I've never really thought about this before, but has anyone had their homebrew bottles explode at altitude? I know regular beers don't explode, but then again they are professionally made. I'm going to Tahoe for Xmas and my batch will be ready for it's first taste on Christmas Eve, so I want to bring some up there (around 6,000 - 7,000 ft). Do I need to be concerned at all? Thanks in advance!
Atmospheric pressure at 7000ft is about 79% of sea level, or about 4psi (absolute) less than down there. The 'gage' pressure of a pressurized object will increase similarly, i.e. a tire inflated to 32psig at sea level will read about 36psig at 7000ft. Beer in bottles or kegs will behave similarly, but if you look at carbonation tables, a relative increase of 4psi (at constant temperature) is only equivalent to 0.3 volumes or so - not enough to worry about (letting a cold bottle warm up to room temp increases pressure more). You might notice a slightly fizzier pour if you're looking for it but it will probably escape your notice. No bottles will explode unless, as at sea level, you drop them or something (or if they were destined to be bottle bombs at sea level). I went to college at 7000ft and briefly worked in a couple of pubs in CO ski towns. The pressure difference would wreak minor havoc with sea level kegs right after tapping but they settled down pretty quickly. However, the effect of alcohol on you is significantly increased at altitude... I'd plan to back off by about a third to stay in familiar territory.
