Afraid my bottles might blow up

Make sure they stay cold in the fridge and undisturbed for a couple days before opening. Open slowly and carefully, letting the pressure escape a little at a time. If the beer tastes fine, you might have just over-primed a little. It's not that big a deal, bottle conditioning isn't all that precise. Sometimes they'll come out a little over-carbed.

Next time use a little less sugar. Four ounces for five gallons will still carbonate it just fine, but it will take a little longer. I "theoretically" use an ounce of corn sugar per gallon, but I will typically back off a little from that amount when actually measuring. I haven't found the "perfect" amount of sugar to use yet. Such a perfect quantity may not exist.

 

I actually had a bottle of my pale ale explode. Just one though, I blame not stirring my sugar well in my bottling bucket. The rest of my bottles were fine. Pop a couple more, and see where you are from there.

 

Yeah I didn't think of that. Did you make sure the sugar was well mixed when transferring from fermenter to bottling bucket? I put the sugar in first, then make sure the beer slowly swirls in a circle when filling. This ensures even distribution of the priming sugar.

 

Prior to bottling, did you check your gravity to confirm that the beer was finished fermenting?
If you bottled prior to the yeast finishing their job, then the yeast is still eating the sugars from the malt in addition to the priming sugar you added.
Being your first batch, if you haven't already read How to Brew or a similar resource, here's the chapter on bottling:http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11.html

 

Put the beers in a plastic storage container. That way if they explode, they don't get all over your stuff/living space. I've bottled in growlers before and I always put the growlers in plastic containers (because they'd be a disaster if they exploded). FWIW my growlers are all from Schlafly and none of them have ever exploded.

Also get them as cold as you can ASAP.

 

Are you sure you hit terminal gravity? 5oz in 5gallons sounds okay, I've done 5oz in four gallons and been okay.

 

Dude. I heard no-go on the growlers for bottle conditioning. Whats the trick?

 

I guess I never heard that advice, so I ignored it.

Those particular growlers are pretty strong with tight fitting lids. There is of course the chance they might explode tho. Thus, the plastic container. I only used them a few times when I didn't have enough bottles. Nowadays I have plenty of bottles.

 

No loss of carb since they are screw-on caps then? That is good news. Will have to give it a try. Plenty of growlers laying around

 

What was the final gravity before you primed it? Also, I agree to chill thoroughly and open slowly. Also a great idea to store in a plastic container until the bottle bomb thing gets figured out.

You don't have to chill the whole batch at one time. Keep 6ish in the fridge and rotate them in as you drink one.

Also, good job on a good tasting beer from your first batch.

 

None ever lost carbonation that I am aware of. I screw the lids on very tight, and the growlers are relatively new and of pretty high quality (I'm sure other breweries use the same style too). I never let them sit around long enough to "press my luck" tho. After about a month, I drink them (as long as the other bottles are carbed, which they always are).

 

It isn't nessessary to check more than twice if it is the same for both. 1.041 to 1.011 is about 73% attenuation. Depending on the yeast and actual recipe, you are fine. Like it was said earlier, chill them and open slowly. Also, the longer they sit the more particulates will settle out. These particulates provide a nucleation site for the co2. Chilling will help with this.

Probably a good idea to keep them in a plastic storage container anyway.