Bulging Bottles (2 Lit PET)

[adchesney]

Dear Folks

Following on from my first attempt of a Honey Beer (viewtopic.php?f=4&t=22759&p=273473#p273473). I have bottled my beer...and...

I am just a little worried. Within 20 hours of bottling and priming my beer the bottles are bulging – so much so they will not stand up.

I am using 2Lit PET bottles – is this NORMAL?

Should I worry about this, and if so can I reduce the gas by releasing the cap?

As this is my very first batch, any comfort or advice would be appreciated.

ANDREW

[sparky Paul]

I am just a little worried. Within 20 hours of bottling and priming my beer the bottles are bulging – so much so they will not stand up.

I am using 2Lit PET bottles – is this NORMAL?

Certainly not!

Have you used the correct bottles - PET bottles intended for carbonated fizzy drinks, and not the ribbed type used for cordials, squashes, etc.?

Otherwise, I would say almost certainly over primed, or incomplete primary fermentation. Are you certain fermentation had finished? How much priming sugar did you add?

Should I worry about this, and if so can I reduce the gas by releasing the cap?

You're going to have to do something about it, the bottles will only take so much pressure, and you don't know if it's still increasing. You can release the pressure with the cap, but make sure you place a tea towel, or similar, over the cap to contain it - in case the pressure causes the threads to give way. You may have to do this several times, and be prepared for some foaming... you may also find that the bottles may be permanently deformed.

[sparky Paul]

I've just had a skip through your original thread...

I notice that you added the honey several days after the start of fermentation. Can I ask, how exactly did you add the honey to the fermenter?

[adchesney]

Dear Folks

Thanks for the advice...I am now really worried that I may have 11 unexploded bombs on my hand. I bet these things can make a big bang

To answer the questions:

(1) The bottles are a mix of water bottles and lemonade bottles. My homebrew shop said this will be OK "use the water for brewing and use bottles for storing" - made sense to me.
(2) The fermentation process had stopped, no bubbles through the airlock - I can't recall the SG (I'm at work)
(3) The honey was added by adding to a little water and "microwaving" to make a little more fluid and then mixing in the fermenting bucket.

Regards

ANDREW

[sparky Paul]

(1) The bottles are a mix of water bottles and lemonade bottles. My homebrew shop said this will be OK "use the water for brewing and use bottles for storing" - made sense to me.
(2) The fermentation process had stopped, no bubbles through the airlock - I can't recall the SG (I'm at work)
(3) The honey was added by adding to a little water and "microwaving" to make a little more fluid and then mixing in the fermenting bucket.

The bottles will be okay, if they're all lemonade-type bottles, the cheap supermarket still water usually comes in these too. It sounds as the honey was mixed in reasonably well, so that wouldn't be the problem.

Airlocks are notoriously unreliable as an indicator for complete fermentation, I would never rely on this method alone because the seals on most fermenters are not air tight under the light pressure of airlock. The most reliable method is to see the same gravity reading three days on the trot.

Unless you are absolutely sure that fermentation was complete, i.e. no change in gravity for 3 days, I would have a guess that that is your problem. Release the excess gas carefully, the bottles will harden again after a while as the CO2 comes out of solution. Repeat until the bottles harden back only to a point where the bottles still give a little at the top when squeezed.

Yes, they do go with a bang... and don't forget that tea towel when releasing the gas.

[pauljmuk]

If you are absolutely sure that the primary fermentation had completed - how much priming sugar did you add and what was the brew length / volume?

[adchesney]

Dear Folks,

The bottle's bottom has "rounded", but I can still squeeze the bottles - so I feel they are not going to burst.

The only bottle that is still good is an R Whites Lemonade bottle - making me think that the still water bottles from Aldi are not good for storing the beer upright

I have placed all 11 bottles in a plastic box with a lid and three bungie cords to hold the lid on...just in case my judgement about the unexploded bottles is wrong.

I will wait a couple of weeks, and see what it tastes like...many thanks for all the advice and help.

ANDREW

[Carpking]

Open them with the cap pointing away from your face or anything else... just incase.
You dont want a bottle top for a contact lens!