Exploding Homebrew

Letting them sit will not prevent bottle bombs. A bit of over carbonation and/or a weak bottle is all you need. You can reduce the likelihood of bottle bombs by chilling, but that's only an option after the beer is fully carbed - usually too late.

I use 5 gallon SS 'bottles', so I've never had a bottle bomb. If I ever have one, it will be a doozie!

That said, I actually did have a bottle bomb, of sorts. I was storing some yeast in a .5 liter flip top bottle in the fridge. That bottle simply broke. Nothing spectacular.

 

I woke up in the middle of the night to something akin to a gunshot. I went to the living room and kitchen looking for something that fell and crashed. It wasn't until I walked by my beer cabinet that I smelled beer and opened it. The entire cabinet was splashed with one bottle's worth of beer. It took forever to clean up and I placed the rest of the batch in a bucket but I never had another one explode. Bad sugar distribution I guess.

 

Never had a homebrew bottle shatter but have had an Imperial Sout Trooper bottle spontaneously break and go unnoticed in the cellar for quite some time. What a moldy mess!

 

"Just wanna hear some funny stories of beer going kerpluey!!"

I've read some very unfunny stories about broken glass and emergency room visits. My only experience was with some commercial brew that exploded in my car. I did get a shard of glass in my hand when was cleaning up my beer soaked floor mats. It didn't require an emergency room visit, so this registered pretty high on the laugh-meter.

 

Just had a Peat Smoked Porter that I put in a local brewery what I'll call "mini growler". Went to the cellar to grab some brews to put in the fridge for last nights grill-out, and the first thing I spot is this growler on its side with no bottom. Cheap ass bottle with what I'll assume is a weak spot near the bottom left beer and glass all over. The wife then tells me she heard glass shatter early in the morning (after a late night out, so I didn't budge). Not so much a bottle bomb as a weak bottle.

 

I had an infection sweep my brewery 2 years ago. One of my beers, a second runnings session stout, was carbing in the case of paper boxes I use to store my bottles, in my bedroom, on my wife's unused vanity (mid 60's in our room in the winter). One morning she was getting ready for work while I was still asleep and all the sudden I woke up to a pop and the tink of glass. I thought, no, that can't be. Sure nough, there was a small amount of liquid starting to drip from the bottom of the box onto the carpet. Rushed to the garage to grab an empty rubbermaid tote, slid it under the box to collect the beer, began moving all the bottles to the fridge. No other casualties.

 

not a bomb per se. but i had two bottles of vanilla oatmeal stout blow up in the back of my car during transport. i think i had reused them a bunch of times and they were just old. my car smelled freaking great. in my opinion (not my wife or kids...)

 

I almost took out my wife with a over-carbonated bottle. I was opening and pouring them in the sink and one had enough built up pressure that it propelled out of my hand and was about 3" away from hitting my wife in the head. Luckily it missed but, then continued to spin on the floor and empty it's contents on the walls. That was almost my last batch of homebrew but, luckily my wife has a good sense of humor.

 

I had a growler of homebrew hefeweizen go on my. Middle of the night, of course. Frm under the sink in my kitchen.
I heard what sounded like a book hitting a carpeted floor. Wasn't sure what it was but didn't see anything wrong in my bedroom or living room, so I went back to sleep.
Walking past through the kitchen into the bathroom the next morning, (I lived in a small apartment at the time) I suddenly, sleepily wondered why I was sticking to the floor.
Yeah. I'll never use an Opa-Opa growler again.

 

I know...we both stared at each other for at least 5min trying to comprehend if that actually happened. Let's just say that convinced her to let me purchase a kegging system

 

I only brew brett beers and haven't had one yet (fingers crossed). I only use Orval bottles (good excuse to drink plenty of Orval) and do a visual inspection of each bottle before bottling.

 

I had an APA that sat for 8 weeks in primary and secondary, terminal gravity for almost 4 weeks, blow up. Weak bottles.

 

<.speechless>

Curious...Anal...Kerpluey.
Woke up in the middle of the night...moldy mess...cheap ass...liquid starting to drip from the bottom
Luckily my wife has a good sense of humor...I was sticking to the floor

Funny how we enjoy the smell more than anyone else.
We both stared at each other for at least 5min trying to comprehend if that actually happened.
Let's just say that convinced her.

<./speechless>