Help please! possible bottles bombs

[Pete H]

Hi

I have just recently bottled a wilko pilsner kit with 1kg of free sugar plus 500g Light malt extract. It was in the fv for 2 weeks, the temps were quite cold so wrapped it in a couple of towels and the temp was approx 16-18 C. My OG was 1043 and my FG was 1012. Before bottling i transfered fv to the kitchen for a couple of days in the warm just to get any last sleeping yeast to kick in. After testing twice the FG had not changed so i bottled.

Now looking at a few reviews a lot of people have stated their FG is well below so now im worried.

What are my options? Your help at this stage would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Pete

 

[andyd]

Hi Pete

From what you describe I wouldn't be too worried. Obviously, if bottles start exploding then proceed very carefully! Otherwise though, once the beer is ready to drink (say 2 or 3 weeks after bottling) just try one. Make sure it's well chilled (since its Pilsner I guess you would do this anyway but it will help reduce the pressure in the bottles) and open over the sink just in case.

FG of 1012 might be a little high for a kit but it's not outside the range of possibilities in my experience.

Good luck

Andy

 

[LeedsBrewer]

1.012 will be fine. Probably a slightly stuck fermentation but i doubt it will cause you any problems. As said above, open the first bottle with caution and you'll be fine :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

How much priming sugar did you use?

 

[LeedsBrewer]

oh, and if you're worried about it, stick the bottles in carrier bags. 3 or 4 bottles per bag. This way if one does blow hopefully the glass won't go everywhere.

 

[fbsf]

1.012 should be fine - most of my coopers kits have finished around 1.010 so that's not a great deal of sugar left to ferment...

 

[Pete H]

Thanks for the quick reply lads

I currently have all my bottles in boxes wraped in a towel to keep a steady temp so if they do decide to explode there wont be too much mess!

I batch primed with 160gms of sugar as i like my lager quite fizzy so these might go off a bit when i open them!!!!

Just another quick question. I condition my bottles for 2 weeks in the warm and then up in the loft where i have an underbench lager fridge , if i keep them stored in the fridge for too long will they lose carbonation?

:

Pete

 

[pittsy]

no pete , the gas has nowhere to go , it'll stay that way for many years .

 

[Pete H]

Cheers for that pittsy, years it will never have especially the way it tasted b4 bottling. Think this could be a decent drink especially for the price and the extra spray malt should give it the kick it needs.

:

Pete

 

[Pete H]

I may have started world war 3!!!

My bottles have started to explode, HELP!!! does anyone have any suggestions?

There has only been 1 and after reading a few posts i hope to put this down to a dodgy bottle but i may not be that lucky!!!

I have kept these in the warm for 3 weeks due to the cold temps and when i went to transfer them into my loft, there it was.
I carefully opened one over the sink, it didnt explode like champagne but froth started coming out of the top so i slowly poured this into my glass and the head was rather large! Makes a difference from my under carbonated cerveza!

The only problem is, is it tastes great and only after 3 weeks this will be a gudn if my house does not erupt!

Is there anything that can be done or am i stuck with an over carbonated scrumpy still pilsner?

Thanks in advance

:

 

[PD]

if your bottles have screw caps, go round them all and loosen them to allow some gas to escape then re tighten immediately. keep the storage temps low.
If they are crown caps cool the bottles and drink ! carefully.


Oh the joys of homebrew

 

[alanywiseman.]

If you still have it have a look at the bottle the exploded. Is there an obvious fault?

Put the bottle in cold starage in boxes. If on explodes i can cause a chain reaction to if you split the batch into a few boxes it will help prevent this.

By the sounds of it is wasa faulty bottle but just be careful when handling the bottles and make sure and kids stay away from them :thumb:

 

[calumscott]

160g in 23l is 7g/l which is good fizzy stuff but not bottle bomb territory.

I call dodgy bottle too.

Where did you get your bottles from? Bottle bank or pub scavenging by any chance?

What kind of bottle was it?

 

[Pete H]

Piddledribble

They are all glass with crown caps. I have them up in the loft which is that cold at the moment ive been able to turn my fridge off!!!

Alan

The glass did not shatter, the crown cap was still on the top attached to about 1/3 of the bottle and there was about 4 or 5 pieces of the remaining bottle in the bottom of the box. I think i may bag them in 4 and seperate them into different boxes as you say because i dont want to lose many more.

Calum

The majority of my bottles came from my local pub so there is a big possiblity this had previously been used as a weapon and then discarded for finger prints, so im putting my money on faulty!!
It was a brown magners bottle!

 

[LeedsBrewer]

It's always worth inspecting your bottles before bottling and then a couple of weeks after bottling. I've found 3 from my first batch that now have cracks down them! Thankfully they didn't explode and I got them drunk quickly and discarded the bottles. Any slight defects in the bottles, chips or cracks will get a lot worse after a few weeks of pressure.

 

[calumscott]

The majority of my bottles came from my local pub so there is a big possiblity this had previously been used as a weapon and then discarded for finger prints, so im putting my money on faulty!!
It was a brown magners bottle!

Magners bottles are properly chunky, you wouldn't blow one of those with pressure alone at 7g/l priming.

Chalk it up to a mistreated bottle and experience. Might be worth doing a proper inspection of the rest and guzzling any with chips and recycling the bottles. :thumb:

 

[pittsy]

Pete , i have had this problem , my whole batch went in the end and although i over primed them (belgian candy syprup long story) i also bottled too early (it was a very high gravity start and stopped high which was stuck and i thought was finished) so i say at what reading did you bottle ? If your bottles are in a cold place already and have been for about a week then i fear your bottles are gonna blow , however if you've only had em up there a little while you might be in luck . The co2 from the priming will be in the top of the bottle mostly and it will be absorbed by the brew but until this they are at risk of blowing as there is too much the qusetion is has your brew already absorbed co2 if so you have to open them all and you could try re capping them . I thought when mine was like that it'll be fine but i lost the lot in a scary glass exploding few minutes ..p.s use safety glasses i had cuts all up my arms when they were exploding while i tried to open the rest (with glasses on) to avoid 30 plus bombs, i think around 10 or so blow and the rest which i opened fizzed all over the floor

 

[Pete H]

Pittsy

Thanks for the reply mate, i think i may do as you suggest and open these very carfully and re-cap as it would be a shame to let these go as thay are tasting good. My starting temp was 1046 and final was 1012 which i thought was a bit high so i think i had a stuck fermentation, transfered this to the warm for 3 days taking readings and it never budged so i bottled! I wont be doing the same mistake again and will use less sugar when priming aswell, say 120 grams. for a 21 litre brew

Thanks

 

[pittsy]

to be honest you shouldn't be getting bottle bombs with that details :wha: , maybe 1012 was high (if it was kit maybe yes) most of my brews are finishing around 1012/1014 (ag)
If i was you i would open a few and if foam flows out then yes open em all , but if not foaming bottles then you're most likely ok and it was just a dodgy bottle. remember safety glasses :hmm:

 

[Pete H]

i opened one when i got in from work and it didnt foam out of the top but i couldnt for the hell of me control the head no matter how slowly i poured so i took your advice and ive opened the lot and re-capped them. I hope now they will hold whatever remaining co2 there is and still have a decent fizz on them. Im going to leave these for a couple of weeks to help build the pressure back up if possible.

Cheers mate