A howdy and a question.

[Minor_Deity]

Howdy all.
Been lurking for a couple weeks and figured it was time to say hi.
First off, let me say you folks have been a wealth of info already.
Hats off to ya.

And now a question.
After wanting to take up this hobby for a decade, I finally brewed my first batch a few weeks ago. I made a Porter with Extract and specialty grain under the tutelage of a friend. I learn better by doing first then studying. Gives the brain something to wrap around while scanning through text. So after this batch was bottled I began the studying part. Which eventually led me here. My studying leads me to believe the batch was bottled a bit quickly.

Oct 30 - Brew day.
Nov 1 - Xfer to secondary.
Nov 4 - Bottled.

I wasn’t to worried about bottle bombs as my batch was stored with his, at his house. :D A couple of days ago I picked some up and all seems well. However, I plan to head to Colorado Springs, CO on Tuesday for Thanksgiving and take some of my beer with me. It just dawned on me that I will be subjecting these bottles to quite a change in pressure. I live in south central Texas, so about a mile altitude change. But worse I’ll wager on parts of the drive. The beer is in pint and liter flip tops. I shouldn’t be in danger, I was going to put them in a cooler (no ice) so their temp stays more even. But I’d rather not get to CO with a cooler full of flat beer and broken glass, or soil myself upon hearing a muffled "gunshot" and glass breaking behind me as I cruise down the highway.

So should I;
a. Try to bleed some pressure off the ones I am taking. Or will they just end up “flat” at this point.

b. Scrap the plan, leave the beer in Texas, and tell everybody about the great beer I made that they are all missing out on.

c. Chill out, all is well young padiwan. Take your beer to the feast. Eat, drink and be merry. Let not the brewer paranoia into your heart.


Thanks for reading all that. Have fun out there and take care over the holidays.

[kevin]

since they are bottled you might as well take them along, I would just make sure you put them in a cooler in case they do explode. also since you bottled in only 5 days your guest might be flautenant sp just blame it on the turkey :rolleyes:

[Jughead]

Did you take a hydrometer reading before bottling? 5 days is pretty quick.

I bottled a batch too early once, which resulted in a bottle bomb. After the first one blew up I bled the pressure off the others. It's easy to do with the flip tops. I had to bleed them repeatedly over the next few days.

Whatever you decide to do, handle them with care.

[S.F.B.]

First ,just let me say, welcome.

Your time line looks a bit hurried. I have never gotten to the bottle quicker than 14 days. I would be concerned about some bombs. You may have to relieve pressure as Jughead said. Your brews may have a lot of sediment since there was such a short time in the secondary.

On to your transporting question. Under normal circumstances I would tell you not to worry about the trip. I have taken my beers from Oregon to Denver with no problems. It was in an airplane but that is just a minor difference. When I got to CO. the beer lost nothing in the higher altitude.

[Minor_Deity]

Thanks for the replies.

I did this first batch under the guidance of my friend, so as I said I didn't know the time was questionable until later. In his defense I looked at the recipes he uses as a guidelines from our local homebrew shop and it was pretty vague on the time. I will definitely be passing on info I am learning to him, so we can both make better beer. ;)

I was leaning toward bleeding just part of the ones I am taking and seperating the two for the trip. But as they have been in the bottle for three weeks now I wondered if the "danger" zone has passed. If I bleed them now will they still retain/produce some carbonation.

Thanks again for all the help you folks have already provided. I have the distinct feeling my new "hobby" may soon be better classified as an addiction. It's alright though. I have been "addicted" to good beer for quite awhile, so making it will just be an extension of that one.

[chazwicke]

Welcome to the board! I can tell you that when flying with beer ( I have done it many times) it is best if you can carry it on rather than shipping in luggage. I have had bottles leak and I thought it was due to lack of pressure in the cargo hold. Best to carry them top up in the overhead.

[b3s]

yeah, do not let the monkeys in the luggage department handle the beer. although, i will tell you....a case of beer is a lot heavier than you think when you gotta carry it all the way thru an airport!

[Minor_Deity]

Oh, I am driving up. But I usually go up through NM, so I hit a couple of pretty high passes on the way. Thus my concern.

[shaken]

Are beer bottles and/or growlers allowed on planes???
I had some friends try to bring me some beers from the East coast to Alaska, and were told to get rid of them, as no bottled products were allowed on board....

Before 9/11 I carried many a bottle of beer and growlers on board, and never had a problem. Only problem I ever had was the other passengers sitting around me. wanting samples..

[kevin]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Best to carry them top up in the overhead.

I suppose it's good to have them up there in case the stewardest goe's "that doesn't sound right?" :D

[chazwicke]

I have traveled with growlers and bottles several times since 9/11. Never had a problem except with leakage once. I brought some beers back from Alaska well, actually Canada / Vancouver. Purchased in Alaska flown back from Canada

[shaken]

Are beer bottles and/or growlers allowed on planes???
I had some friends try to bring me some beers from the East coast to Alaska, and were told to get rid of them, as no bottled products were allowed on board....

Before 9/11 I carried many a bottle of beer and growlers on board, and never had a problem. Only problem I ever had was the other passengers sitting around me. wanting samples..