First Bottle Bomb!

[the_goat_Birdman]

Hi all!

Imagine this: you are finishing up a brew day, cleaning up the fridge for your fermenting vessel when you uncover a forgotten bottle of brew that's ice cold and inviting. Naturally, when it is 105 F outside and you brew in a garage, you are going to want a beer, right?

That is what I thought! I placed the beer on my countertop, finished up cleaning, and went for a taste. Unfortunately, I didn't have my trusty bottle opener on me! Nevertheless, there is one inside, so I place the beer down in a beam of sunlight cracking through the window, and run inside for a bottle opener. One moment and I will have my mystery brew. One more moment, there is a bottle of beer in my hand, and the next, BAM!

I escaped with my hand intact! Some cuts and a little bit of glass in my hand, but nevertheless unscathed, although I would be cleaning for a little longer....

What about you guys? What bottle bomb stories do you have?

 

[Minbari]

7 years of bottling, never had one.

Had plenty gushers, no plodeys

 

[Donoroto]

Never had a keg explode on me. Yet.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Years ago I had a case of home brew conditioning Grolsch bottles in the basement. My wife asked me why my beer was making a "clinking" noise. I went downstairs and found the bottles all looking okay, except some didn't have any beer in them. The I realized it was all over the floor. The bottom of some of the bottles just blew off. It really sucks cleaning up stall beer from the concrete floor.

I wonder how much pressure it takes to blow up a bottle?

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I've had a couple bottle bombs. The first one was early in my homebrewing career. I was upstairs and heard a loud pop. I had never heard a bottle bomb before but I instantly knew what it was. A bottle of homebrew got lost in the basement for a year or so after some junk got shoved in front of it. I was still finding glass shards two years later! The other bottle bombs were when I had a batch I suspected was infected. Those were in cardboard boxes with a blanket on top. So I didn't hear anything just found a wet floor. Needless to say all the unexploded bottles were carefully emptied.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Years ago I had a case of home brew conditioning Grolsch bottles in the basement. My wife asked me why my beer was making a "clinking" noise. I went downstairs and found the bottles all looking okay, except some didn't have any beer in them. The I realized it was all over the floor. The bottom of some of the bottles just blew off. It really sucks cleaning up stall beer from the concrete floor.

I wonder how much pressure it takes to blow up a bottle?

Grolsch bottles? I expect it was a whole lot of pressure to cause them to blow!

 

[the_goat_Birdman]

Never had a keg explode on me. Yet.

Would probably need a new fridge....or roof.

 

[Zambi]

No bottle bombs luckily.
Some gushers.
Couple of broken bottles because they froze as I had put them in the freezer to quickly chill and forgot about them

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Grolsch bottles? I expect it was a whole lot of pressure to cause them to blow!

The older Grolsch bottles were really heavy, the newer ones (past 10-12 years) are quite a bit lighter and slightly smaller (not a full 1/2 liter). It was one of the lighter bottles. You're right, the old bottles were tanks.

 

[SabreSteve]

Had plenty gushers, no plodeys

Same

Blown the top off my fermenter a few times but never had a true bomb

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Years ago I had a case of home brew conditioning Grolsch bottles in the basement. My wife asked me why my beer was making a "clinking" noise. I went downstairs and found the bottles all looking okay, except some didn't have any beer in them. The I realized it was all over the floor. The bottom of some of the bottles just blew off. It really sucks cleaning up stall beer from the concrete floor.

I wonder how much pressure it takes to blow up a bottle?

I had one bottle blow the bottom off. Ferment is in a spare bathroom (dark & no windows) condition in the bath tube, which is nice in the case of a bottle failure.

 

[west1m]

We neglected to get all the soda pop out fo the refrigerator one winter. Several of the cans froze and exploded as there was coke everywhere.

 

[Brewer #436257]

I've had a few close calls with my fermenter exploding, but I've never actually had a full-blown explosion. duck life

 

[Blackmuse]

One more moment, there is a bottle of beer in my hand, and the next, BAM!

This is my worst nightmare! Happy to be kegging now (even then, I get nervous at times... lol - pressure scares me! - I don't like explosions)

I did have a raging fermenter once that soaked my spare bedroom and all the books in it (and me).... I was fermenting in one of those Fast Ferments and I had turned the ball valve closed too early and the yeast in there kept fermenting! The next day when I came back the yeast container was huge and swollen - naturally, I did the first thing I could think of in a panic to relieve the pressure - I opened the valve back up..... obviously that pressure had to go somewhere....

I stood there agasp while beer shot up through the airlock and proceeded to rain down on me for nearly a minute! It was nuts! lol

Worst clean-up to date.

 

[Minbari]

This is my worst nightmare! Happy to be kegging now (even then, I get nervous at times... lol - pressure scares me! - I don't like explosions)

I did have a raging fermenter once that soaked my spare bedroom and all the books in it (and me).... I was fermenting in one of those Fast Ferments and I had turned the ball valve closed too early and the yeast in there kept fermenting! The next day when I came back the yeast container was huge and swollen - naturally, I did the first thing I could think of in a panic to relieve the pressure - I opened the valve back up..... obviously that pressure had to go somewhere....

I stood there agasp while beer shot up through the airlock and proceeded to rain down on me for nearly a minute! It was nuts! lol

Worst clean-up to date.

I did that once with my ss brewtech as well. Closed the bottom valve with the yeast cup still on it. After a couple days, it blew off, made a huge mess

 

[Ward Chillington]

It took me awhile, about 5 years of bottling, but a little too much priming sugar did it...I found the other half of the 12 ouncer that launched itself through this cooler lid about 6 months later in a box with some cleaning supplies on the other side of the basement!

 

[Blackmuse]

I did that once with my ss brewtech as well. Closed the bottom valve with the yeast cup still on it. After a couple days, it blew off, made a huge mess

Glad to know I'm not the only one!