First bottle Bomb

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

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  1. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    been brewing for almost six years now. Kegging for most of that, but bottling occasionally. I had my first bomb go off on Sunday morning. Weird. Used an online calculator to determine priming sugar (weighed). Mix solution every 6 - 12 bottles. Full attenuated beer. Chalking it up to bad bottle but now I'm not really feeling good about moving the rest of them into the fridge in fear of mass destruction.
     
  2. runbirddrinkbeer

    runbirddrinkbeer Pooh-Bah (1,722) Oct 24, 2009 Florida
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    hopefully just a bad bottle, but there is a youtube video solely dedicated to safely venting bottles. Chilling them right away is also a great idea to slow carbonation and drive co2 back into solution. My one brush with bottle bombs was due to a stuck fermentation so if you were fully attenuated this is less likely. How much priming sugar for how much beer and style?
     
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  3. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    Did you add the priming sugar to the entire batch and let it dilute for 20-30 minutes before bottling?
     
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  4. ChrisMyhre

    ChrisMyhre Initiate (0) Sep 15, 2013 Massachusetts

    Probably contaminated. It wouldn't be crazy for some gunk to be stuck in a single bottle and cause an infection. If other bottles seem overcarbed there's probably a larger contamination issue.
     
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  5. MCBanjoMike

    MCBanjoMike Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2014 Canada (QC)

    I've had some mild gushers lately, which I think is a sign that my cleaning/sanitizing regimen might need a bit of improvement. I often eyeball how much water I'm using when I sanitize my bottles, and I'm starting to think that I've been over-diluting my StarSan. Thankfully, nothing has exploded just yet...
     
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  6. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Added it to the entire batch and immediately started filling? Never heard of waiting, is that common practice?
     
  7. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    That would really stink, these bottles were pretty spotless
     
  8. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    It's not. Nor is it necessary.
     
  9. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Well, it was an APA and I shot for 2.4 volumes. What may have been a factor is the lines on the bottling bucket. It was slightly over 5 gallons, I think I punched in 5.1 or 5.2 into the calculator. I suppose if those lines were more like 4.8 gallons I would have some issues, but not enough to explode a bottle I wouldn't suspect.
     
  10. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Did you gently stir to ensure proper mixing of the sugar solution with the beer?

    Cheers!
     
  11. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Jack , I did a gentle stir every several bottles.
     
  12. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I do not understand what "every several bottles" means but if you performed a gentle stir then you should have proper mixing. Below is something I posted a while back describing my bottling process:

    "I add the priming sugar (as a water/sugar solution) to my bottling bucket and then rack the beer (5 gallons) on top of the water/sugar solution. After the beer has been transferred I gently stir the beer using my racking cane to ensure that the sugar is properly mixed with the beer."

    Cheers!
     
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  13. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Jack, same technique except I leave the top to the bottling bucket only loosely secured and mix the solution a few times during the process in hopes of avoiding bottle bombs

    Edit: I poured the solution on top of the already racked beer and then mixed
     
  14. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I just can't picture in my mind's eye what you are doing here. Can you please expound on what exactly you are doing with your sugar solution?

    I can't fathom why you would choose to not just place the sugar solution on the bottom of the bottling bucket and siphon the beer on top of the sugar solution.

    Cheers!
     
  15. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Jack, I took a spoon and mixed the beer and priming sugar together with the top of the bucket off. Put top back on bottle several more bottles, rinse repeat
     
  16. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    This is a common practice and it is advocated for by John Palmer in How to Brew.

    I won't argue as to whether or not it's necessary, but it's worked well for me so far.
     
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  17. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    So, you added portions of the sugar solution a bit at a time throughout the transfer duration? I would have never conceived of that. It seems that as long as the net result is proper mixing this method should 'work'?

    Solely based upon my personal experiences I would suggest that you 'simplify' things and just add the sugar solution once at the beginning of the transfer and then perform a few gentle swirls at the end of the transfer, I have bottled 370 batches this way (so far) and I have always had consistent carbonation levels using this method (no bottle bombs).

    Cheers!
     
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  18. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    No. Palmer advocates waiting if adding sugar directly to the fermenter, not when racking beer on top of priming solution in a bottling bucket. Priming in the fermenter is not common. Neither is waiting when using a bottling bucket.
     
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  19. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    He stirred after every few bottles, that's all.
     
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  20. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    Fair enough. Went back and read this for clarification. Still seems like a good practice to let the solution dilute evenly. Cheers.
     
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