First time brewer. Will my bottles burst?

[AMoldyStump]

I picked up the Brew Demon Signature kit a few weeks ago and almost immediately began making my Pilsner that came with it. I followed the steps but after reading on this forum that I should wait longer than the 1 week I gave it 2 in the fermenter instead. I bottled the beer yesterday and the instructions mention that once it feels like a new pop bottle it should be ready. However after just one day mine feel like a pop bottle that's been shaken. The walls are very stiff and nearly incompressable. Is this normal? Should I be worried about having a mess on my hands? If so, what steps might I take to prevent it from bursting? Thanks in advance, already learned a lot after lurking for only a few weeks.

[John Sand]

Hi, welcome aboard! Most new brewers worry too much. Your beer almost certainly fermented completely in the two weeks. Still, if you want to be safe, put them in a tote, cooler, spare bathtub or someplace water tight and easy to clean. A towel over the top will restrain upward spray. Keep us posted.

[bpgreen]

Welcone. As John said, it should have been finished after two weeks. If you had it fermenting in a spot where the temperature was too low, it can take longer. What was the temperature in the room where you had the fermenter?

How much sugar did you use in each bottle? If it fermented at the right temperature and you used the right amount of yeast, you should be good. But I remember somebody misread the instructions and added tablespoons instead of teaspoons.

I switched to kegs a long time ago, so I don't need to worry about overcarbonation, but if I remember correctly, the PET bottles can handle a lot of carbonation. If you notice any bulging, refrigerate immediately.

[AMoldyStump]

Definitely checked and rechecked that I was using teaspoons. 2 & 1/2 like the instructions call for. I'm using the 1L bottles that came with the fermenter. Same with the yeast, I used the 2 packs under the lid of the cans. The temperature for fermentation was about 68-72°F according to the temp strip. I live in an apartment with electric heat and drafty windows in Northern Ontario so im constantly opening and closing windows to keep it the same. I'll picking up an aquarium thermometer and a hydrometer for better accuracy in future batches. Ive got bags over them right now so hopefully that keeps it from making too much of a mess.


Thanks for the advice. I was mostly worried because this morning when I checked on them it sounded like the gas was escaping from one of them, so I tightened the lid a bit and that helped but I wasn't sure if that meant it was likely going to blow soon.

[mashani]

If the caps start to bulge a lot at the top, or the bottoms of the bottles deform and get tippy, then that's when you know the carb level is really getting high. Since your using the PETs, you can always slightly crack open the caps to release some pressure.

[Dawg LB Steve]

The PET bottles that come with these kits will handle pretty good pressure, if it was glass I'd be a bit concerned. After 2 weeks of conditioning, give one a try for Quality Control assurance, put one in the fridge for at least 24 hours to let the CO2 absorb back into the beer, you will know if it is overcarbed (or not finished fermenting) if it pours all foam and takes a bit of time to dissipate. Generally you want to let your finished beer bottle condition at room temp for 4 weeks, but does need to be refrigerated for at least 24 hours before drinking.
Oh and WELCOME to the Borg!

[TonyKZ1]

^^ What he said, ferment for 3 and carbonate/condition for 4 weeks seems to work pretty good for me. Welcome to the Borg!

[BlackDuck]

All good advice, so I'll just say Hi and welcome. Oh, there's got to be a good story behind your name...AMoldyStump???

[AMoldyStump]

Thanks everyone. Quick update. They havent burst yet so my fears have definitely subsided. There's some build up at the bottom of the bottles. This may be yeast or trub that got shaken up while I moved the fermenter from the floor in my closet to a table in my kitchen, it may also be sugar, if it didnt dissolve well enough, hopefully its the former and not the latter. Although I have been flipping them and gently swirling them in hopes that if it is sugar it gets mixed. Just in case im going to give it at least a month conditioning before even fridging one to judge. Hey BlackDuck, there's not really a story its been my Xbox live gamertag for about 13 years. I didn't choose it either I just let Microsoft generate one and this has stuck.

[berryman]

it may also be sugar, if it didnt dissolve well enough, hopefully its the former and not the latter. Although I have been flipping them and gently swirling them in hopes that if it is sugar it gets mixed.

Not really a need to do that, the yeast will find it and use it up for carb, there will be trub in the bottom of the bottle no matter if you bottle prime or batch prime, the way it works. You are good to go just give some time.

[RickBeer]

You should not flip the bottles at all. Yeast finds the sugar to carbonate and condition the beer. Flipping is unnecessary, and can hurt the quality of your brew.

[BlackDuck]

While I agree that there's no need to flip the bottles to make sure the yeast find the sugars, I don't see how flipping them will hurt the quality of the beer. I just don't see it.

[Dawg LB Steve]

No worries, flipping the bottles is recommended if they don't seem to be carbonating to get the yeast back into suspension. The sediment is just basically a secondary fermentation that actually carbonates the beer.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Actually true Hefeweizen beers are served after inverting the keg a couple times to get the yeast in suspension.

[mvpedroia00]

New to this formum. Thanks for the tips on bottles! Also, how do I get a discount from here for Brewdemon? I'd like to try some of their other flavors