I recently had to give a guy lunch in a bar-type bet. He bet me that he could hit a beer bottle on the top an cause the bottom to break off cleanly without any other damage to the bottle. He bought the beer from our bar and drank most of it as "Not to waste too much". He then twisted the bottle between his hands for quite a while (3 to 5 minutes). He then leaned over the bar held the bottle by the neck over the trash a hit the top of the bottle with his palm. The bottom 1/4 inch of the bottle popped off and landed in the trash on a pile of papers. I'm completely stumped as to what happened.
Here's what I know:
He did not leave the bar area, nor my sight.
The bottle never left my sight. It never went below the counter level.
He did not have a ring on. I looked specifically for one.
He seem to know exactly what he was doing.
The bottle shows no sign of scratching near the break.
I gave the guy lunch not so much for the bet, but because he fooled me so badly. If anyone knows this trick I would love to know how it works. If anyone knows this guy, tell him he's welcome back anytime.
Thank you

Did it look something like this;

http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-567.htm

Grab a bottle of brew and try it. There is nothing to it. The bottle is not gaffed. Just drink 1/3 to 1/2 of the beer. Hold it over the garbage and "slap" the top of the bottle. I'm not sure why he was twisting the bottle for so long, probably just playing it up. It's not necesssary.

Vandy

I'd never seen or heard of that. Neat trick. Thanks for the question and the link!

That's it exactly. Like I said, I consider this cost of lunch nothing for the afternoon's entertainment he provided. The break on his bottle was much cleaner than the one in the video.
Thanks for the video link, now I can show people just what happened and maybe they'll believe me!

Usually they break very cleanly. Sometimes cleaner than others. I think the actual design of the bottle may determine how well it breaks.

I haven't done it in a long time. I learned it as a very young man. I did it a few times and never did it again. I simply can not condone wasting beer.


Vandy

So you just smack the head? crazy!!!how hard?

Just give it a good "smack". Make sure that your hand covers the entire opening when you do it, and leave the hand there. Don't smack it and pull your hand away quickly. I believe it is the rapid release of carbonation, being trapped in the bottle that causes the bottom to blow out.

I would say, drink the beer then practice with water in the bottles. But it dosen't work that way.

Just try it a few times, you will surprise yourself. But you really have to get it on the first shot. You have to "smack" it and have all the air trapped inside. I might have to try this again myself now.

Vandy

I have to do this, looks amazing...now if only I drank...

Don't drink? ...no time like the present

Hmmm, I sure learn something new with a bottle today! Thanks Vandy!

After reading this post, I had to try this stunt. Yep, it works as described. The physics of it here is much like pushing a straw thru a potato. Vandy has it right about not taking your hand away. It took three trys before I got it to work. Great stunt.


Snidini

I am going to have to get some cheap beer. I homebrew, and there's no way this would work with the heavy duty returnable bottles I use.

I'd imagine I need some American swill like budweiser or coors or something for this, right? I would love to do this, but I can't bring myself to buy low end beer.

Actually, it does work with water as well. You just been to fill the bottle almost to the top. The displaced air with break the weakest point in the bottle, which more often than not is the bottom.

REMEMBER: AS THE GREAT DICK CHENEY SAID BEFORE HE SHOT HIS GOOD FRIEND, 'A BEER IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!'

What about soda pop in glass bottles?

Exactly what I was thinking? Maybe that root beer in the brown beer looking bottle?

I think it would just based on principle alone...


Jay

I’ve heard that IBC root beer bottles work really well, but I haven’t gotten a chance to try it out yet.

This trick should work with just about any liquid. The main thing to consider is the bottle. It needs to have a curved bottom to disperse the force out toward the seam. It’s rare, but with a flat-bottomed bottle, the whole thing can shatter. This makes a big mess and can lead to injury.

How do you push a straw through a potatoe?? As in all the way thru so there is a hole?? I presume it has to do with inertia, but I would love to know how

Christopher Bisset

Chris a you related to Dan Quayle? ;-)

Jay

Nope why?

Christopher Bisset

The potato thing is just as easy. You just have to put your thumb over the end of the straw as you hold it in you fist. Make sure it is a new straw, that is it hasn't been bent or broken. The air pressure in the straw by you keeping the other end covered alllows you to put the straw right through the potato, the potato in cut by the edge of the straw and goes into the straw as you do it. This increases the air pressure in the straw and makes the straw stronger it pushes through. Breaking the bottle is done in this way also. When you slap your hand on the top of the bottle you push air into the bottle. If you leave your hand there the extra air cannot escape it has to go somewhere and the path of least resistence is through the bottom on the bottle in most cases. If the bottle doesn't have a weak point it could shatter.