PET Bottles gas vol?

[Chookers]

I am sorry if this is not the right forum. I have searched on the web for this answer but have had trouble finding the answer.

My glass bottles 640ml amber beer bottles have a limit of 4 gas vols, but I can not find anywhere what the limit is on my Coopers PET bottles.. I was planning a Wheat beer which I have read are 3.6-4.5 vols, I don't want to do this if Im gonna end up with bombs..

I would probably go on the lower end anyway (3.6) to be on the safe side, and I think I will stay away from the glass regardless.

Does anyone out there know what the gas volume limit is on the Coopers PET bottles?

thanks

 

[Charst]

What kind of wheat beer? 3.5 and you'll have trouble getting it into a glass mate. Only big Belgian high alcohol things are done at that kind of volume of carbonation, an American wheat or hefe will be very nice bottled at 2.5 volumes

 

[Chookers]

Charst, I was going for a Hefe (which I haven't made yet). This will be only my second all grain so I was trying to get everything planed out before I even start.

I didn't know what the carb level should be, so I was just going off the bulk priming calculator http://www.aussiehomebrewing.com/AlcoholChart/PrimingCalculator.html
for Weissbier.

But I am more than happy to go with your suggestion of 2.5, the 3.6-4.5 really freaked me out.

Thanks for your response

 

[Charst]

Couple dodgy numbers in the list I reckon, (tripel 1.9 vol).
2.5 volumes is safe and pretty standard, so when you pour a your beer no one will be thinking "what the fks he done here".

 

[Chookers]

Haha.. thanks Charst, I will follow your advice and stick with the 2.5 volumes.. 76.6 grams of Dex for my 12.5L according to www.northernbrewer.com but I am going to check a few other calculators on the web just to be sure.

 

[Black n Tan]

A weizen is best with higher carbonation IMO. I'd go for 3.0 to 3.2 volumes. The pet bottle can handle much more than this BTW.

 

[Chookers]

What if I go down the middle and go 90g Dex per Litre?

I need a reliable calculator.. I have heard the general rule of thumb for Homebrew is 8g Table sugar per Litre, but I don't know what it would be for Dextrose (which is what I use)

 

[Charst]

My calc says dextrose at 8g a litre you'll get carbonation to 2.7. As BnT stated your bottles can go higher, 2.5 volumes is pretty standard for an American pale ale but I find I spend less time umming and ahhing about carbonation when I stick to 2.5 as a baseline for general styles. Some require less, some more, but in the end your the Brewer and you can have whatever you want in your beer.

 

[LAGERFRENZY]

My only experience with bottle bombs about twenty years ago stayed with me (and probably turned me off brewing for some of the interim period). Luckily the said bombs were located underneath a high-set old Queenslander and nowhere near the path of children. When the first volley of them went off one hot day they took out many of the bottles that they were crated along-side. When I got home that evening I was immediately despatched as the specialist bottle bomb defuser as I had now been promoted to. Shod with boots and with the protection of a Tontine pillow gaffered across the gut (to protect both the family jewels and vital organs) I swung into action with a bottle opener just praying that my number was not up that evening... Aah the blitz...

 

[TheWiggman]

If PET bottles get over carbed they tend to bulge out at the base. By this stage they are well and truly in 'spew out upon opening' territory. Don't worry about giving them too much, you'll ruin the beer far sooner than the bottles.
I've done a wheat brew at about 9.5g/l and that was acceptably fizzy in my opinion.

 

[Chookers]

thanks guys..

Wiggman, thanks for the measure, at least I have something to work off now... I think they should print the limit at least on the cardboard box you buy the PET bottles in though.

Lagerfrenzy I hope you were wearing swimming goggles too to protect your eyes.. When I made my first kit, I had my bottles onto of a cupboard full of bath towels, the bottles didn't so much explode as just crack in half, they even stayed upright, only the beer poured out (straight into the towel cupboard).. didn't make a sound apart from the splashing of beer.

 

[Chookers]

I suppose the most important thing should be to make 100% sure the beer has finished fermenting.. and not just stuck at 1020 (could it have finished? OG 1054).. like one of my brews, which I only let carb for a week before putting in the fridge as I was scared, but I left two PET bottles for the full two weeks before sticking them in the fridge. I opened one of the two week ones yesterday and it was just fine. The one week bottles are pretty much the same except they were all glass bottles.

neither bottles were highly carbed, I would say moderately fizzy.

 

[LAGERFRENZY]

thanks

Lagerfrenzy I hope you were wearing swimming goggles too to protect your eyes.. When I made my first kit, I had my bottles onto of a cupboard full of bath towels, the bottles didn't so much explode as just crack in half, they even stayed upright, only the beer poured out (straight into the towel cupboard).. didn't make a sound apart from the splashing of beer.

To be honest Chockers - I was not too worried about eye protection as the bottle bombs were stored just under waist height. Target of primary concern was the Wedding Tackle and it was quite gainfully employed in those days...