Bottle bomb or bad bottle?

[Ryghar]

I just found a broken bottle from my Black IPA made from an all grain kit from Morebeer. It didnt explode or anything it just looks like the bottom of the bottle fell off. The beer was kept in a kitchen cabinet and when I found it today the spilled beer had already dried and I see some mold residues

This batch had a OG of 1.063 and FG 1.015 (stable with for 5 days between checking gravity). I bottled with the pre-packaged 4oz of corn sugar and I got exactly 48 bottles.

I bottled August 30th. Should I be concerned about bombs or was this just a bad bottle?

 

[Waynep005]

I would open another bottle or two at random. If they seem to be properly carbed I wouldn't worry. If they are way overcarbed or gushers I would be worried. I would open the bottles outside just in case.

 

[Dustinj]

It was probably cracked. Ive yet to have a bomb but I hear it's loud and glass goes every where. I just cracked open an IPA that I over carbed. I'm lucky they didn't go off. I'm going to straight to kegging next batch.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Just had my first bottle bomb this past week, and it was exactly like you described, the bottom just sheared off. It was a Hoegaarden (sp?) bottle with the Witbier that I had bottled back in April so not sure why it just now decided to 'splode!

 

[mikescooling]

One way or another, I would cool those suckers down. Treat them as if they could explode in your face.

 

[Ryghar]

I just opened one and it seems perfectly carbonated. No sign of over carbonation. Just to be safe Im gonna put the remainder of the bottles in a Rubber maid tote since it did make quite a mess in my kitchen cabinet and some beer probably soaked into the wood.

I chilled the beer before opening it and it tastes great btw! Nice and hoppy with a nice roasted flavor as well.

 

[Ryghar]

One way or another, I would cool those suckers down. Treat them as if they could explode in your face.

I can probably put about 4 six-packs in my fridge. I dont have second fridge/beer fridge. Since I live in south Texas I keep my AC at 78F. Will this make bottle bombs worse?

 

[Setesh]

Just to be safe Im gonna put the remainder of the bottles in a Rubber maid tote since it did make quite a mess in my kitchen cabinet and some beer probably soaked into the wood.

That's a VERY good idea. I had a few infected batches from a cracked stir bar. I had a few go off and they took their neighbors with them. It was insanely loud when they went, and I had pieces of glass stuck in the sheet rock behind the shelf they were sitting on, and ALL over the room Scary stuff. I cranked the window unit down to 60 before I moved them to tubs. I dressed up like I was going into a briar patch too, face shield and all. I went to PET bottles after that, then to Kegging as soon as I got the equipment.

 

[Setesh]

...I keep my AC at 78F. Will this make bottle bombs worse?

Yes. It definitely will. The rule is something like for every 10 degrees of temperature reactions double. So your beer will build carbonation twice as fast at 78 as at 68. Heard that on the Brew Strong show from Jamil so I assume it's semi accurate. At any rate, the cooler it is the slower the reactions will happen, the warmer it is the faster they will happen.

 

[Ryghar]

It was insanely loud when they went, and I had pieces of glass stuck in the sheet rock behind the shelf they were sitting on, and ALL over the room Scary stuff.

This is not at all what happened to me. The bottle just looks like the bottom cracked and fell off. I probably wasnt home when it happened or it cant have been very loud. Also there was barley any splattered beer on the inside of the cabinet.

I hope it was just a bad bottle but just to be sure I put half of it in my fridge, to stop the process, and the other half in the tote.

 

[dracus]

Sometimes bottles do break. It happens. They get scratched or have flaws.

If you're going to have bombs its not going to be 1 its going to be half or all of the batch. It possible to have the sugar unevenly distributed but even if that happens its still going to be multiple bottles.

 

[Setesh]

This is not at all what happened to me. The bottle just looks like the bottom cracked and fell off. I probably wasnt home when it happened or it cant have been very loud. Also there was barley any splattered beer on the inside of the cabinet.

I hope it was just a bad bottle but just to be sure I put half of it in my fridge, to stop the process, and the other half in the tote.

Yeah, that sounds promising. Hopefully you'll be fine. Taking precautions like you did was the smart move. You'll know more when you start popping them open. If some are overcarbed and some are under then your priming sugar didn't mix well. If they are all overcarbed then it could be infection or too much priming sugar.

 

[DaNewf]

I've only lost one bottle since I started brewing nearly two years ago and it was in exactly the same manner as you described. The bottom came off the bottle in a single piece. The rest of the batch was fine. I chaulked it up to a bad bottle figuring it must have taken a smack somewhere along the way.

 

[Hopper5000]

I would just monitor it. If you start to see the caps crowning then that mean's there is too much pressure building up in to. The rubbermaid bucket is a really good idea. There is a thread on here were a guy basically ruined his couch and carpet in his living room from a bad batch. He had to put it in the shower and it made a mess in there too

 

[azazel1024]

This is not at all what happened to me. The bottle just looks like the bottom cracked and fell off. I probably wasnt home when it happened or it cant have been very loud. Also there was barley any splattered beer on the inside of the cabinet.

I hope it was just a bad bottle but just to be sure I put half of it in my fridge, to stop the process, and the other half in the tote.

I had something similar happen with my second batch.

About a week after bottling I noticed my storage room smelled kind of sweet and beery.

I looked around and noticed that one of my 24 pack boxes was looking a little deflatted in a corner. I opened it and one bottle had the bottom broken out of it (in 1 large piece and two very small pieces). It must have happened at least 4-8hrs earlier based on the state of drying. No other damage to anything and that was at least a month ago with no other bottle dying since. None of the bottles have been overcarbed. All perfect.

I suspect either a defect in the bottle (weird because they are all used bottles) or else the bottle was damaged at some point. Local club member suggested it might have been a single bottle that wasn't effectively cleaned and got infected. Possible, but seems doubtful to me since it was a pretty clean break.

Oh well, hasn't happened since.

 

[azazel1024]

Sometimes bottles do break. It happens. They get scratched or have flaws.

If you're going to have bombs its not going to be 1 its going to be half or all of the batch. It possible to have the sugar unevenly distributed but even if that happens its still going to be multiple bottles.

I was also worried about this with my latest batch. I didn't mix the sugar in very well (lesson learned, boil the bottling sugar in a small amount of water and let cool first, mixes better). I didn't discover until the last 5-6 bottles that there was still maybe a quarter ounce of sugar coating the bottom of the bottling bucket. So I gently stirred it up and bottled the last few. I that six pack in to a cooler for a week and they were fine.

I pulled them out a few days ago and I've been drinking that six pack first. No issues so far, though the first bottle (which was the last one bottled) was a bit more noticably carbed than the first bottle I tried from the batch (which was not one of the over sugared one) a week earlier.

When in doubt, stick it/them in a cooler or rubber maid contianer.

 

[Ryghar]

Its comforting to hear that more people have had similar experience with only one bottle getting destroyed. I opened another beer from this batch today and the carbonation is the same as the one I tried yesterday.

I did dissolve the priming sugar in boiling water and put it in the bottom of the bottling bucket and stirred gently after racking my beer so the sugar should have been well mixed.