Just wondering about the sort of question, say you had an awesome high
PSI bottle, does yeast like stop functioning due to internal forces
introduced by liquid pressure, or can yeast cause any arbitrary
container to explode? I use 2L coke bottles to ferment with the caps
slightly off, I have traditionally obtained good results. Sometimes they
get gummed up and I have caught them sort of pressurized, but I always
thought they would force the seal open before exploding... ...
just so I don't come home to like hard wood with like a puddle and
orange walls... ...

--
--------------------------------------------
Matthew Suffidy - Ottawa, Canada

(use as printed)
http://matthew.chungus.com
--------------------------------------------

Hi Matthew,
Ummm... Yes and no. I have no idea what 2l plastic bottles are meant
to hold pressure wise, but I doubt it's 90 PSIG and that is the maximum
pressure a sparkling wine is fermented to. The standard rule of thumb
for pressure vessels (as I recall from memory) is use a vessel with 2
times the working pressure rating and 5 times the burst rating; both
apply. I have made the mistake of overfilling carboys and even when
the airlock comes off it is a huge mess. Mount Vesuvius comes to
mind; ceiling, walls, floor _everywhere_; it's a bad day.

To answer the question yeast is affected by pressure from what I have
read, yes. No one goes higher than 90 PSIG on wine (on purpose) that I
am aware of and most yeasts (other than champagne, imagine that) can
get there. I don't think that is the max it can go to or you wouldn't
have to be as concerned with the amount of sugar you add for the second
fermentation if you wanted a sweet wine.

Don't take this wrong but you may be playing with fire. The chances of
it literally blowing up with shrapnel and such may be mitigated by the
amount of liquid. Usually liquid filled containers that are breached
by internal pressure just split and the energy is wasted by the liquids
mass as it leaves. It doesn't go very far and the damage potential is
in the immediate area. Gas explosions are another matter, that is how
a hand grenade works, literally. This is partially a gas container, it
will behave more like that than a solid liquid container.

Airlocks are cheap, you should consider using them instead of the loose
cap method. They plug too but the tapered stopper makes sure the
explosion goes up, not out. Now if your eye is in the way, it's still
bad.


Matthew Suffidy wrote:
> Just wondering about the sort of question, say you had an awesome high
> PSI bottle, does yeast like stop functioning due to internal forces
> introduced by liquid pressure, or can yeast cause any arbitrary
> container to explode? I use 2L coke bottles to ferment with the caps
> slightly off, I have traditionally obtained good results. Sometimes they
> get gummed up and I have caught them sort of pressurized, but I always
> thought they would force the seal open before exploding... ...

I doubt that would happen, the yeast would act like a seal and more
likely hold th cap on.

> just so I don't come home to like hard wood with like a puddle and
> orange walls... ...
>
> --
> --------------------------------------------
> Matthew Suffidy - Ottawa, Canada
>
> (use as printed)
> http://matthew.chungus.com
> --------------------------------------------

Also, the fill level and outside temperature are factors. A couple of
weeks back, I had 2 capped sparkling bottles that were inverted for
disgorging pop up their caps. I filled them up in winter and didn't
leave much space and when this happened, we had a bout of hot weather
for about a week (no air conditiong). No damage in this case, just loss
of wine.

Pp

I don't know about arbitrary pressure, but absolutely enough to
detonate a 2L soda bottle.

In my case it wasn't even intentionally wine, it was 2L reserved as
fresh grape juice, that for some reason did not get put back in the
'fridge and was left to sit on the counter before leaving for the
weekend. Natural yeast was enough to do the job.

The 2L bottle itself split and didn't go very far. I only found small
pieces of the cap.


It takes a long, long time and a very sore arm to get the dried sugar
off everything. The counter. The Floor. The Wall. The fridge. The
Ceiling. The Opposite wall (14 feet away).




On Thu, 13 Jul 2006, Matthew Suffidy wrote:

> Just wondering about the sort of question, say you had an awesome high
> PSI bottle, does yeast like stop functioning due to internal forces
> introduced by liquid pressure, or can yeast cause any arbitrary
> container to explode? I use 2L coke bottles to ferment with the caps
> slightly off, I have traditionally obtained good results. Sometimes they
> get gummed up and I have caught them sort of pressurized, but I always
> thought they would force the seal open before exploding... ...
> just so I don't come home to like hard wood with like a puddle and
> orange walls... ...
>
> --
> --------------------------------------------
> Matthew Suffidy - Ottawa, Canada
>
> (use as printed)
> http://matthew.chungus.com
> --------------------------------------------
>
>

__________________________________________________ __________________
A regular schedule is an assasins best friend.
<http://patriot.net/~starfyr/index.html>

Well I have never had a 2L coke container explode. The real question was
like at a certain pressure like that would be the 'max' pressure from
the organic mechanisms. Thanks for everyone responses.

BTW: I did have a situation with boiled grated chunks when I was
experimenting with them. They would clog a bottle, and I opened one and
it just like went everywhere but I cleaned it up. But yeast really
really like boiled potatoes.. !

BTW: I don't have spill over with concentrate and lalvin 1118. Just some
sediment at the bottom and hardly, you wouldn't even know it was doing
anything really.


--
--------------------------------------------
Matthew Suffidy - Ottawa, Canada

(use as printed)
http://matthew.chungus.com
--------------------------------------------

To make your own soda water you usually add enough CO2 to make the
bottle 55PSI and normally it will withstand the pressure but at around
80PSI I find you have a much higher chance of explosion

Matthew Suffidy wrote:
> Just wondering about the sort of question, say you had an awesome high
> PSI bottle, does yeast like stop functioning due to internal forces
> introduced by liquid pressure,


Matt,
I just came across the answer to this in Birds Wine Technology book.
He states 7 pressures at the approximate pressure the yeast suffocate
at. I can get you the real title and the page reference if you want to
read up on it.

Joe

Joe is sounding cryptic or well-relaxed.. can't quite figger out which....

Did u mean 7 ATM (atmospheres) pressure (i.e. approx 103 psig)?

Gene

Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Matthew Suffidy wrote:
>
>>Just wondering about the sort of question, say you had an awesome high
>>PSI bottle, does yeast like stop functioning due to internal forces
>>introduced by liquid pressure,
>
>
>
> Matt,
> I just came across the answer to this in Birds Wine Technology book.
> He states 7 pressures at the approximate pressure the yeast suffocate
> at. I can get you the real title and the page reference if you want to
> read up on it.
>
> Joe
>

Oops. I did mean atmospheres, around 103 PSIG (PSI Gauge); which means
referenced to the general surroundings. PSIA is PSI Absolute, which is
referenced to vacuum, like in outer space. I just too geeky sometimes,
sorry.

I have the book with me, I'll get the reference out to all.

Joe


Joe Sallustio wrote:
> Matthew Suffidy wrote:
> > Just wondering about the sort of question, say you had an awesome high
> > PSI bottle, does yeast like stop functioning due to internal forces
> > introduced by liquid pressure,
>
>
> Matt,
> I just came across the answer to this in Birds Wine Technology book.
> He states 7 pressures at the approximate pressure the yeast suffocate
> at. I can get you the real title and the page reference if you want to
> read up on it.
>
> Joe

The book is 'Understanding Wine Technology', by David Bird. Page 76.
He equates the high pressure to "effectively suffocating" the yeast but
then goes on to say if the pressure is reduced, fermentation continues.
Sounds like it makes the yeast dormant, not dead.

Joe