First bottle Bomb

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by jlordi12, Mar 21, 2016.

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  1. witster18

    witster18 Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2006 Tennessee

    if your calculations are right on the priming sugar.. then there's a couple of others things it can be attributed to... contamination... an entire batch can be fine but single beers can become contaminated... it's not an evil word.. it happens... a stray fruit fly before the cap gets on... a bottle with a stingy piece of whatever that didn't come out, or that didn't get killed by no-rinse sanitizer.. the other factor is too much yeast or sediment finding it's way into a particular bottle and giving the yeasties a little too much to eat and too small a toilet...
     
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  2. witster18

    witster18 Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2006 Tennessee

    take a santized brewing spoon or utensil and stir the solution before bottling.
     
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  3. witster18

    witster18 Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2006 Tennessee

    although, imo, if you're putting in the priming solution before racking, you shouldn't have much of an issue either way... likely one of the other factors I talked about.
     
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  4. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,291) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Not to belabor the point to you (but I'm going to for the benefit of other readers of this post), whether you put the sugar into the beer as a powder or in a boiled water solution, and whether you add it to the bottom of the bucket and rack on top of it, or if you add the sugar after the beer is already in the bottling bucket, most of that sugar will go right to the bottom of the bucket, or will mostly tend to stay there even with the racked beer flowing over it. The sugar is more dense than the beer and wants to stay on the bottom. Allowing the sugar/beer mix to sit awhile so that it 'dilutes' is not likely to work without some agitation to get it mixed well enough.

    Some gentle stirring with a a bottom-to-top motion with my large sanitized spoon before the first bottle is filled, and then several times throughout the bottling process is the way I do it. Maybe it's overkill, maybe not. But it doesn't take much effort to do it, and I never worry about inconsistent carbonation.
     
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  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    That is exactly what I do but I should caveat that I only stir once right after the bottling bucket is full.

    Cheers!
     
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  6. chavinparty

    chavinparty Zealot (641) Jan 4, 2015 New Hampshire

    We've been down this road but I never even stir if the simple syrup is in the bucket to begin with and the racking creates a stirring motion I don't see the point. Never had a problem, but I usually carbonate on the lower end of the spectrum as well in case of extra fermentation
     
  7. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    Thanks for actually taking the time to elaborate on practices vs. just being curt.
     
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  8. Teton

    Teton Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2013 Colorado

    What was the temp of the beer when you bottled? I cold crashed a beer before bottling, and read that the lower the temp the more residual CO2 and therefore the less sugar needed to achieve the desired carbonation levels. (disclaimer, I'm very new to brewing and may be totally off with the above statement)
     
  9. KeyWestGator

    KeyWestGator Savant (1,147) Jan 21, 2013 Florida
    Trader

    While it is true that a cold liquid can hold more CO2 in solution, in this case that is not what happens. Chilling the beer does not magically suck more CO2 back into it. It will only have what it had at its warmest temp (unless you put it under pressure). You should put that warmest temp into the priming calculator.
     
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  10. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,807) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Society

    @jlordi12 have you tried prying any more open yet? I'm thinking the verdict is bad bottle. I've had this happen before on a few bottles that were overlooked when I was sanitizing. They all blew within the first 2 weeks but the rest of the batch tasted great. It's still scary handling them though... I suggest wearing safety goggles, a baseball cup and chain mail!
     
  11. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,176) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah Society

    If you don't stir, it could take a while for diffusion to take place. If you stir gently, and give it a few minutes, you should be ok. I usual add sugar first so that it continually dilutes while racking, and then stir gently with a sanitize spoon 4 or 5 stirs
     
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  12. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,844) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    The rest are fine. I'm thinking it was a hairline crack in the bottle
     
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