Yeast Explosion Facts

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 mbutt 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

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