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Failure of a Plastic bottle !


FraserH

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[crying] I bottled my first brew(lager) about 2 weeks ago and I had the full bottles in a heated cabinet, The original bulb I had in the cabinet to keep it at a suitable temp had blown at some point, so in an effort to get the temp back up and keep things moving along I decided to temporarily use a larger bulb untill i could get a more suitable one.

well the results amazed me One of the plastic bottles that came with my coopers kit has developed a rather large bubble on the side of the neck. it is still sealed so im going to leave it to continue aging for a few months before I try it

I know the bottle itself wasnt faulty it failed due to my own stupidity as I had left it far too close to the heat source but thought I would share it with you all to have a chuckle about

If I can figure out how I will post a picture of the offending bottle.

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That reminds me of what I did to a spare I had: I decided to keep a batch of sugar syrup in it, but forgot to let it cool first. Poured it in to about halfway up the bottle when I noticed the bottom half had shrunk dramatically![pinched]

 

Moral of the story, keep those things away from boiling water!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have bought several box's of 'Coopers' PET bottles over the last week, from two separate locations, nil 'light orange' bottles there. (yes, are they Coops?)

Maybe give head office a call here in Adelaide.....

Main: (08) 8440 1800 (bus hours) or.....

 

Brewing Helpline:

1300 654 455 (from within Australia only)

 

A slightly off topic question here, but of relevance.....

I am about to set up a secondary fermentation cupboard (stc-1000 and bulb etc) my question.. Does light have any effect on brewing, or the beer itself? (and also fermenting (fermenting easy, just wrap a towel around FV).

I just think I might have read somewhere to try and keep them in a dark environment, any thoughts?

(can't find anything in FAQ'S about it)

Cheers

Wayno

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Hey Wayno - I know fluorescents have a negative effect on your beer when in close contact. Not too sure about the fancy new enviro light globes (are they fluorescent?).

 

Personally I have my light bulb inside a small ceramic wine cooler (a small ceramic plant pot is perfect too). This way it blocks out the light but also the pot reatains the heat which means the light is on a lot less.

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No problems with Incandescent Light Bulbs. However, when I was running one I always kept mine covered anyway ans as Muddy said, a plant pot over the top works well. I have also seen setups where they are shielded with foil. I now have a Reptile Heat Cord as I though that it would be a pain to find a blown globe 2 days later and your temps have declined also I personally think they are safer inside the fridge.

 

UV and fluorescent bulbs is what you need to keep your beer away from. When Ultra Violet light is allowed to reach the beer it causes chemical reactions with the compounds released from the hops. Isomerized-alpha-acids react with light (photolysis), causing them to break down and are then reformed to produce a compound called 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol which is what gives the skunky, sulphur like aroma to the beer.

 

Some commercial breweries have got around the issue of skunking by treating the isomerized alpha acids that bitter the beer with a compound called sodium borohydride which makes the hop compounds light stable and therefore the beer can be packaged any way they want. You will often find these type of beers in lighter colored bottles, i.e. clear glass. Corona, Carlton Cold etc.

 

Have you ever wondered why most good beers are in brown bottles?... well now you know [rightful]

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Once again, you guys have summed it up in a nutshell.

Thanks Muddy, I will use a ceramic plant pot.

 

And cheers BillK for the awesome info, I will never buy another clear bottled beer again...... actually, come to think of it, I don't think I'll be buying beer again, just 'ingredients'[biggrin]

 

Great forum, great info... thanks again guys [happy]

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Yea, the new low energy lamps are fluorescent. Speaking about faulty pet bottles I had one with a bent neck, it is in a batch somewhere when I come across it I will send a photo, also had one that had a small hole in it. It was a new batch of bottles, as I bottled I place them on the floor, noticed a small pool of beer on the floor, picked up the offender gave it a squeeze and behold a stream of beer out the bottom, right in the middle.[biggrin]

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Yeah I had a new one with a hole right in the middle on the bottom as well. I rang Coopers and they gladly replaced it. It was from the DIY box. 30 bottles needed then to bottle the brew, 29 just didn't cut.

 

Now with kegs I have little fear of holes [cool]

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Hairy, why do they call it Adam's apple? There was no apple and there was no snake. The word for snake in hebrew is "hiss" therefore is was translated as a snake, because snakes hiss. The word "hiss" means wisper and the word "wisper" means "divine enchanter". What do ya think of that. Next week another scripture lesson. Singing off. Weggl

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Hey guys well Ill leave the singing and theology debates alone as well but I do have another question thats kind of off topic

Im looking for a program for keeping a log of all my home brew efforts with notes ir: tastes after certain periods etc

When searching for one online everyone I find seems to be the same one so is this something thats not really available out there?

What do others use if anything?

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I just use excel as a brew log. I have a template and just create a new tab for each brew.

 

I generally use IanH's spreadsheet (from AHB forum) to plan my beers.

 

I also used Beersmith during a free trial period to plan some full extract brews but I haven't gotten around to actually subscribing/registering for the software.

 

There is a free software program called Brew Target (Open source code or something??). I haven't used it but it was reviewed in BYO magazine and got a decent review.

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