[flbrewer]

I'm curious if anyone has any anecdotal or scientific accounts of exactly how many points of gravity movement would cause a bottle to be at risk of explosion (bottling earlier than a full fermentation)?

[erockrph]

Each gravity point adds about 0.5 volumes when fermented. Typical longnecks are pretty safe until 3 volumes, and possibly can handle 3.5 if they're in good shape. Typically you're at about 1 volume after fermentation, so 3 points would lead to normal carbonation levels, 4 would be OK for Belgians and hefes, and 5+ would have me calling the bomb squad.

[flbrewer]

So based on your example, hypothetically if a beer was at 1.012 it would have to drop to 1.007 in the capped bottle for a 5+ volume situation.

Secondly, would anyone here bottle/keg early to save time by sacrificing a point or two drop?

[69franx]

I would not bottle until I had stable gravity, thus not expecting further drop on the bottle. Until it stops dropping, you only know where you think it will finish. If it could actually go lower than anyicipated, you won't know where you wind up or if you are safe

[JT]

I would not bottle until I had stable gravity, thus not expecting further drop on the bottle. Until it stops dropping, you only know where you think it will finish. If it could actually go lower than anyicipated, you won't know where you wind up or if you are safe

This.  It doesn't matter as much for kegging.  You aren't going to blow one up.  That said I wait for the fermentation to stop and the beer to clear before I keg, because there's no point in transferring all that yeast in suspension to my keg when I can just wait another week. 

[erockrph]

I would not bottle until I had stable gravity, thus not expecting further drop on the bottle. Until it stops dropping, you only know where you think it will finish. If it could actually go lower than anyicipated, you won't know where you wind up or if you are safe

This.  It doesn't matter as much for kegging.  You aren't going to blow one up.  That said I wait for the fermentation to stop and the beer to clear before I keg, because there's no point in transferring all that yeast in suspension to my keg when I can just wait another week.

Plus, your yeast is still cleaning up stuff like diacetyl and acetaldehyde as fermentation is tapering off. By racking off the bulk of your yeast you may end up making it tougher to clear up those off flavors.