Lesson Learned

[Matplat]

Morning all,

Just thought I would share a recent experience so hopefully you can all avoid it happening to you.

I bottled a batch on sunday night. While filling a bottle, hop matter caused the bottling valve to get stuck open and the bottle subsequently was filled to the brim as I was withdrawing it from the bottling wand.

I didn't think much of it and capped it as it was.

That bottle burst last night and made a mess, fortunately no real damage was done (except now my wife wants me to keep all beer in the garage which is way too hot for conditioning!) but it showed me that apparently head space in a bottle is a necessity, not a waste of bottling volume.

Before you ask, yes I'm sure the batch was done fermenting and was not over primed.

Hopefully you can all learn from my mistake.

Cheers, Matt

 

[Liam_snorkel]

it will be expensive, but you might have to replace the wife.

Best of luck.

 

[marksy]

I`ve never had a problem and that`s quick to blow up. Like 2 days? Bottle bombs suck regardless. I`d ditch the valve, it`ll speed things up dramatically, just have to be good on the tap.

 

[Weizguy]

I`ve never had a problem and that`s quick to blow up. Like 2 days? Bottle bombs suck regardless. I`d ditch the valve, it`ll speed things up dramatically, just have to be good on the tap.

Are you talking about the bottle or his missus blowing up? (* spelling)

Water is incompressible, unlike air in the headspace. A dangerous lesson to learn the hard way. Glad you're well, Matt.

 

[spog]

O T ish for bottling, a bloke I work with ditched his bottling wand and uses a length of silicone hose instead,the hose is attatched to the tap the tap is turned on and with a row of bottles set up simply let it flow.
To stop just pinch then onto the next bottle,he has a clip attatched which is hooked up above the fermentor to stop the flow while he caps and sets the the next lot up ready for filling.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Bottling wand all the way, pvc tube from fermenter tap to wand with all the bottles on the floor or table, fermenter up a bit higher, take the bottle filler to the bottle, not the other way round


As for Head Space.

Its essential. A full to the brim bottle is very handy to ISIS and it wont take much for it to go off. Even though you "think" it has stopped fermenting it hasnt. It will still continue to ferment for a few weeks. Carbonation is a result of this. A bottle is a sealed fermenter.

You need space for the gas to go, and the beer can only take some much, and under hydraulic law, you cant compress liquid, so if its full of beer to the brim it wont take long for them to go pop

Big Stiouts and RIS can take months to ferment out fully, which is why you under prime them

 

[Matplat]

Yeah fluid incompressibility was the only theory i could come up with, but i figured (at the time) the yeast would only generate a certain amount of pressure regardless of conditions, and whether it is liquid pressure or gas pressure I didnt think it would make a difference.... but I was clearly wrong! Oh well still got 29 bottles left....

 

[Matplat]

I wonder if I would have had the same problem if the bottle had been a crown seal (because those bottles are all much heavier, not because of the seal)? This one was a twisty which contributed to the problem.....

 

[Liam_snorkel]

probably both. the other thing to consider on top of the gas reaching solubility limit in the liquid is temperature - if you fermented at 18deg and the bottle (once sealed, and carbonation started to take place) - the same volume at say 30deg ambient will have increased a couple of ml. Glass doesn't stretch much.. If there was truly zero head space - kablammo!

 

[Mikeyr]

Commiserations..... you'll be finding spots of mould for months .... I had a lager I thought was done, totally lagered and had sitting in a cube ready to rack the next day, swelled up like a balloon over a very warm Sydney night, rolled off the bench ...... mess was biblical ......

New brewing formula: Missing headspace = missing head .......... good to know, didn't find that in Palmer!

 

[Dave70]

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,001 ways that won’t work