r/Homebrewing • u/rwalsh1981 • 1d ago
Over carbonated?
I was just trying to open a bottle of a recent batch of home brew, when I did it exploded on me. Losing almost the entire bottle, I went to a second bottle (from the same batch) and the same thing happened again, this time I was ready and opened it over the sink I didn’t lose as much this time plus I opened it a little slower. Could I have over carbonated the batch? I Used Brewers’ Best Carbonation Drops, it says 1 drop per 12 oz bottle which is what I used. I’m wondering if that may actually be too much in the end.
I want to avoid a repeat on the batch I’m about to bottle.
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u/Puzzled-Attempt84 Intermediate 1d ago
Maybe overcarbed. Did you let the beer warm up before you opened it? I’d recommend chilling it for a while then open the bottle. When the beer is cold it will retain the co2.
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
It was aging in my basement. I pulled them up just now and opened, as I said to another poster I’ve now got a 3rd one chilling for tonight.
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u/Puzzled-Attempt84 Intermediate 1d ago
Yeah. Don’t open them warm. Chil it first. Will help.
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
Thanks, I thought my basement was cool enough. Should have learned from John Taffer, anything above 40F is too warm for the beer.
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u/xnoom Spider 1d ago
/r/Homebrewing/wiki/gushers has a good list of possible issues.
Temperature could play a part, but that alone wouldn't cause an explosion that makes you lose almost the whole bottle unless you were shaking it.
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
I came up the stairs fast that could have shaken it. The second one I walked up much more cautiously.
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u/beefygravy Intermediate 1d ago
Imagine what a can of coke would do in similar circumstances, it should be similar
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u/Spare_Gas1588 1d ago
Please consider the amount of fermentable sugars that remain in the wort. Depending on the beer, you should look at a final gravity of 1.010 before bottling, even when it hits that, give it a couple more days to make sure its finished. I've had saison yeasts that drop lower than 1.010 giving some super dry characteristics. If you've used too much priming sugar for the bottles this will over carbonate the beer as the yeast continues to chew its way through those fermentable sugars. Again, if its a heavy gravity beer, some sugars are unfermentable for a while, but after long storage they suddenly decide to try again and can make bottle bombs. I'd say its to do with too much fermentable sugar in the wort and nothing else as you have hygiene under control.
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
With a few people suggesting instead of replying to each and every one, as this was a Pinter Batch I followed their instructions on how long to ferment. I actually gave it an extra day or two before bottling. I had opened one previous with no issue that I had in my fridge, these two I took from my basement (non chilled at 64F) the first I came up the stairs fast, the second (which didn’t loose much I came up much slower). I’m hoping it was temp and speed of coming up the stairs (I’ll know more after I open bottle #3 now in my fridge to have with dinner later).
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u/ElvisOnBass 1d ago
Sounds like it may be a contamination. If so drink it fast or be ready for bottle bombs.
One drop is fine, usually when I had to use them in a pinch it was less carbonated than I wanted.
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
I made sure that everything was sanitized like crazy when I brewed and bottled. The batch was from an extract could that have anything to do with it?
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u/Toobad113 1d ago
I wouldnt say contamination. The brew might not have been done fermenting when you bottled. Now you have extra co2 you didnt account for. Happens and the safest option is trash em. Its hard, but can be dangerous
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u/Complete_Medicine_33 1d ago
That shouldn't really matter.
Did you taste it?
Anything funky about it?
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
A little warmer than I’d like but I pulled it from my basement. I took a third bottle and put it in my fridge for later tonight wondering if it was temperature thing.
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u/greyhounds4life1969 1d ago
That may well be it, the warmer it is, the more lively the beer. A chilled one should be better.
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u/rwalsh1981 1d ago
Thanks for all the quick input, just in case it is contaminated or some other mistake on my side I’m waiting to bottle the current batch til after I have the chilled one tonight. As I remember when I had one from this batch prior to today and it didn’t go beer bomb on me. Once I know for sure I’ll bottle. Plus they’re similar I want to do a bottle to bottle comparison. One is a regular Double IPA the other is a West Coast IPA…. Both same flavor from Pinter just the difference between Double and West Coast.
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u/attnSPAN 23h ago
You mentioned you sanitized everything that’s great. Could you just quickly walk us through your cleaning and sanitation process?
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u/MmmmmmmBier 1d ago
When is the last time you cleaned your bottles with a brush? Beer stone and other crap will build up in bottles after a while.
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u/Jackyl5144 22h ago
This might be off base and not the problem but there is carbonation left over from fermentation. The cooler the temp the more carbonation is left. So if the drops are sized for bottling a beer at room temp but you're carbonating at 50 degrees there's going to be more pre existing CO2 already dissolved. Add the drop and bam, overcarbed. I doubt it's enough to cause a bomb but there's a chance.
I've also had gushers that weren't over carbed. If there's a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle it creates nucleation sites for the CO2 to drop out of solution on.
Best bet is always make sure fermentation is done, and use a calculator that includes volume and temp. Northern Brewer has one I've been using for years. Even did a Piwo Grodziskie at 3 vols of CO2. Nailed it and no bombs. Won a BoS with it at a statewide competition.
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u/goodolarchie 10h ago
I have an alternative method for gushers that are bottle capped. Get them cold, perhaps 29° F. Get your bench or hand Capper, and apply enough pressure by hand to get the slightest hiss but don't dislodge the cap. You'll need to let each one out for about 30 to 45 seconds, about 20 or 25 small purges, before you can retighten the cap. If you do this right you should see a bit of nucleation in the bottle, but no real gush since there's constant back pressure. This can be a bit boring for a box of bottles, maybe pour yourself a beer for the other hand. 😎
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u/_H3X1C 1d ago
You know the priming sugar is right as you mention you used the drops, so my money would be on that you bottled before fermentation had fully completed, resulting in more sugar than you intended in your beer at point of bottling, leading to a much higher volume of Co2.