yeah a noise."
Her - "I didn't hear anything"
Him - "You didn't? It was loud" Searches for pants… "Where are my pants?"
Her - "Where you left them. Be quiet, I'm sleeping."
Him - "But the noise…" Searching house… "Oh ****…that's messy"
Her - (Awake now) "If that's your ******* beer bottles again…"

 

[Edak]

I've had random bombs 6 months ofter bottling.

Who knows why. Did I fill one that I just drank, infected bottle, double carbed, weak bottle?…. Who knows.

I have a stack of bottles under a shelf in my office. For some reason they always blow at night resulting in the usual panicked conversation with my sleeping wife,

Him - " What was that noise?!"
Her - "What noise?"
Him - "Yeah a noise."
Her - "I didn't hear anything"
Him - "You didn't? It was loud" Searches for pants… "Where are my pants?"
Her - "Where you left them. Be quiet, I'm sleeping."
Him - "But the noise…" Searching house… "Oh ****…that's messy"
Her - (Awake now) "If that's your ******* beer bottles again…"

It's more fun walking around the house with no pants... Who needs pants anyway?

 

[mje1980]

Don't risk it. If they're in an esky, get a bag of ice, chill them right down, then with gloves and glasses on, open one near a sink. If not too bad, drink them quickly. They are very dangerous. If I'm even the slightest unsure they're gone, with full protection. Had no dramas for years but late last year I bottled a Belgian IPA, finished at 1.002. Think it'd be done huh?, nope, one blew. Thought it was just a random thing, so chilled another one and opened over the sink. Made a mess, and scared the crap out of me. Got my riggers gloves out, and my safety glasses and chilled and dumped the rest. Be very careful.

 

[marksy]

I have mine under the house and one of mine went off and sounded like a small bomb. All that remained was the neck of the bottle. Be careful. You dont want to be caught in the cross fire.

But yeah get them chilled and they should be fine.

 

[Kranky]

I had a bunch of bottle bombs a while back. The beer was a RIS and had been left for about 9 months.

The first one gushed about 15 feet in the air when I opened it, luckily I was outside.

The next one I put in the otto bin, gently, then dropped a brick on it and ducked. When the bottle exploded the top part of the bottle flew straight up into the air. I don't know how high it went but given the amount of time it was in the air I'd say pretty high. It landed about 3 feet from my head.

I decided I'd try and open the rest of the bottles with an opener.

On top of safety glasses and a good pair of gloves (I wore the type you can handle sheet metal with) I wore a thick sloppy joe and wrapped a small towel around my neck, in case of broken flying glass. I very nervously opened the rest of the beers (they were chilled) and they were all big gushers but thankfully none of them exploded.

I haven't bottle conditioned anything since.

Good luck.

 

[Scooby Tha Newbie]

Simple answer to op's question is never. Doesn't matter if it's a infection or over priming,underfermenting or a stalled ferment. It's important to understand that bottling can take your eye out or hurt those around you. Look it up I've seen at.least 4 pictures of those that had dodgy bottled beer.
Not pretty. Be careful mate and do all you can to find the cause.

 

[lael]

Look up shooting guns underwater on YouTube. If you know they are seriously over carved, open them in a sink or tub full of water. Better for impact absorption. That said I agree with Scooby. If they are unsafe, they are unsafe. Be careful.

 

[wynnum1]

You want face shield and safety glasses .

 

[Major Arcana]

Damn this is a scary thread to read, got me worried about a stout i bottled a week ago now. h34r:

 

[philmud]

Just suit up mate, you'll be sweet

 

[Major Arcana]

Damn that suit would be sweet!

 

[Lincoln2]

Him - "But the noise…" Searching house… "Oh ****…that's messy"
Her - (Awake now) "If that's your ******* beer bottles again…"

Yes, I've had them go off after 6 months plus. They were in the study - and from the other side of the house I thought someone let off a 9mm (Vanilla with the nine). Glass and beer all over the study and SWMBO, who spends a lot of time there, was less than impressed.

May have been because I recently moved them - agitation or temperature differential - but jeez, it was impressive/scary.

 

[Vini2ton]

Join the army, get fully trained in bomb disposal, spend years ridding ricepaddies of land mines and unexploded shells. Then after that you'll still break out in a sweat when you approach those bottles. Bottle bombs are never safe.

 

[Blind Dog]

You want face shield and safety glasses .

He may or may not be wearing pants to check on potential bottle bombs and your advice is to wear a face shield and safety glasses? Priorities a bit mixed up there.

 

[Blind Dog]

And to answer the OP, the day you meet an honest politician.

 

[Yob]

It's more fun walking around the house with no pants... Who needs pants anyway?

It's more fun walking around the house with no pants... Who needs pants anyway?

Not JYO or Cocko..