Woke up to the smell of Beer!

[scomet]

Nothing unusual there, not asleep on the Tap Room floor check, omg a leaking keg! nope, thinks; fark, I bottled a batch of Boh-Pils for a mate for Christmas in Grolsch bottles, BOOM! beer everyf*where.
I never use glass bottles apart from Champagne, the beer was well fermented stopped at 1006 and I used 1 carb drop per 450ml bottle I thought 'Grolschies' would take that sort of pressure, obviously wrong!! I opened all the remaining bottles and they had quite low pressure but were well carbonated. Any opinion from folks who use these flip top lids would be appreciated b4 I chuck out about 4 mt cases out. Thx in advance, cheers scomet. ps the beer was amazeballs….

 

[Ronwales]

Nothing unusual there, not asleep on the Tap Room floor check, omg a leaking keg! nope, thinks; fark, I bottled a batch of Boh-Pils for a mate for Christmas in Grolsch bottles, BOOM! beer everyf*where.
I never use glass bottles apart from Champagne, the beer was well fermented stopped at 1006 and I used 1 carb drop per 450ml bottle I thought 'Grolschies' would take that sort of pressure, obviously wrong!! I opened all the remaining bottles and they had quite low pressure but were well carbonated. Any opinion from folks who use these flip top lids would be appreciated b4 I chuck out about 4 mt cases out. Thx in advance, cheers scomet. ps the beer was amazeballs….

I've had the same problem, i have gotten rid of the swingtops since. They are actually made of pretty thin bottles.

 

[MHB]

If you think about it, it wasn't the swing top that gave way, so not really fair to blame the closure, bit like blaming the crown seals if a bottle under one of them goes.
To my mind being in Grolschies will make it easy.
Put on your gloves and eye ware
Load the bottles in the fridge
Cool overnight or until the beer is under 4oC
Take the bottles out one at a time and very gently flip up the leaver allowing any excess pressure out.
If you notice that some bottles are violently more foamy than the average, put them back in the fridge for a couple more hours/overnight and degas again, repeat until similar to average.

Did something similar with a batch of Dunkel Weise once, stuffed up the bulk priming calculation, it wasn't all that hard to vent them down.
Mark

 

[scomet]

I wasn't blaming the swing top, just referring to the bottle style - going in the bin! Back to my Coles soda PEPs' the new 2ltr 'Big Weekender Stubbie' is a ripper - Cheers....

 

[YAPN]

the new 2ltr 'Big Weekender Stubbie' is a ripper

What's this thing you speak of.
HBS said they were getting 2lt/5lt PET in by the end of the year. Have they arrived?

 

[kadmium]

What's this thing you speak of.
HBS said they were getting 2lt/5lt PET in by the end of the year. Have they arrived?

He mentioned Coles soda bottles so I'm guessing he's using PET bottles from Coles brand soda water?

 

[cedric]

Nothing unusual there, not asleep on the Tap Room floor check, omg a leaking keg! nope, thinks; fark, I bottled a batch of Boh-Pils for a mate for Christmas in Grolsch bottles, BOOM! beer everyf*where.
I never use glass bottles apart from Champagne, the beer was well fermented stopped at 1006 and I used 1 carb drop per 450ml bottle I thought 'Grolschies' would take that sort of pressure, obviously wrong!! I opened all the remaining bottles and they had quite low pressure but were well carbonated. Any opinion from folks who use these flip top lids would be appreciated b4 I chuck out about 4 mt cases out. Thx in advance, cheers scomet. ps the beer was amazeballs….

did the glass break or did the tops fly off?
'never use glass bottles' where they old grolshies, were the seals perished?
i just bottled a batch of powderkeg GB with a combo of grolsch, new HBS flips & a few 330ml beer bottles.
i was nervous about GB stories, but i think that i'd be more nervous about ginger bug style, where you have to release pressure every day.
a search of people experiences using grolsch bottles seems to be positive, with a few admitting to bombs caused by early bottling and carbonation mistakes.
one other consideration i have, how did you fill the bottles.
straight from the fermenter? maybe the later bottles got some extra suspended yeast?
why would some explode and some be quite flat?
one old thread somewhere said that the grolsch company reckoned their bottles were rated to 70-80 PSI
i'm comparatively new to AG and still bottle everything, next step is kegging hopefully, so it interests me.
i have a big cupboard full of beer conditioning in bottles

 

[RRising]

I have used a few swing tops a brewer mate bought from our local HBS, the quality was really good as least as thick as the coopers long necks i have used in the past but i have found them to be more trouble than they're worth. I have had a couple of swing tops explode off when opening (the dent in the shed roof is still there ) or it doesn't quite seal properly.

I have never had any trouble with crown seals or the ones you use on PET bottles.

 

[scomet]

did the glass break or did the tops fly off?

BOOM shattered, the bottles were virtually new, seals perfect. Q/ how much gas space should i be leaving? it was about 20mm do they need more? my mates wife uses them for kombucha and has never had a problem! No way they were anywhere near 80psi..

Thx Guys

 

[Grmblz]

I've had Grolsch bottles explode for no apparent reason, as Mark says it's easy enough to burp them, and their size is convenient, but I don't use them any more, they make me nervous, champagne bottles with tirage crown caps, job done.

 

[scomet]

What's this thing you speak of.

Correct kadmium, Triumph Brewings new 2ltr stubbie. These Coles soda water bottles are brilliant, cheap hold spectacular pressure I brew 25ltr 19 in the keg balance in soda bottles for mates

 

[kadmium]

Other than light strike, that's a great idea! You can also serve from them for a picnic etc as mini little 2l kegs with a picnic tap and crab tpiece lol!

 

[cedric]

i use the bottle wand, and whatever space it leaves in the neck.
40mm in a 640ml bottle and 50mm in a grolsch.

BTW just seen your image with tetley's, one of my favourite pints.
note to self-must try a tetley clone

 

[donald_trub]

I have used a few swing tops a brewer mate bought from our local HBS, the quality was really good as least as thick as the coopers long necks i have used in the past but i have found them to be more trouble than they're worth. I have had a couple of swing tops explode off when opening (the dent in the shed roof is still there ) or it doesn't quite seal properly.

This was pretty much my experience back when I bottled. The brown swing tops from the LHBS are quite thick, so I never worried about them breaking. The seals were the disappointing part. Nothing worse than taking a few prized homebrews away on a camping trip only to crack open a flat beer.

 

[scomet]

Other than light strike,

Once bottled they go into cardboard boxes to mitigate that likely hood and are kept at 18c ; never had a single failure or under carbonated beer, I carefully nip the lids up tight to ensure a good seal, they dont need returning just chucked in the recycling - Cheers Guys...

 

[peterlonz]

Quote: "champagne bottles with tirage crown caps, job done."
I have always thought Champagne bottles to be unuseable for home brewing because I could never find a suitable top.
Have I missed something all these years?
BTW I have (like most folks) used swing top Grolsch bottles, & in my experience they have been entirely trouble free if a bit pricey to acquire.

 

[Grmblz]

https://hoppydaysbrewingsupplies.com.au/product/bottle-caps-tirage-100/
You will need a different bell for your capper 29/31mm Capper Bell - Suits Tirage(Champagne) Caps - My Slice of Life

Be aware that not all cappers are the same, and the bell will not fit the cheap Chinese ones, and the KL one I'm pretty sure wont work, if you have one of these automaticas' then no problem Super Automatica Bottle Capper - My Slice of Life

For highly carbonated beers, or extra long storage RIS, Barley wine etc (a couple of years or more) they are hard to beat.

My better half drinks "water or bubbles, with an occasional G&T) so I have a virtually endless supply.

 

[Sago]

My first brew after a long layoff saw me suffer the dreaded bottle bombs.I use mainly Crown lager bottles and it was four of these buggers that let go.Cause most likely from using dry enzyme as I am type 2 diabetic.None of the 8 Grolch bottles blew up though.I suited up in my PPE from the RFS and cracked all the caps to let out pressure.Lost the contents of two more bottles from gushing but saved the rest.
Next brew was bottled in Coopers pet bottles with no ptoblems but I just prefer glass.
The 40 pet bottles are now used for cider for the missus and daughter.
I reckon the Grolch bottles are thicker than most and I love the 450 ml size as they fit nicely into a pint beer glass or German beer steins.The dozen Coopers long neck bottles are not used yet because I don't like to leave half a bottle opened for the 6 minutes it takes to quaff the first half bottle.
This home brew lark is fascinating and I love the trial and error aspect of our sport.!!

De gustibus non est disputandum.