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It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:35 am
by FedoraDave
If the Fourth of July commemorated infected batches of beer, that is.

For some reason, I've been procrastinating on ridding myself of the gusher batches from that infected LBK. But I need the room, so after bottling the American Ale this morning, I pulled out 15 of the no-good bottles (there are still about 12 or 15 more), and took them into the bathroom to open them in the relative safety of the tub.

This proved to be a good idea, as most of the caps popped off with the sound of a rifle report, and actually had recoil to them. The beer spewed six feet up the wall. But the worst is over, and SWMBO and The Bhoy-o went out to run some errands while I cleaned up. She said she could still smell it when they got back, but most of them were vanilla stouts, so the aroma would be pretty strong. I had sort of intended to keep them around for cooking things like chili or beef stew, but it's not worth it. I could shoot my eye out.

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:55 am
by mtsoxfan
That stinks. I've been lucky enough not to have gone through that, or bombs, but you guys scare me by saying it's just a matter of time.... I love vanilla, so I wouldn't have minded. SWMBO on your end is the judge and jury though...

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:34 pm
by yankfan9
Wow that sounds crazy. It is stories like this that make me ultra sanitary about my brewing

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:10 pm
by berryman
FedoraDave wrote: I pulled out 15 of the no-good bottles (there are still about 12 or 15 more), and took them into the bathroom to open them in the relative safety of the tub.
Dave, I am a little disappointed in you for not making a video of that..........Picture this: The Hat sitting in the tub (hat on) popping gushers playing like it's the Fourth of July. That could have went down in history right along beside Inklegs shower threads. :)

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:06 pm
by Yankeedag
could have pawned it off as a Beer Bath....

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 5:28 pm
by Brewbirds
This kind of thing is just so weird to me Dave. These bottles are obviously under a huge amount of pressure from the description you give and yet never became bombs!

I opened one of our Cherry Christmas Porters for BB2 a while back, per his request, at room temperature (71F ish) and it gushed on me and made a huge mess since I wasn't expecting it to do so.

The few that are left from that batch that have been in the beer cooler do a slow foam over in the bottle (when opening 2 before pouring) but they don't have any off flavor to indicate infection nor are they presenting as being overcarbed once they are in the glass; they are actually quite good beers!!!!????

It seems that gushers, bottle bombs and infections should not be lumped together in discussing one or the other of these problems????

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:01 pm
by FedoraDave
berryman wrote:
FedoraDave wrote: I pulled out 15 of the no-good bottles (there are still about 12 or 15 more), and took them into the bathroom to open them in the relative safety of the tub.
Dave, I am a little disappointed in you for not making a video of that..........Picture this: The Hat sitting in the tub (hat on) popping gushers playing like it's the Fourth of July. That could have went down in history right along beside Inklegs shower threads. :)
I'm very protective of my hats. I wouldn't want infected beer to get on any of them.

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:55 pm
by Inkleg
berryman wrote:That could have went down in history right along beside Inklegs shower threads. :)
Hey, at least I'll be remembered for something around here. :lol:

Dave, kinda like this? There were some that hit the ceiling.


Mya, aka Big Fuzzy was the best damn dog I've had. She is still loved and missed.

Re: It was like the Fourth of July!

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:49 pm
by FedoraDave
More violent than that, Jeff. Like I said, there was recoil when I uncapped them, and the caps rebounded off the wall. I was kneeling on the floor over the tub, and there were splash marks on the wall higher than than shower head.