Exploding Bottles.

[Boxerbrewing38 2]

Hey guys i know this is a problem that has plagued us at some point or another. I think i have ever only had 6 bottles blow up on me in about 4 years I have been very fortunate till now lol. I made a standard vinna lage kit i added 1cup brown sugar 2 tsp of vanilla and about 2 tbsps of cinnamon. I have made this before without the vanilla. I bottled them no problemm. put my vinyl labels on them.
put them back down in the brewery and i have now had 6 bottles explode. When i saw explode i mean the biggest peice i have found was about the size od a quarter. I can't figure it out please help. I'm not sure if some how it got shook up to much if thats even possible. just trying to figure out why this happen so i can prevent it next time i make this recipie. CHEERS

[dferron 0]

Sorry for the wasted beer and the mess.

There are a couple of things I can think of right away without any additional information.
1. you bottled too early and fermentation was not yet complete
2. you primed with too much sugar

The first could be removed if you had taken a hydro test and you hit your FG mark.
The second could have been tsp to tbsp.

I suppose an infection could be a cause, but someone else should address it.

[mashani 2]

Yeah, if you didn't overprime or bottle before the yeast fermented to it's FG, then it's possilbe you have something else in there fermenting the more complex sugars.

Have you tasted those beers? If not, try one, see if it tastes weird, although based on what you are saying, you might find that the entire beer blows out the top when you crack it open, so be careful.

[texasbrewer0069 0]

I had a similar thing happen with a stuck fermentation batch... it never got to FG... it was done or so I thought... got to drink a few even then the ones at room temp started blowing up like crazy...
it is unfortunate but may have more than one cause ...
As stated either you bottled too early or is infected...

[Screwy Brewer 61]

I've only had 1 bottle bomb and it was a growler that I refilled with a batch of my beer that eventually got thrown out because of an infection. Even though the 12 ouncers gushed like crazy when opened they were strong enough to not explode.

[SmokeDiver3zero 0]

CAUSES:

Too much priming sugar

The amount of priming sugar added to a beer before bottling is directly proportional to the final carbonation level. Residual yeast in the beer ferments the priming sugar, producing alcohol and CO2. Because the beer is capped, all of the CO2 dissolves in the beer, carbonating it. However if too much priming sugar is added, the pressure from the CO2 can rise to a point where the bottle bursts, creating a “bottle bomb”.

When using either corn sugar (Dextrose) or dried malt extract, do not exceed ¾ cup or 1 ¼ cups per 5 gallons of beer respectively.

Priming sugar poorly mixed

Priming sugar is usually added to a bottling bucket in the form of a sanitized solution, either before or after the beer is added. If the sugar solution is not well mixed in the beer, then some bottles will receive high doses or priming sugar, and other an insufficient amount. The end results is the bottles will have an uneven carbonation level, ranging from low to high, and bottles with high levels of carbonation potentially exploding.

When priming sugar is added to beer before bottling, it should be gently mixed with something like a sanitized long handle spoon to ensure that the solution is evenly distributed throughout the beer.

Bacterial infection

There are a number of beer spoiling bacteria that can also cause over-carbonation problems. For instance, lactobacillus produces lactic acid, ethanol and CO2 as major products of Glucose fermentation. If this happens inside of a beer bottle, it will increase the the carbonation level of the beer, and can CO2 can rise to the point where the bottle explodes, although it is more common for the bottle to turn in to a gusher, where upon opening the bottle, the beer gushes out in the form of a dense foam.

The only prevention for this situation are good sanitary practices throughout the brewing process.

[yankeedag 24]

:borg: Well covered Beerborg.

[Boxerbrewing38 2]

so from all the advice i have come to the conclusion that the beer had not finished fermenting as i ha though it did. each bottle got excatly the same amount of sugar due to the mr beer sugar thing-a-majig. looks like i should have let it sit for a while. however i am happy to report that so far only 6 have exploded nothing like coming home from working night shift to have to clean up glass instead of going to bed. o well lesson learned. all of my beer will now sit a week longer than i normally let it sit. thanks guys for all the advice i really appreciate it

[mnstarzz13 1]

how old or how many times have your bottles been used? not sure but i'd guess they could have weakened especially if you bake them to sanitize....just shooting another idea out there.

[dferron 0]

The best tool to tell you when fermentation is complete is a hydrometer. They are an inexpensive addtion to you beer making utnesils. MB offers them with the sample tube ... the only way to go.

Here is the link:
http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/932/nm/Hydrometer_10_Sample_Tube1

[Brian1179 0]

ive never had a bottle explode, knock on wood. :laugh: :laugh: :woohoo: :woohoo: